Paris Opera 2013-2014

After a couple of really bad years at the Paris Opera, a glimpse over the 2013-2014 makes you think: OK, it's less bad than before. Revivals are more often than not well done in Paris, so I won't say much except encourage everyone to go and see a wonderful production of La Clemenza di Tito with a wonderful Stéphanie d'Oustrac, and the superb Warlikowski production -- The Makropulos Affair.

I like Robert Carsen, but seriously... Out of 8 new production at the OdP, two of them [Elektra & Zauberflöte] are staged by Carsen, whose Capuleti and Alcina will be revived too!
Olivier Py too is supposed to come up with two new production [Alceste & Aida].

No younger directors, no contemporary opera, revivals of the embarrassingly bad Cosi and Italiana...

New Traviata by Benoît Jacquot will most probably be a tepid sellout  show [smt like the awful  ROH production by Eyre]... If we cannot be entirely enthused by the list of conductors, overall  --and modulo a few exceptions-- the lineup is good. I like the casts for the most part [YAY for Sonya Yoncheva and Jochen Schmeckenbecher!]. 

To stay positive, on the paper, it looks as if the operatic program at the ONP is improving.

see below...



September 2013:

• Alceste [new production]: dir- Olivier Py, cnd- Marc Minkowski, cast: Roberto Alagna/Yann beuron, Sophie Koch, Jean-François Lapointe, Stanislas De Barbeyrac, Franck Ferrari, Marie-Adeline Henry, Florian Sempey, François Lis 
• Lucia di Lammermoor [revival]: dir- Andrei Serban, cnd- Maurizio Benini, cast: Patrizia Ciofi/Sonia Yoncheva, Vittorio Grigolo/Michael Fabiano... 
• Vec Makropulos [revival]: dir- Krzysztof Warlikowski, cnd- Susanna Mälkki, cast: Ricarda Merbeth, Atilla Kiss, Vincent Le Texier, Jochen Schmeckenbecher, Andreas Conrad, Andrea Hill, Ladislav Elgr, Ryland Davies

October 2013:

• Aida [new production]: dir- Olivier Py, cnd- Philippe Jordan, cast: Luciana d'Intino/Elena Bocharova, Oksana Dyka/Lucrezia Garcia, Marcelo Alvarez/Robert Dean Smith, Giacomo Prestia, Sergey Murzaev, Carlo Cigni, Elodie Hache.

November 2013:

• Cosi fan tutte [revival]: dir- Enco Toffolutti, cnd- Michael Schønwandt, cast: Stéphanie d'Oustrac, Dmitry Korchak, Myrto Papatanasiu, David Bizic, Lorenzo Regazzo, Bernarda Bobro.
• Elektra [new production]: dir- Robert Carsen, cnd- Philippe Jordan, cast: Irene Theorin, Waltraud Maier, Ricarda Merbeth, Kim Begley, Evgeny Nikitin...

December 2013:

• I Puritani [new production]: dir- Laurent Pelly, cnd- Michele Moriotti, cast: Dmitry Korchak /René Barbera, Mariusz Kwiecien, Maria Agresta, Michele Pertusi,  Wojtek Smilek...
• La clemenza di Tito [revival]: dir- Willy Decker, cnd- Thomas Netopil, cast: Saimir Pirgu, Stépahnie d'Oustrac, Tamar Iveri, Hannah Esther Minutillo, Maria Virginia Savastano

January 2014:

• Werther [revival]: dir- Benoît Jacquot, cnd- Michel Plasson, cast: Roberto Alagna, Karine Deshayes, Jean-François Lapointe, Hèléne Guilmette, Jean-François Lapointe... 
• Alcina [revival]: dir- Robert Carsen, cnd- Christophe Rousset, cast: Myrto Papatanasiu, Sandrine Piau, Anna Goryachova, Patricia Bardon, Cyrille Dubois, Michal Partyka

February 2014:

• La fanciulla del West [new production]: dir- Nikolaus Lehnhoff, cnd- Carlo Rizzi, cast: Nina Stemme, Marco Berti, Roman Sadnik, Claudio Sgura...

March 2013:  

• Madame Butterfly [revival]: dir- Robert Wilson, cnd- Daniele Callegari, cast: Svetla Vassileva, Cornelia Oncioiu, Teodor Ilincai, Carlo Bossi, Scott Wilde... 
• La Bohème [revival]: dir- Jonathan Miller, cnd- Daniel Oren, cast: Maria Ogresta/Angela Gheorghiu/Anita Hartig, Stefano Secco/Piotr Beczala/Massimo Giordano, Brigitta Kele/Elena Tsallagova, Ludovic Tézier, Ante Jerkunica/Nahuel Di Pierro, Igor Gnidii/Lionel Lhote... 
• Die Zauberflöte [new production]: dir- Robert Carsen, cnd- Philippe Jordan, cast: Pavol Breslik, Julia Kleiter, Franz-Josef Selig, Daniel Schmutzhard, Sabine Devieilhe, François Piolino,...

April 2014:

• L'italiana in Algeri [revival]: dir- Andrei Serban, cnd- Riccardo Frizza, cast: Ildebrando d'Arcangelo, Varduhi Abrahamyan, Kenneth Tarver, Jaël Azzaretti, Tassis Christoyannis... 
• Tristan und Isolde [revival]: dir- Peter Sellard/Bill Viola, cnd- Philippe Jordan, cast: Violeta Urmana, Robert Dean Smith, Franz Josef Selig, Jochen Schmeckenbecher, Janina Baechle, Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Raimund Nolte

May 2014:

• I Capuleti e i Montecchi [revival]: dir- Robert Carsen, cnd- Bruno Campanella, cast: Ekaterina Siurina, Karine Deshayes, Charles Castronovo, Payl Gay, Nahuel di Pierro

June 2014:

• La Traviata [new production]:  dir- Benoît Jacquot, cnd- Daniel Oren, cast: Diana Damrau, Francesco Demuro, Ludovic Tézier, Nicolas Testé, Cornelia Oncioiu... 
• L'incoronazione di Poppea [new production]:  dir- Robert Wilson, cnd- Rinaldo Alessandrini, cast: Monica Bacelli, Gaëlle Arquez, Jael Azzaretti, Andrea Concetti, Varduhi Abrahamyan, Karine Deshayes...

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Highlighted are the shows I believe could be interesting to see