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Dramma per musica in three acts, with a libretto by Antonio Salvi, premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, in 1735.
New Royal Opera Productions.
Show in Italian with surtitles in French and English.
Franco Fagioli . Catherine Trottmann . Théo Imart . Gwendoline Blondeel . Laurence Kilsby . Nicolas Brooymans . Antoine Ageorges
Académie de danse baroque de l'Opéra Royal
Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal
Stefan Plewniak Conductor
Nicolas Briançon assisté d’Elena Terenteva Director
Pierre-François Dollé Choreography
Antoine Fontaine Sets
David Belugou Costumes
Jean-Pascal Pracht Lights
Albert Goldberg assisté d’Adrien Garcia Fight Choreographer
Laurence Couture Make-up and Hairstyles
Considered Handel’s most perfect opera, Ariodante includes some of the most famous arias in the baroque repertoire. Inspired by Ariosto’s Orlando furioso, the libretto takes us to medieval Scotland, where the love between the knight Ariodante and Ginevra is thwarted by the machinations of the sinister Polinesso. But a final twist will save the hero from despair and blindness, in an unexpected happy ending…
Stefan Plewniak restores eloquence and vitality to this work written with particular care by Handel. The composer had to ensure that he would be recognised by London audiences, despite competition from a new company that had taken his stars away from him. This attention to the vocal parts – with great arias of extreme difficulty – is also reflected in the orchestra, whose virtuosity dazzled listeners. Exceptional soloists at Versailles will take up the legacy of the 1735 London première, acting as visionary historians and painters of emotions, involving the musicians of the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal in a rich palette of colours full of effects and meaning.
Royal Opera production – Château de Versailles Spectacles / Royal Opera Productions.
The shows on December 9th and 11th 2025 were filmed by Futur Antérieur Production.
Marie Luise Werneburg . Alexander Chance . Thomas Hobbs . Florian Störtz
The Constellation Choir and Orchestra
Sir John Eliot Gardiner Conductor
The maestro John Eliot Gardiner continues to immerse himself in Bach‘s cantatas, taking the same approach as he did for his complete works to mark the 250th anniversary of the composer’s death, following the liturgical calendar rather than chronological order. This first concert therefore focuses on the cantatas for Jubilate Sunday : the third or fourth Sunday after Easter.
The cantata Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen (BWV 12), composed for Weimar in 1714, is a landmark work of German sacred music. It is completed by two compositions from the Leipzig period, in particular the cantata BWV 146 with its incredible orchestral overture for concert organ. A programme in which Bach sounds at his absolute peak !
The concert was filmed by Camera Lucida.
Fanny Valentin . Ambroisine Bré . Kaëlig Boché . Alexandre Adra
Chœur de l'Opéra Royal
Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal
Gaétan Jarry Conductor
An unfinished masterpiece, a musical testament, a timeless sacred composition that transcends the liturgical framework, Mozart’s Requiem amasses superlatives. By the time of his death on 5 December 1791, the composer had fully completed the Introit and the Kyrie, and largely defined the content of the next five parts, from the Dies Irae to the Confutatis.
Since then, the work has given rise to a thousand hypotheses, numerous versions of the unfinished pages and, above all, splendid interpretations: it magnetises the listener as well as the performer, and finally imposes itself almost entirely in the form left by Mozart. It is as if these last notes, from the still-risen pen of a dying composer, were all the more precious…
Royal Opera Productions.
A co‑production by Futur Antérieur Production and Royal Opera / Château de Versailles Spectacles.
Oratorio in three acts, with a libretto by Thomas Morell, premiered at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 1750.
Concert in English, with surtitles in French.
Lea Desandre . Avery Amereau . Hugh Cutting . Laurence Kilsby . Alex Rosen
Ensemble Jupiter Choir and Orchestra
Thomas Dunford Conductor and lute
Refusing to sacrifice herself to Venus, the young Christian Theodora is condemned by the Romans to prostitution before dying a martyr’s death. Far from the flamboyant heroism of Jules Caesar, Handel, in one of his last oratorios, displays an emotion of overwhelming depth. Carried along by fervent, elegiac music, Theodora transcends the intimate drama into a veritable spiritual meditation. Thomas Dunford, at the head of his Ensemble Jupiter, handles this work with rare sensitivity.
In the central role, the exceptional mezzo-soprano and tragedian Lea Desandre, joined by the finest voices of the new generation of singers.
The concert was filmed by Futur Antérieur Production at the Chapelle Royale.
Marie Luise Werneburg . Alexander Chance . Thomas Hobbs . Florian Störtz
The Constellation Choir and Orchestra Choir and Orchestra
John Eliot Gardiner Conductor
The second part of this diptych is devoted to the cantatas performed in Leipzig between 1723 and 1726.
Bach composed an exceptional body of cantatas that can be described as funerary, particularly because their main theme is indeed death. The presence of flutes, instruments traditionally associated with funerals, gives these pieces a distinctive colour, especially in Cantata BWV 8, featuring an expressive solo flute, and in Cantata BWV 161, typical of the genre. The tragic intensity is the hallmark of Cantata BWV 27. Yet light and salvation are always at the believer’s journey’s end, brought by the soothing qualities of Cantata BWV 95.
John Eliot Gardiner, a great specialist in the cantor, embarked on an incredible Bach pilgrimage throughout Europe in 2000 : his masterful, humane and passionate interpretation was a landmark and continues to move audiences with its exceptional vision.
The concert is filmed by Camera Lucida at the Royal Chapel.
Gwendoline Blondeel . Patrick Kabongo . Jean-François Lapointe . Éléonore Pancrazi . Jean-Gabriel Saint-Martin . Flore Royer . Attila Varga-Tóth . Jérémie Delvert . Jean-Romain Vesperini
Chœur de l’Armée française
Chœur de l’Opéra Royal
Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal
Gaétan Jarry Conductor
Jean-Romain Vesperini Director, assisted by Claire Manjarrès
Christian Lacroix Costumes, assisted by Jean-Philippe Pons
Roland Fontaine Stage sets
Étienne Guiol Video
Christophe Chaupin Lights
Laurence Couture Make-up and hairstyling
Maurine Baldassari et Cécile Larue Wigs
Julie Berce Accessories
In 1840, riding the wave of exceptional success, Donizetti presented his first French-language opera, La Fille du régiment. (The Daughter of the Regiment) in Paris. King Louis-Philippe had just reopened Versailles, deciding to create a museum dedicated to “all the glories of France”. It paid greater tribute to Napoleon than it did even to Louis XIV, in a France fervently awaiting the return of the Emperor’s ashes. Suffice it to say that patriotism was at a peak, and The Daughter of the Regiment was perfectly in keeping with the mood. Donizetti joyfully gives his all to this unlikely love story between the camp follower Marie, who has become the regiment’s adopted daughter, and the intrepid Tonio, who has saved the young woman and joined Napoleon’s army. There are patriotic arias and choruses, an onslaught of bel canto and Tonio’s famous aria, the “Everest of Lyric Art” with no less than nine high Cs !
The thousandth performance took place in Paris in 1914. During the December 1940 performances at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Lily Pons, after an astonishing “Salut à la France”, launched into La Marseillaise, which became a symbol of freedom in the midst of war. The virtuoso soloists Gwendoline Blondeel and Patrick Kabongo, accompanied by the French Army Choir, will transport the audience at the Opéra Royal to the beating heart of the motherland.
Royal Opera / Château de Versailles Spectacles Production.
The shows on April 10th and 12th were recorded by Wahoo Production.
Comic opera in four acts with a libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, first performed at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on March 3rd 1875.
Version with recitatives composed by Ernest Guiraud, first performed in Vienna on October 23rd 1875.
Historical staging from 1875.
New Royal Opera Production.
Show in French with French and English surtitles.
Adèle Charvet / Éléonore Pancrazi . Julien Behr / Kévin Amiel . Alexandre Duhamel . Florie Valiquette / Vannina Santoni . Gwendoline Blondeel . Ambroisine Bré . Matthieu Walendzik . Attila Varga-Tóth . Nicolas Certenais . Halidou Nombre
Chœur d'enfants Rameau
Chœur de l'Opéra Royal
Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal
Hervé Niquet Conductor
Romain Gilbert Director
Vincent Chaillet Choreography
Christian Lacroix, assisté de Jean-Philippe Pons Costumes
Antoine Fontaine Stage sets
Hervé Gary Lights
Adèle Borde, Antoine Cardin, Pierrick Defives, Paloma Gandia Izquierdo Dancers
Cédric Brenner, Maxime Nourissat Mimes
Harold Batola, Romain Collard, Hugo Collin, Baptiste Delamare, Vladimir Delaye, Vincent Petit Extras
Could there be a more emblematic French opera than Carmen ?
Sir Thomas Beecham claimed that its overture was “the true French national anthem”. And for good reason! Today, it is the most famous opera in the world. Yet Carmen was deemed shocking at its première in 1875, scandalising audiences at the Opéra-Comique with the violence of its emotions and the immorality of its main character, barely softened by the masterful reinvention of Spanish colour by Bizet (who had never even crossed the Pyrenees!). However, after the composer’s sudden death during the thirty-third performance, Carmen gradually won over Europe and then the world, becoming a resounding success.
But what colour and flavour did this legendary opera have when it was first performed? To mark the 150th anniversary of both the première of Carmen and Bizet’s death, the Opéra Royal and the Palazzetto Bru Zane are finally offering a faithful reconstruction of the period sets and costumes. Now we really are in Seville, with the picadors, the alguazil and the rising guard !
Hervé Niquet conducts the magnificent soloists and the Orchestra of the Opéra Royal on period instruments, as befits this incomparable piece.
The shows on January 16th, 17th and 18th were filmed by Wahoo Productions.
Marie Perbost . Mathilde Ortscheidt . Bastien Rimondi . Edwin Fardini . José-Antonio Salar-Verdú
Chœur de l'Opéra Royal
Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal
Théotime Langlois de Swarte Conductor
An unfinished masterpiece, a musical testament, a timeless sacred composition that transcends the religious context – there is no shortage of superlatives to describe Mozart’s Requiem. When he died on 5 December 1791, the composer had finished the Introït and the Kyrie and established a large proportion of the content for the following five numbers, from the Dies Irae to the Confutatis.
This work has since given rise to countless theories, a host of unfinished pages and some splendid interpretations above all; it compels both audience and performers, reaching us almost intact in the form left behind by Mozart. As if these last notes, from the dying composer’s still-raised pen, were all the more precious.
Productions of the Royal Opera.
The concert on November 23th 2024 was recorded by Futur Antérieur Production.
Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal
Théotime Langlois de Swarte Conductor and solo violin
Magdalena Sypnewski Solo violin
Ludmila Piestrak Solo violin
For this exceptional concert of Bach’s famous concertos for violin, Théotime Langlois de Swarte, the young Baroque violin prodigy, will direct the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal. He is also the first baroque violinist to win an award at the Victoires de la Musique classique (Classical Music Awards) in 2020, in recognition of his work in several baroque ensembles such as Les Arts Florissants and Les Ombres.
This is the perfect occasion to enjoy of Bach’s concertos for one, two and three violins, masterpieces of the genre and of late Baroque, combining virtuosity and expressing singing in a tribute to the German composer. At the age of thirty-two, Bach was Master of Music at the Court of Köthen, giving it a reputation for the most splendid instrumental music. With an orchestra and prodigious soloists at his disposal, he composed violin concertos to dazzle the Prince whom he served : a mission accomplished with true panache!
Productions of the Royal Opera.
Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal
Justin Taylor Pianoforte and conductor
Geniuses all too often die too young : while the Austrian Mozart (1756-1791) died at 35, almost the same age as Marie-Antoinette (1755-1793), the Versailles-born Hyacinthe Jadin (1776-1800) perished from tuberculosis at just 24. A virtuoso pianist and inspired composer for his instrument, he left behind numerous sonatas and three concertos, fleeting testimonies to his immense, magnificently pre-romantic talent that had only just began to blossom. Here, his work is paired with those of the elder Mozart, united in the precociousness of their production and their death.
Justin Taylor, a rising star among the new generation of French pianists, interlinks these works through the dazzling effect they still have today, the extraordinary freshness of youth and inspiration !