At the end of the day, at the Wiener Staatsoper :

LES PÊCHEURS DE PERLES, by G. Bizet

Daniele Rustioni : Conductor

Ersan Mondtag : Staging

Kristina Mkhitaryan : Leïla

Juan Diego Flórez : Nadir

Ludovic Tézier : Zurga

Ivo Stanchev : Nourabad

Georges Bizet has long been regarded as a man of one work. While Carmen remains the undisputed masterpiece of the operatic repertoire, Les Pêcheurs de Perles is now enjoying a veritable renaissance. First performed in 1863 (Bizet was only 25 at the time!), the opera is set on the island of Ceylon, allowing the composer to deploy his treasures of colourful orchestration. A tragic story of love and friendship unfolds around three characters, Leila, priestess of Brahma, and the fishermen Nadir and Zurga. It could be said that this production is a milestone in the history of Les Pêcheurs de Perles, such is the extraordinary talent on display here. As conductor of the Viennese orchestra, Daniele Rustioni is one of the most acclaimed conductors of his generation (he has just been appointed Principal Guest Conductor of New York’s Metropolitan Opera). In entrusting the staging to Ersan Mondtag, the Vienna Staatsoper is calling on one of the most astonishing personalities in contemporary theatre. Creating both the costumes and the sets, Mondtag’s abundant imagination finds an ideal setting in Bizet’s opera. What’s more, the vocal cast brings together a dream trio: the Russian Kristina Mkhitaryan as Leïla and two immensely talented performers well known to the French repertoire, Juan Diego Flórez as Nadir and Ludovic Tézier as Zurga.

At the end of the day, at the Wiener Staatsoper :

SIEGFRIED, by R. Wagner

Pablo Heras-Casado : Conductor

Sven-Eric Bechtolf : Staging

Andreas Schager : Siegfried

Camilla Nylund : Brünnhilde

Michael Volle : Wotan, Le Voyageur

Georg Nigl : Alberich

Wiebke Lehmkuhl : Erda

Gerhard Siegel : Mime

Matheus França : Fafner

Florina Ilie : L’Oiseau de la forêt

After Rhine Gold, Siegfried is the second part of the Ring. However, the genesis of the work was extremely complex. Composition began in 1856, but following difficulties in his personal life (in the meantime he had written Tristan and Isolde), Wagner allowed seven years to pass before completing the opera. The musical language evolved considerably: the libretto increased the number of intimate scenes with two characters, carried by the flow of an orchestra of cosmic proportions. Siegfried premiered on 16 August 1876, during the very first Bayreuth Festival. In this fine production, director Sven-Eric Bechtolf has chosen to return to the sources of the work. With the emphasis on magnificent lighting effects, production seeks timelessness and symbolism, rather than political (and sometimes haphazard) allusions to our contemporary world. This remarkable purity is supported by magnificent direction from the cast, showcasing the very best of the new generation of Wagnerian singers. While Camilla Nylund as Brünnhilde is well known in our country, the male singers are all celebrities in Germany, notably Andreas Schager, Michael Volle and Georg Nigl, all formidable musicians and actors. In the pit, the great Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado completes the success of this eagerly awaited evening of Wagnerian music.

At the end of the day, at the Wiener Staatsoper :

EUGÈNE ONÉGUINE, by P. I. Tschaikowski

Timur Zangiev : Conductor

Dmitri Tcherniakov : Staging

Elena Manistina : Madame Larine

Asmik Grigorian : Tatiana

Daria Sushkova : Olga

Boris Pinkhasovich : Eugène Onéguine

Bogdan Volkov : Vladimir Lenski

Dmitry Ulyanov : Prince Grémine

1877 was a pivotal year in Tchaikovsky’s life. At the age of 37, the Russian composer had already written four operas. It was not until Pushkin’s masterpiece Eugene Onegin that Tchaikovsky finally achieved a lasting triumph on the operatic stage. The composer fully identified with this character of a disillusioned dandy, plagued by inner conflicts that drove him to flee and make bad decisions. The characters of Tatiana, a spurned lover, and Lenski, blinded by jealousy, are equally moving. For many seasons now, this production by renowned director Dmitri Tcherniakov has been a delight for audiences at the Vienna Opera. Thanks to the use of its unique set (a magnificent bourgeois drawing room lined with a large table), it is one of the most resounding successes of the Austrian institution’s modern era. Eugene Onegin takes the form of a suffocating huis-clos, painting an incomparable gallery of characters, performed here by a troupe of Russian-speaking singers who have known their Pushkin and Tchaikovsky from their earliest youth. In the role of Tatiana, the Lithuanian Asmik Grigorian confirms her incendiary stage temperament: she is one of the great voices of our time.