Toulouse. Any preconceived ideas about opera? These events could make you change your mind
By Toulouse editorial staff
Published on
If the offer of opera is abundant and the level, international, it is available for many years in different forms: live performance and retransmission in cinemas, either live or deferred.
The Capitoline National Opera on the summit of masterpieces
The flagship of Toulouse culture, under the direction of Christophe Ghristi, reconnects with the great hours of this house more than three hundred years old. Opening the season with Antonin Dvorak’s masterpiece, “Rusalka” (October 6 to 16, 2022), Christophe Ghristi brings in one of the most important works of lyrical literature. In a new production by Stefano Poda, under the direction of Frank Beermann and with an outstanding cast, this opening is already shaping up to be a must for the said season.
“La Bohème”, “The Marriage of Figaro”…
The latter will continue with the expected recovery of ” Bohemian “ by Giacomo Puccini (November 26-December 6, 2022), followed by “Wedding of Figaro” by WA Mozart (January 20-31, 2023) with a Franco-French cast, and will end with “La Traviata” by Giuseppe Verdi (April 21-30, 2023), “The Rape of Lucretius” by Benjamin Britten (May 23-30, 2023) and the creation in the original language of “Mefistofele” by Arrigo Boito (June 23-July 2, 2022).
A long-awaited “Tristan and Isolde”
But in the meantime there will be a “Tristan and Isolda” by Richard Wagner who will make the whole of Europe run (February 26-March 7, 2023). In the “house” production by Nicolas Joel and under the direction of the excellent Frank Beermann, an incredible cast will defend the Wagnerian masterpiece: Sophie Koch, Nikolaï Schukoff, Matthias Goerne, Anaïk Morel and Pierre-Yves Pruvot.
To this already stunning program should be added a mind-blowing series of recitals.
Film broadcasts
First of all, let’s regret the abandonment by the IRGC Blagnac (Haute Garonne) retransmissions of operas and ballets, the catchment area being certainly in question in this decision. It should be kept that the UGC Montaudran, in Toulouse, does not suffer the same torments… Especially since its partnership with the Paris Opera is most exhilarating.
Judge fr. 15 operas are on the program including four live: “The Capulets and the Montagues” by Vincenzo Bellini “Salome” by Richard Strauss, “Hamlet” by Ambroise Thomas and the eagerly awaited new production of ” Romeo and Juliet “ by Charles Gounod with the new darling of lyricomaniacs, the tenor Benjamin Bernheim.
The ABC is no slouch and we rely directly with the famous Royal Opera House in London. There is worse ! Five operas are on the program. Deferred data of course, but nothing but hits: “Butterfly”, “Bohemian”, “The Barber of Seville”, “Turandot” and “The Marriage of Figaro”.
The New York MET at Pathé and Gaumont
Let’s finish with the most famous of its broadcasts, those from the top one of the world’s opera houses: New York MET. It is the Gaumont circuit which has been its exclusive feature for many years. Whether at the Pathé Wilson in Toulouse or at the Gaumont Labège, the program is identical and offers us ten live operas this season. Of the “Medea” from Cherubini to ” The Magic Flute “ from Mozart to “La Traviata” by Verdi, “Fedora” by Giordano, “Lohengrin” by Wagner, “Falstaff” by Verdi, “The Rosenkavalier” by Richard Strauss and the “Don Giovanni” of Mozart, the panorama is wide enough to satisfy once again the most difficult.
Without forgetting two creations: ” Hours “ by composer Kevin Puts, with a completely maddening cast (Renée Fleming, Joyce DiDonato…) and the long-awaited “Champion” by Terence Blanchard, an opera that will take us into a boxing ring and retrace the glorious but painful life of Émile Griffith.
Robert Penavayre
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