“Carmen will never surrender, born free, free will she die”cries Bizet’s heroine to Don José at the end of the opera. This irrepressible freedom, coupled with a need to live ever more intensely on a knife-edge, is present in Calixto Bieito’s production as in no other. Of Mérimée’s character, Bieito’s Carmen retains her thoroughly Iberian contours and the burning temperament of a woman who lives by small-time trafficking. However, the rebel bird is essentially a creature of our own times. A brazen and indomitable seductress and a product of social and masculine brutality, she lives life in the fast lane, avid for existence. Orchestre et Choeurs de l’Opéra national de Paris Maîtrise des Hauts-de-Seine Chœur d’enfants de l’Opéra national de ParisA co-production of the Opéra national de Paris and Camera lucida productions. With the participation of France Télévisions, in partnership with Radio Classique. 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-René Martin © Opéra national de Paris - Camera lucida productions - 2017Picture: © Vincent Pontet / OnP

Carmen: A gypsy girl, working as a cigar-maker in a tobacco factory in Seville Don José: A soldier and Carmen’s lover who deserts the army for her Micaela: A young girl originally from Don José’s village Escamillo: A toreador and one of Carmen’s lovers Frasquita and Mercedes: Two gypsy girls who are friends of Carmen Zuniga: Don José’s superior officer Morales: A regimental comrade of Don José Le Dancaïre and Remendado: Two smugglers

Carmen

Carmen_trailer

fr / en

Bastille salle

Performance at the Bastille Opera, from 07 February to 19 March 2026

“Carmen will never surrender, born free, free will she die”cries Bizet’s heroine to Don José at the end of the opera. This irrepressible freedom, coupled with a need to live ever more intensely on a knife-edge, is present in Calixto Bieito’s producti

Georges Bizet

King Arthur makes it to the Paris Opera at last! This rarely performed masterpiece by Chausson was initially created for this opera house. And well over a century after its composition and posthumous premiere, in 1903 at the Théâtre de La Monnaie in Brussels, King Arthur is finally entering the Paris Opera’s repertoire.One of Massenet’s students and a disciple of Franck, Chausson worked tirelessly for seven years to achieve his only opera (from 1888 to 1894). Like all composers of his generation, he both worshiped and hated Wagner.Chausson repeatedly stated: “We need to be de-wagnerised”, and yet composed a work that was typically post-Wagnerian, an opera infused with the so unique soul of the melancholic and luxuriant composer of Poème de l’amour et de la mer.Chausson was well aware of this paradox: “Always, there’s that awful Wagner who blocks my path at every turn. I feel like an ant that comes up against a huge, slippery boulder in its path. It has to make a thousand detours before it finds a way round it. This is where I’m blocked. But I keep on searching. I haven’t lost patience and am not without hope.”Chausson did find his way, giving to the fateful love of Lancelot and Guinevere and the despair and grandeur of Arthus, the dreamlike colours of a medieval world inherited from the Romantics and revisited by Symbolism.Alongside Sophie Koch and Roberto Alagna, Thomas Hampson returns to the Paris Opera as the majestic King Arthus and Philip Jordan conducts this magnificent fresco for its entry to the Paris Opera repertoire. The Paris Opera Orchestra and ChorusA coproduction of the Paris Opera, CLC Productions and Mezzo 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-René Martin © Opéra national de Paris - CLC Productions - Mezzo 2015Picture: © Andrea Messana / OnP

Le Roi Arthus

Le Roi Arthus_trailer

King Arthur makes it to the Paris Opera at last! This rarely performed masterpiece by Chausson was initially created for this opera house. And well over a century after its composition and posthumous premiere, in 1903 at the Théâtre de La Monnaie in 