Unlike the theaters, many of which will not reopen immediately, a large part of the opera houses in both the capital and the region will be able to welcome the public again, from this month and sometimes even from Wednesday, respecting until on June 8 the gauge of 35% or 800 spectators maximum, and with a reinforced strict health protocol. Many of the productions scheduled at the end of the season had indeed been able to be “saved” thanks to the establishment of capture. However, some will have had to give up a scenic version in favor of concert versions, or “lighten” the works and their duration while waiting for the end of the curfew at 9 pm. Small practical and subjective guide to the main shows to see for the reopening.
Paris Opera.
Two productions will take center stage this week. On the one hand
Le Viol de Lucrèce
by Benjamin Britten, first chamber opera, and second blow of the club after
Peter Grimes
, in a tailor-made version for young artists (singers and instrumentalists) of the Académie de l'Opéra de Paris . The show is offered from May 19 (and until May 29) at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, directed by Jeanne Candel and under the baton of young Léo Warynski. A true revelation of the direction of the last two years, the conductor of the Métaboles is making his debut at the Paris Opera. The other event is naturally
Le Soulier de Satin
: the adaptation of Claudel's play by composer Marc-André Dalbavie and director Stanislas Nordey will take up residence at the Palais Garnier from May 21, and until June 13.
The production, which lasts no less than 6.30 hours (intermissions included), benefits from a top-flight cast: Eve-Maud Hubeaux in Doña Prouhèze, Luca Pisaroni in Rodrigue de Manacor, but also Jean-Sébastien Bou (Don Camille), Max Emanuel Cenčić (The Guardian Angel), Vannina Santoni (Doña Music) or even ... Béatrice Uria-Monzon (Doña Isabel, Doña Honoria, the Nun)!
www.operadeparis.fr
A scene from Rape of Lucretia by the Paris Opera Academy ONP
Comical opera.
The room confirmed it this Monday, May 17: the performances of
L'Orfeo
de Monteverdi, under the expert direction of the master Jordi Savall and with the brilliant Marc Mauillon in the title role (staged by the very young Pauline Bayle) will take place from June 4 (and until June 10). The last one should be captured and broadcast on Mezzo, perhaps for free, in order to satisfy all those who could not find places, neither for dates with the gauge at 35%, nor for those at 65%.
www.opera-comique.com
Champs-Élysées Theater.
The hall on avenue Montaigne reopens its doors on May 19 with a particularly awaited Grandes Voix recital, since it will see on stage the star duo of the last
Manon
proposed by the Paris Opera, just before the first confinement: Pretty Yende and Benjamin Bernheim. The concert was dubbed with a second date on May 20, to remedy the reduced gauge effect. But it is really on June 15, therefore with a gauge of 65%, that the room will find the opera in a scenic version, with a small event in the lyrical world: the first Parisian staging of the tenor Rolando Villazon, for a
Somnambulist
by Bellini who promises to inspire particularly the musician, fan of the world of the strange. On the distribution side, nothing less than ... Pretty Yende, precisely, in Amina.
www.theatrechampselysees.fr
Châtelet Theater.
It is with an operetta, the exquisite
V'lan in the eye
, a new decisive step in the vast undertaking of rehabilitation, by the Palazzetto Bru Zane, of the composer and Offenbach's rival Hervé, that music lovers will be able to reconnect with the music. room in the center of Paris.
Always deliciously zany, whimsical and colorful staging by Pierre-André Weitz (already project manager for
Mam'zelle Nitouche
), directed by Brigands chief Christophe Grapperon.
With, among others, the excellent Flannan Obé.
From June 16 to 23.
www.chatelet.com
V'lan dans l'œil directed by Pierre-André Weitz Eric Bouloumié / Opéra de Bordeaux
Athénée-Louis Jouvet Theater.
On May 27, spectators will once again be able to celebrate the marriage of theater and music in what remains one of Paris' most irresistible bonbonnières, with nothing less than
Weill and Brecht's
Seven Deadly Sins
, in the setting. directed by Jacques Osinski.
Conducted by Benjamin Levy, with the Pelléas orchestra.
Until June 5.
www.athenee-theatre.com
To read also: Deconfinement: what if the reopening of the theaters did not take place on May 19?
Bordeaux Opera House.
What better title to reopen than the most popular of French operas,
Carmen
? It is with Bizet's masterpiece that the Gironde institution will reopen its doors to the general public, from May 30, in a version staged by Romain Gilbert, and which will adapt until June 3. at 9 p.m. curfew with a reduced format (just over an hour), to return in full version from June 3 to 12. Marc Minkowski is the maneuver as the baton of the National Orchestra of Bordeaux, for this production which will see, in addition to Don José by Stanislas de Barbeyrac, the debut of Adèle Charvet in the title role.
www.opera-bordeaux.com
Lyon Opera House.
The lyrical event in the ancient capital of the Gauls will consist of the long-awaited hatching
of Rimsky-Korsakov's
Coq d'or
, as a prelude to the Aix-en-Provence festival, co-producer of the event where he should have be created last summer.
In the meantime, the production has lost Sabine Devieilhe, but retains what makes its first pole of attraction: the promise of directing by Barrie Kosky.
Daniele Rustioni is in charge.
From May 23 to June 4.
www.opera-lyon.com
To read also: What plays to go to see from May 19?
Metz Opera.
The Covid will not have been completely right in the Beethoven year, and it is in Metz that the latter will play extra time with a lyrical reopening which will see some performances of the only opera of the genius of Bonn,
Fidelio
... which had moreover been very little programmed, even before the pandemic, last season. Lithuanian tenor Kristian Benedikt will wear Florestan's clothes for three evenings (June 4 to 8), in a staging by the owner, Paul-Émile Fourny, and under the baton of the conductor of the national orchestra of Metz Devid Reiland.
www.opera.metzmetropole.fr
Montpellier Opera.
A unique date for the resumption of lyric at the Opéra de Montpellier.
That of May 20, with
Massenet's
Werther
, in the staging of a rare visual intelligence by Bruno Ravella, already seen at the Opéra de Nancy.
And a major role-taking: that of Marie-Nicole Lemieux in Charlotte, under the benevolent direction of Jean-Marie Zeitouni.
And since we are talking about "premieres", May 25 will see, still in Montpellier, the French premiere as conductor (and not singer) of Philippe Jaroussky, in the
Primo Omicido
by Scarlatti, with in the role of Abel the new sensation of the countertenors: Bruno de Sa.
www.opera-orchestre-montpellier.fr
"Werther" directed by Bruno Ravella Opéra de Lorraine
National Rhine Opera.
Before being able to reconnect with the opera in a stage version, from June 18 for a
Madame Butterfly
directed by Mariano Pensotti (and with Brigitta Kelle and Leonardo Capalbo in the main roles), it is through a concert version of '
Alcina
by Handel that Strasbourg residents will be able to find their way back to the opera, from this Friday, May 21. Christopher Molds will conduct the Mulhouse symphony orchestra there, in a shortened version to stick to the curfew times, but embellished with a story by Jean-François Martin to provide a link between the different arias.
www.operanationaldurhin.eu
Rouen Opera House.
To celebrate its reopening, the Rouen Opera has not hesitated to put the small dishes in the big ones by putting on sale, from this Wednesday at 10 am, 30 events at only ... 10 € for all! The
Four Last Songs
of Strauss by Ingela Brimberg who open the ball rejoicing this May 21 at the opera
Simon Boccanegra
, in a spectacular setting Philipp Himmelmann. From the homage of the Labèque sisters to the dialogue between Bruno Philippe's cello and Thibaut Garcia's guitar ... Until July 3, a month and a half of festivities, in accordance with the sanitary rules in force, but at a lower cost.
www.operaderouen.fr
Théâtre national du Capitole de Toulouse.
While waiting (not without curiosity) for the new production of
Strauss's
Elektra
directed by Michel Fau, from June 25 to July 4, it is through a concert version
of Verdi's
La Force du destin
(normally presented in the classic staging by the late Nicolas Joël, which had to be given up because of the distancing measures incompatible with the crowd effects), that the inhabitants of the pink city will once again be able to sing the praises of lyrical art. They will be able to applaud in particular Catherine Hunold as Donna Leonora and the Verdian master Paolo Arrivabeni at the direction.
www.theatreducapitole.fr