In February 1972, the American president Richard Nixon went to China to meet Mao Zedong. In the context of the war in Vietnam and the cold war, this encounter marked a turning point in Chinese‑ American relations. John Adams, a major musical figure of the last forty years, made this event of contemporary history the subject of his first opera.Nixon in China tackles the political thaw instigated by ping-pong diplomacy, begun by the invitation of the American table tennis players by their Chinese counterparts, one year before the presidential visit. A mesmerising work in which the pulsations and repetitions typical of minimalism are combined with melodic lines of great lyricism.For its entry into the Paris Opera repertoire, this work has been entrusted to the director Valentina Carrasco, who underlines the importance and the mediating power of Chinese national sport in history. The Paris Opera Orchestra and ChorusWith the support of the Orange Foundation, sponsor of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts.© Opéra national de Paris - 2023 Picture: © Everett Collection / Bridgeman Images

Richard Nixon: President of the United States Mao Tse-tung: Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party Pat Nixon: First Lady of the United States Chiang Ch’ing: Mao’s wife Henry Kissinger: US National Security Advisor Chou En-lai: Chinese Prime Minister

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Nixon in China

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Nixon in China from 24 February to 20 March 2026 at the Opera Bastille

In February 1972, the American president Richard Nixon went to China to meet Mao Zedong. In the context of the war in Vietnam and the cold war, this encounter marked a turning point in Chinese‑ American relations. John Adams, a major musical figure o

John Adams

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

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Aida

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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

Diggi, daggi, shurry, murry, horum, harum…: with this magical spell, young shepherd Bastien will have the power to win back the heart of his beloved shepherdess Bastienne. Mozart composed this short Singspiel at the age of 12. In a stage production by Mirabelle Ordinaire, the action is reframed in a modern funfair where fairgoers come at shooting ranges to shoot cardboard wolves. The fickle Bastien has become the machinist in charge of the stands's maintenance and the twelve musicians play in the bandstand. Performed in its French version, faithful to Mozart’s sensibility, the opera has been adapted to be easily understandable to every audience.From 6 years old.Visuel © Elena Bauer / OnP

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Bastien et Bastienne

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Diggi, daggi, shurry, murry, horum, harum…: with this magical spell, young shepherd Bastien will have the power to win back the heart of his beloved shepherdess Bastienne. Mozart composed this short Singspiel at the age of 12. In a stage production b

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Bastien und Bastienne

The hunter Actaeon surprises the goddess Diana at the river: she transforms him into a stag and turns his own dogs against him.Composer Emmanuelle Da Costa transforms this myth into a choral piece for forty young singers from the Maîtrise de Radio France.In a forest where sticks become guns and deer antlers, Victoria Sitjà stages children who are caught up in their own game. A production of the Paris Opera With the support of the Orange Foundation, Sponsor of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts, and the POP Circle © Opéra national de Paris - 2025

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Discover the young audiences programme

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The hunter Actaeon surprises the goddess Diana at the river: she transforms him into a stag and turns his own dogs against him. Composer Emmanuelle Da Costa transforms this myth into a choral piece for forty young singers from the Maîtrise de Radio F

Emmanuelle Da Costa

Step behind the scenes of an opera like no other.
The young voices of the Maîtrise de Radio France take on a challenge: bringing Actéon, a baroque masterpiece by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, to life under the direction of the Paris Opera Academy.
This documentary follows the artistic and human journey of this unique production, from the first rehearsals to the final performance. Through the curious, focused, and awe-struck eyes of the young singers, viewers discover the rigor, passion, and magic of opera.
Blending educational workshops, encounters with artists, and an exploration of the baroque world, this film speaks to children, teenagers, and adults alike—anyone eager to understand how opera can become a collective, vibrant, and accessible adventure.
A musical journey where youth breathe new life into an ancient masterpiece—with modernity, energy, and emotion.

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Behind the scenes of Actéon

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Step behind the scenes of an opera like no other. 
The young voices of the Maîtrise de Radio France take on a challenge: bringing Actéon, a baroque masterpiece by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, to life under the direction of the Paris Opera Academy. 
Th

the documentary about the production

Behind the comic plot of La Finta giardiniera lies a subtle portrait of human passions. Sandrina, a Marchioness disguised as a gardener, is seeking to escape her tumultuous past: she was stabbed by her lover, Count Belfiore, and left for dead. Reunited in the local judge’s mansion, the former lovers find themselves embroiled in a series of quiproquos and disguises, before everything is unravelled in a happy reconciliation. In 1775, aged just eighteen, Mozart composed La Finta giardiniera for the Munich Carnival. The young composer skilfully blends recitative, arias and ensembles, already revealing the humour and humanity that would characterise his future masterpieces. This opera is performed by the Paris Opera Academy’s artists in residence in Julie Delille’s new staging.

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La Finta giardiniera, on stage from 24 March to 1st April 2026 at the MC93 Bobigny

Behind the comic plot of La Finta giardiniera lies a subtle portrait of human passions.Sandrina, a Marchioness disguised as a gardener, is seeking to escape her tumultuous past: she was stabbed by her lover, Count Belfiore, and left for dead. Reunite

La Finta Giardiniera

What is Gandhi’s influence on the contemporary political world? This is the question explored by Philip Glass’s opera Satyagraha (1980), the second in his trilogy devoted to historical figures, alongside Einstein on the Beach (1976) and Akhnaten (1984). But Satyagraha – Sanskrit for “truth force” – is not a biopic.This work, with its mesmerising music, interweaves timelines, relating each of its three acts to a key figure linked to Gandhi in order to better understand the genesis of his political thought: Leo Tolstoy, with whom he corresponded; the poet Rabindranath Tagore, who supported him; and Martin Luther King, who was inspired by his principles of non-violence.Satyagraha is entering the Paris Opera repertoire directed by Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber, who have already created the dance piece Pit. For them, this opera “is not simply a meditation on history, but a call to action and a forceful lesson that rings ever more true today.”

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What is Gandhi’s influence on the contemporary political world? This is the question explored by Philip Glass’s opera Satyagraha (1980), the second in his trilogy devoted to historical figures, alongside Einstein on the Beach (1976) and Akhnaten (198

Philip Glass

Jules Massenet no doubt sought to enchant his era when he set Charles Perrault’s fairytale to music. With Cendrillon, the composer offers us one of his most attractive works, quite unlike other operatic adaptations of the tale. The mischievous Lucette and the women around her give the work a tone whose myriad nuances confirm the words of Claude Debussy who saw Massenet as “the musical historian of the female soul”. By gracing the fairy with an unreal coloratura timbre and having the role of the prince sung by a soprano, the composer offers us a vocal festival carried along by a richly varied orchestration alternating between Mozartian finesse, baroque-style citations and grand romantic overtones. To mark the addition of Cendrillon to the Paris Opera’s repertoire, Mariame Clément plays on the myth’s fantasy side, reflecting on the characters’ inner selves whilst setting them free from their tight suits and court shoes. Orchestre et Choeurs de l’Opéra national de Paris Directed by François RoussillonA coproduction by Opéra national de Paris, François Roussillon et Associés with the participation of France Télévisions With the support of La Fondation Orange, patron of Opéra national de Paris audiovisual retransmissions, Cercle audiovisuel et numérique, Cercle Berlioz and with the assistance of Centre National du Cinéma et de l'image animéeOpéra national de Paris - François Roussillon et Associés - 2022Visual: © Monika Rittershaus / OnP

Cendrillon (Lucette): Pandolfe’s daughter and Madame de La Haltière’s stepdaughter Madame de La Haltière: Cendrillon’s stepmother Mother to Noémie and Dorothée Le Prince Charmant La Fée: Cendrillon’s godmother Noémie: Cendrillon’s stepsister Dorothée: Cendrillon’s stepsister Pandolfe: Cendrillon’s father, a widower and now married to Madame de La Haltière Le Roi

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Cendrillon by Jules Massenet

 Jules Massenet no doubt sought to enchant his era when he set Charles Perrault’s fairytale to music. With Cendrillon, the composer offers us one of his most attractive works, quite unlike other operatic adaptations of the tale. The mischievous Lucet

Jules Massenet

Cendrillon

In 1890, Engelbert Humperdinck’s sister Adelheid Wette asked him to compose the music for a children’s performance based on a tale by the Grimm brothers (Jacob, 1785-1863 and Wilhelm, 1786-1859) which she hoped to organize for her husband’s birthday.The project quickly evolved and gave rise to the definitive libretto of the Märchenoper which was completed in december 1890. Compared to the Grimm tale, Adelheid Wette’s libretto was greatly simplified for reasons of dramatic effectiveness, but also to limit the length and even violence of the original.The work was enriched with children’s songs and popular melodies evoking brahms‘ Volkslieder. Strongly influenced by Wagner, the composer drew inspiration from continuous melody and the notion of the leitmotiv with the use of recurrent themes.The work was an immediate success. Within months, Hänsel und Gretel had made a name for itself on stages throughout Germany. Gustav Mahler conducted the work in Hamburg in 1894. Hänsel und Gretel would become the first opera to be rebroadcast by radio in Europe (from Covent Garden on January 6th, 1923). Director: Andy Sommer © Opéra de Paris Production – Bel Air Media – France 2013

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Hänsel und Gretel

In 1890, Engelbert Humperdinck’s sister Adelheid Wette asked him to compose the music for a children’s performance based on a tale by the Grimm brothers (Jacob, 1785-1863 and Wilhelm, 1786-1859) which she hoped to organize for her husband’s birthday.

Engelbert Humperdinck

It’s no easy matter taming a vixen! The gamekeeper, who introduces one into his household, learns this the hard way, especially as the animal in question is particularly cunning, feminist and even revolutionary, calling on the hens in the barnyard to revolt against the cockerel and “forge a new world”! Alas, while freedom allows her to find love, the little vixen will pay a high price...Premiered in Brno in 1924, Leoš Janáček’s piece, with orchestration as lush as the nature it describes, is a score apart in the history of opera, where foxes, crickets and grasshoppers, dogs and woodpeckers are rarely the heroes of the story. A fairy tale fable, this Cunning Little Vixen an allegory of human life, a hymn celebrating the eternal renewal of life and nature. The Paris Opera Orchestra, Chorus and Atelier lyrique Maîtrise des Hauts-de-Seine / Paris Opera's Childen Choir Director: Don Kent © Idéale Audience - Opéra national de Paris -NHK - France 2008

Bystrouška: The little vixen The forester: The man who captured Bystrouška The forester’s wife Lapák: The forester’s dog The village schoolmaster The village priest Pásek: The innkeeper Mrs Pásková: The innkeeper’s wife Harašta: A poacher The fox: Bystrouška’s husband Farmyard and wild animals

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The Cunning Little Vixen

It’s no easy matter taming a vixen! The gamekeeper, who introduces one into his household, learns this the hard way, especially as the animal in question is particularly cunning, feminist and even revolutionary, calling on the hens in the barnyard to

Leoš Janácek

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

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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 

Ernest Chausson

Benjamin Britten composed The Rape of Lucretia in 1946 after a radio-drama by André Obey. Britten and his librettist, two convinced pacifists involved way before WWII, address a European society bruised by war and hate.Running from the grand operatic machine, their inspiration drove them to a more intimate construction, the chamber opera. Britten wrote indeed for a small number of musicians and singers-actors in a musical and dramatic language where the narration exceeds the illusion on stage.Britten chose the myth of the dedicated and suicidal wife and wrote a piece that interrogates desire in its relation with anxiety: mutual love, gulty will and frustration.Britten makes us think about the violence in human relations, about sexuality and its dark zones. With Lucretia as heroin and victim, Britten makes us face the tragic human condition. An Académie de l'Opéra national de Paris production Co-produced by : C.I.C.T. - Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord With the support of the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation and the Orange Foundation, patron of the Opéra national de Paris' audiovisual broadcasts.Executive production : Idéale Audience Director: Sébastien Glas © Opéra national de Paris - 2021Picture: © Studio J'adore ce que vous faites ! / OnP

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The Rape of Lucretia

Benjamin Britten composed The Rape of Lucretia in 1946 after a radio-drama by André Obey. Britten and his librettist, two convinced pacifists involved way before WWII, address a European society bruised by war and hate. Running from the grand operati

Benjamin Britten

The Marriage of Figaro is one of the repertoire’s most iconic works. Brahms spoke of it as a “miracle” and the Countess’s lament remains one of the most heart-rending musical pages of all time. By taking up Beaumarchais’ comedy, which had caused a scandal to shake Parisian society, Mozart and Da Ponte’s success was secured.The play had even been banned by Joseph II in 1785 at Theatre of Vienna. Did it shine too much light on the contradictions of an already faltering regime, ready to collapse with the French Revolution? Netia Jones’ new production retains the very essence of Beaumarchais’ play as she humorously yet mischievously explores human relationships in a universe that confuses reality and fiction to the point of asking, like the Count: “Are we playing in a comedy?” The Paris Opera Orchestra and Chorus A Paris Opera and Bel Air Media co-production, with the participation of France Télévisions, the support of the CNC and the Orange Foundation, patron of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts. Director: Andy Sommer© Opéra national de Paris – Bel Air Media – 2022 Picture: © Vincent Pontet / OnP

The Count: Seducer of Susanna and jealous husband The Countess: The Count’s wife, tormented by her husband’s deceptions Susanna: The Countess’s chambermaid, Figaro’s fiancée, Cherubino’s accomplice Figaro: The Count’s valet, engaged to Susanna Cherubino: The Count’s page, ingenuous young man in love with the Countess Marcellina: Housekeeper Bartolo: Doctor from Seville Don Basilio: Master of music Don Curzio: Judge Barbarina: The gardener’s daughter and Susanna’s cousin Antonio: The Count’s gardener and Susanna’s uncle

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Le nozze di Figaro

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Le Nozze di Figaro from 15 November to 27 December 2025 at the Palais Garnier

The Marriage of Figaro is one of the repertoire’s most iconic works. Brahms spoke of it as a “miracle” and the Countess’s lament remains one of the most heart-rending musical pages of all time. By taking up Beaumarchais’ comedy, which had caused a sc

Invited to the Paris Opera for the first time, director Netia Jones staged a new production of Le nozze di Figaro in 2022, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. A documentary, filmed backstage at the Palais Garnier, looks back at the highlights of this new production, from the first presentation of the model, to the work in the costume, painting and tapestry workshops at the Opéra Bastille; from the first rehearsals with the Orchestra, soloists and chorus artists to the first performance at the Palais Garnier.The Paris Opera Orchestra and ChorusWith the support of the Orange Foundation, patron of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts, and the Cercle audiovisuel et numérique.Director: Adrien Pauchet © Opéra national de Paris – 2023

Dans les coulisses des Noces de Figaro

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Behind the Scenes of Le nozze di Figaro

Invited to the Paris Opera for the first time, director Netia Jones staged a new production of Le nozze di Figaro in 2022, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel.  A documentary, filmed backstage at the Palais Garnier, looks back at the highlights of this new 

Adrien Pauchet

Salome, princess of Judea, the daughter‑in‑law of King Herod, finds life in her father‑in‑law’s palace dreary. Her curiosity is roused when she hears the voice of Jochanaan, a prophet held prisoner by Herod who is afraid of him. Obsessed by this enigmatic and virtuous man, Salome is ready to do anything to possess him, dead or alive.Drawing on Oscar Wilde’s scandalous play of the same name, in 1905 Richard Strauss produced the work that was to ensure his status as Wagner’s successor in the history of German opera.“Dance for me, Salome”. From Herod’s lubricious injunction to the young woman stems one of the most emblematic orchestral passages in opera: the dance of the seven veils. A hypnotic interlude in itself sufficient to capture the fatal mounting desire that suffuses this work whose orchestration is as rich as it is modern.A dazzling hour and forty minutes, decadent in its very essence, which, for her debut at the Paris Opera, Lydia Steier treats as a dystopia in which amorality rules.   The Paris Opera OrchestraA co-production of the Paris Opera and Telmondis, with the participation of 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.Director: François-René Martin © Opéra national de Paris - 2022Picture: © Agathe Poupeney / OnP

<ul><li>Herod: Tetrarch of Judea</li><li>Herodias: Herod’s wife, mother of Salome</li><li>Salome: Princess of Judea, fascinated by Jochanaan</li><li>Jochanaan: Prophet, prisoner of Herod</li><li>Narraboth: Captain of the guard, in love with Salome</li><li>Herodias’ Page: serving in the palace</li><li>Five Jews: who claim Jochanaan from Herod</li><li>Two Nazarenes: who report the miracles of Christ  </li></ul>

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Salome

Salome, princess of Judea, the daughter‑in‑law of King Herod, finds life in her father‑in‑law’s palace dreary. Her curiosity is roused when she hears the voice of Jochanaan, a prophet held prisoner by Herod who is afraid of him. Obsessed by this enig

Richard Strauss

Julia, a priestess in the Temple of Vesta, is torn between her religious duties and her love for the Roman general Licinius. This is the crux of La Vestale, Gaspare Spontini’s opera, written at the beginning of the First Empire.Dedicated to Josephine and multiplying political allusions to Napoleon, the work was a triumph from its first performance at the Paris Opera in 1807. Admired by Berlioz, the score features brilliant orchestration and a sustained lyrical vocal style that heralds grand opera while remaining true to the legacy of Gluck.After remaining absent from the Paris Opera for almost 150 years, the return of this work in its original French version is an eagerly awaited event. Stage director Lydia Steier explores the themes of religious extremism and militaristic zeal: can love have any hope of surviving between these two ruthless extremes? The Paris Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Julia: Vestal, priestess in the temple of the goddess Vesta Licinius: Roman general, Julia’s lover Cinna: Army commander, friend of Licinius The Sovereign Pontiff: High priest of Vesta The Great Vestal: Head priestess of the vestals Chief of the aruspices: Soothsayer priest A Consul: Roman magistrate

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La Vestale

Julia, a priestess in the Temple of Vesta, is torn between her religious duties and her love for the Roman general Licinius. This is the crux of La Vestale, Gaspare Spontini’s opera, written at the beginning of the First Empire. Dedicated to Josephin