Salzburg Festival 2026: Il viaggio a Reims

People-watching in a hotel lobby recalls the comedic scenarios of Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims, where stranded characters create amusing situations. The plot of the opera, the first that the composer wrote for Paris, is exceedingly flimsy: a group of distinguished European guests are attempting to reach Reims to attend the coronation but find themselves stranded at the spa resort Il Giglio d’Oro because they cannot procure horses for their carriages. Director Barrie Kosky leverages the opera's minimal action to invent new stories, with the guests speaking of “La Ceci” instead of “Re Carlo” when referring to the protagonist Cecilia Bartoli (Corinna, the self-aware poetess). She leads a cast that brings together some of the finest Rossinian singers of today. Edgardo Rocha as the comedic Cavalier Belfiore, Mélissa Petit as the talented Contessa di Folleville, and Marina Viotti as the femme fatale Marchesa Melibea. These performers deliver humorous and emotionally rich performances, an international parade of characters caught in a web of sympathies and antipathies, flirting and jealousy, enthusiasm and vanity, ideals and eccentricities… Conductor Gianluca Capuano, leading Les Musiciens du Prince– Monaco, captures Rossini' s style with a transparent sound and rhythmic vitality, with the use of period instruments deeply enriching the performance.