How to choose between love for an enemy general and love for one’s homeland? Such is the dilemma faced by Aida, an Ethiopian princess enslaved in Egypt, who also has to contend with the rivalry of Amneris, the Pharaoh’s daughter, who loves the same man as her, Radames. Yet it is proud Amneris who begs the priests to pardon Radames after he unwittingly betrays a military secret. In this work, first performed in 1871 at the Cairo Opera, Giuseppe Verdi alternates epic scenes such as the famous triumphal march with more intimate arias such as “Celeste Aida”. While the context of the work’s creation owes much to the Egyptomania in vogue in the 19th century, the themes of Aida are as timeless as they are universal. This is reflected in the staging by Iranian visual artist Shirin Neshat, who, making her Paris Opera debut, emphasises the cruelty of religious fanaticism, so swift to oppress women.Live: First part 95 min / Intermission 30 min / Second part 75 minProduction created at the Salzburg Festival, revived in co-production with the Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona

Aida: Ethiopian slave, in reality the King of Ethiopia’s daughter Radamès: Captain of the Egyptian army, in love with Aida Amneris: Daughter of the King of Egypt Amonasro: King of Ethiopia and father of Aida Ramfis: Egyptian high priest The King: King of Egypt

20250920_Aida_AvPrem_041_BerndUhlig

Aida

fr / en

25-26

How to choose between love for an enemy general and love for one’s homeland? Such is the dilemma faced by Aida, an Ethiopian princess enslaved in Egypt, who also has to contend with the rivalry of Amneris, the Pharaoh’s daughter, who loves the same m

Giuseppe Verdi

This inaugural concert features an anthology of opera excerpts, inviting us to rediscover great arias, duets, ensembles and musical interludes from a rich and eclectic repertoire in a truly exceptional performance. From Georges Bizet’s Carmen to John Adams’ Doctor Atomic, from Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin to Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar, from Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier to Giuseppe Verdi’s Falstaff, from Manuel De Falla’s La Vida breve to Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes, Gustavo Dudamel conducts the Orchestra, Chorus, Academy’s artists and guest performers.A true musical celebration for the first edition of this exceptional concert. The Paris Opera Orchestra and Chorus, the Maîtrise des Hauts de Seine / Chœur d’enfant de l’Opéra national de ParisA co-production of the Paris Opera and Caméra Lucida, with the participation of France télévisions, Mezzo and Medici.tv, with the support of the Orange Foundation, patron of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts, and the Centre National du Cinéma et de l'image animée.© Opéra national de Paris - Caméra Lucida - 2021 Director: François-René MartinPicture: Elisa Haberer / OnP

Concert inaugural - 1

Opening concert of the 21/22 season_trailer

Opening concert of the 21/22 season

This inaugural concert features an anthology of opera excerpts, inviting us to rediscover great arias, duets, ensembles and musical interludes from a rich and eclectic repertoire in a truly exceptional performance.From Georges Bizet’s Carmen to John 

Gustavo Dudamel

Inaugural Concert - Season 21/22

There is no work to compare with Falstaff. In his last opera, Giuseppe Verdi, then aged eighty-four, delivered, from behind the mask of his buffoon-like rascal of a hero, the testimony of a life approaching its end and whose moral, like that of the opera, would be: life is but a joke.This indefinable comedy, tinged with pessimism, defies all the conventions of 19th century Italian opera and testifies to Verdi’s passion for the theatre.Dominique Pitoiset’s witty, humorous production brings these eccentric characters to life and their sparkling interplay maintains a perfect balance between fantasy and reality, the very essence of the work. The Paris Opera Orchestra and ChorusA co-production of Opéra de Paris Production and Cinétévé With the participation of France Télévisions and with the support of the Orange Foundation, patron of audiovisual transmissions and the National Center for Cinema and Moving Images.Director: Philippe Béziat © 2013 - Opéra de Paris Production - CinétévéPicture: © Mirko Magliocca / OnP

<ul><li>Sir John Falstaff: a ruined gentleman, a buffoon and a boaster</li><li>Ford: a rich man of Windsor</li><li>Alice Ford: Ford’s wife</li><li>Meg Page: a friend of Alice</li><li>Mrs Quickly: a townswoman of Windsor</li><li>Nannetta: Alice and Ford’s daughter</li><li>Fenton: in love with Nannetta</li><li>Pistola and Bardolfo: Falstaff’s servants</li><li>Dr Caius: Nannetta’s unwelcome suitor</li></ul>

Falstaff 

Falstaff_trailer

There is no work to compare with Falstaff. In his last opera, Giuseppe Verdi, then aged eighty-four, delivered, from behind the mask of his buffoon-like rascal of a hero, the testimony of a life approaching its end and whose moral, like that of the o

Falstaff

Beginning his opera with a prelude for strings of unprecedented economy of means, in 1853, Verdi affirmed his intention of defying conventions and norms. This is not the least radical aspect of his Traviata, which implacably strips bare the violence of a society that promotes worldly pleasures only to sacrifice an innocent woman on the altar of bourgeois morality.Simon Stone delights in grappling with the major works of the repertoire, enticing them into more intimate territory. One of today’s most distinguished stage directors, he made with this production his long-awaited debut at the Paris Opera. Paris Opera Orchestra and ChorusA co-production of the Paris Opera, François Roussillon et Associés with the participation of medici.tv With the support of the Orange Foundation, patron of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts, and the Centre National du Cinéma et de l'image animée.Director: François Roussillon © Opéra national de Paris – François Roussillon et Associés - 2019Picture: © Charles Duprat / OnP

<ul><li>Violetta Valery: A Parisian demimondaine</li><li>Alfredo Germont: A young bourgeois from a provincial family, Violetta’s lover</li><li>Giorgio Germont: Alfredo’s father</li><li>Flora Bervoix: Violetta’s friend</li><li>Annina: Violetta’s maid</li><li>Le baron Douphol: Violetta’s protector</li><li>Le marquis d’Obigny: Flora’s lover</li><li>Gaston de Letorières: Alfredo’s friend</li><li>Doctor Grenv: Violetta’s doctor</li></ul>

La traviata | Opera chez soi

La Traviata_trailer

La Traviata 2

Performance at the Opera Bastille, from 21 January to 25 February 2024

Beginning his opera with a prelude for strings of unprecedented economy of means, in 1853, Verdi affirmed his intention of defying conventions and norms. This is not the least radical aspect of his Traviata, which implacably strips bare the violence 

La Traviata

The most popular opera of its time and acclaimed since its creation, Il Trovatore single-handedly illustrates the magic of opera. Returning to the stage of the Opéra Bastille in a production by Àlex Ollé, one of the six artistic directors of the Catalan collective La Fura dels Baus, this opera with its numerous twists and turns has all the ingredients of a cloak-and-dagger novel, including castles, soldiers, burnings at the stake, and outlaws...Àlex Ollé has chosen to set Il Trovatore in the context of the First World War, thus justifying the extreme situations which the characters have to face: love, jealousy, hate and the desire for vengeance…Based around Antonio García Gutiérrez’s Spanish classic El Trovador ( 1836), the intense, complex libretto is transcended by the beauty of the singing and the director’s turbulent yet visionary vitality. Orchestre et Choeurs de l’Opéra national de Paris Coproduction with De Nationale Opera, AmsterdamA production of the Paris National Opera - Telmondis - Mezzo With the support of the Orange Foundation, sponsor of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts and with the support of the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animéeDirector: Vincent Massip © Opéra national de Paris - Telmondis - Mezzo - 2016Picture: © Charles Duprat / OnP

<ul><li>Ferrando: Captain of the Count di Luna’s guard</li><li>Leonora: Lady-in-waiting to the Princess of Aragon</li><li>Ines: Leonora’s confidante</li><li>The Count di Luna: A young nobleman of Aragon</li><li>Manrico: A troubadour, he is Count di Luna’s political rival and rival in love</li><li>Azucena: A gypsy, believed to be Manrico’s mother</li><li>Ruiz: A partisan of Manrico  </li></ul>

Il Trovatore

Il Trovatore_trailer

Bastille salle

Il Trovatore from 16 January to 27 February 2027 at the Opéra Bastille

15-16

The most popular opera of its time and acclaimed since its creation, Il Trovatore single-handedly illustrates the magic of opera. Returning to the stage of the Opéra Bastille in a production by Àlex Ollé, one of the six artistic directors of the Cata

“Oh! Le roi s’amuse is the greatest theme and perhaps the greatest drama of modern times. A work worthy of Shakespeare!”A few months before he wrote these words to Francesco Maria Piave, urging him to “turn Venice upside down and make sure Censors will authorize this theme” – no easy matter given that social morality was prompt to be shocked -, Verdi was working on an adaptation of King Lear.And while probably absorbed in Shakespeare’s play, his revered master, he discovered Victor Hugo’s drama and felt “like an illumination, an inspiration”, finding in the French author’s words (to whom he owned the greatest triumph of his “years of misery” with Ernani) a counterpart to the triangle formed by the King, his daughter and the Jester.Between the futile and indecent Duke and Gilda, victim of the ignorance in which she is kept, looms the Jester, a two faceted character, a hunched back Fool and a father obsessed with a curse.Monstrous and heartbreaking, grotesque and sublime, the lead role reaches its climax in the aria “Cortigiani, vil razza dannata”, whose descent from wrath to pleading roots the capacity of the composer to bend a form inherited from Bel Canto to the stage realism.Conducted by Nicola Luisotti, this new production of Rigoletto marks director Claus Guth’s first collaboration with the Paris Opera. The Paris Opera Orchestra and ChorusWith the participation of France Télévisions. With the support of the Orange Foundation, patron of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts and with the assistance of the Centre National du Cinéma et de l'image animée.Director: François Roussillon © Opéra de Paris - François Roussillon et Associés - 2016Picture: © Monika Rittershaus / OnP

The Duke of Mantua: A cynical libertine and womaniser Rigoletto: The Duke of Mantua’s jester Gilda: Rigoletto’s daughter Sparafucile: Hired killer Maddalena: Sparafucile’s sister Giovanna: Rigoletto’s servant The Count of Monterone: Courtier whose daughter has been seduced by the Duke of Mantua Marullo: Courtier at the Court of Mantua Matteo Borsa: Courtier at the Court of MantuaLe comte de Ceprano: Courtier at the Court of Mantua La comtesse de Ceprano: Count Ceprano’s wife, wooed by the Duke

Rigoletto

Rigoletto_trailer

Rigoletto from 1 December 2024 to 12 June 2025 at the Opéra Bastille

“Oh! Le roi s’amuse is the greatest theme and perhaps the greatest drama of modern times. A work worthy of Shakespeare!” A few months before he wrote these words to Francesco Maria Piave, urging him to “turn Venice upside down and make sure Censors w

The ambiguities of Verdi’s theatre are particularly clear in his baritone roles, among which is that of Boccanegra, corsair turned doge of Genoa and the troubled observer of the conflicts that tore apart 14th century landowners and peasants.An eminently political opera in which power struggles are interwoven with family conflicts, Simon Boccanegra echoes the life of its composer – the man who championed the cause of Italian unification and overcame the loss of his wife and children.Calixto Bieito, that most Shakespearean of opera directors, brings humanism and truth to a work haunted by gleaming images of the sea. The Paris Opera Orchestra and ChorusA co-production of the Paris Opera and François Roussillon et Associés With the participation of France Télévisions, the support of the Orange Foundation, patron of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts, and with the assistance of the Centre National du Cinéma et de l'image animée.Director: François Roussillon © Opéra national de Paris – François Roussillon et Associés - 2018Picture: © Agathe Poupeney / OnP

<ul><li>Simon Boccanegra: Corsair in the service of the Republic of Genoa, elected first Doge of Genova</li><li>Jacopo Fiesco: Genoese noble in exile, also known as Andrea</li><li>Maria Boccanegra: Simon Boccanegra’s daughter, brought up under the name of Amelia Grimaldi</li><li>Gabriele Adorno: Genoese gentleman, in love with Amelia</li><li>Paolo Albiani: Courtier and Simon’s right-hand man</li><li>Pietro: Man of the people, Paolo’s accomplice</li></ul>

Simon Boccanegra

Simon Boccanegra_trailer

18-19

The ambiguities of Verdi’s theatre are particularly clear in his baritone roles, among which is that of Boccanegra, corsair turned doge of Genoa and the troubled observer of the conflicts that tore apart 14th century landowners and peasants. An emine