Rossini’s penultimate opera, premiered in 1828 at the Opéra National de Paris, is a musical comedy about a love triangle set during the Crusades. At the Opéra Comique its plot is transported to the time of the works’ creation with France’s military expeditions to Algeria. It is staged by a first-rate creative team: Stage director Denis Podalydès and costume designer Christian Lacroix provide stunning visuals, whilst conductor Louis Langrée leads the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, the Choeur Les éléments and a stellar cast of soloists in this delightful fool’s game. Mezzo-soprano Gaëlle Arquez shines with her “superlative technique” (Le Monde) and Julie Fuchs’s Adèle performance elicits “more than just admiration, namely enthusiasm in the etymological sense of the word: inspired by the divine” (Le Monde). “A masterpiece!” (Télérama), “Pure pleasure!” (Les Échos). Le Comte Ory at the Opéra Comique is “a true musical and theatrical celebration where everything sparkles!” (Bachtrack)
“Hommage à Gounod” Gounod Birthday Concert
The Palazzetto Bru Zane joins forces with the Orchestre National de France to present a special concert retracing the composer’s career through rare and little-known pieces: his cantata for the 1837 Prix de Rome (Marie Stuart), the unpublished first version of the Poison Aria from Roméo et Juliette, his opera Cinq-Mars (revived only in 2015), excerpts from his epic sacred oratorio Mors et Vita, and the big female duet from Le Tribut de Zamora, the composer’s last opera. As is appropriate for a tribute, the concert also recalls some of Gounod’s greatest successes, with the Overture to Mireille and the Ballet Music from Faust, which have constantly delighted music lovers for more than a century now. “Bravos for the soloists and orchestra!” (Operawire)