Mezzo

On the way to the Trojan War, the king of Mycenae killed a sacred doe belonging to Diana, an offense for which the goddess of war demands the sacrifice of the daughter of the leader of the Achaeans.

Written in 1865, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was a popular success. All British schoolchildren and their parents knew about the escapades of the young Alice. With a new score by Philip Glass, a figurehead of American minimalism, choreographers Amir Hosseinpour and Jonathan Lunn reimagine and reinvent Lewis Carroll's fantastical world. Freed from the original narrative, the dancers of the OnR Ballet play a new gallery of contemporary creatures and characters, joined by actress Sunnyi Melles.

This seminal work of avant-garde opera from composer Philip Glass and director Robert Wilson arrives full-circle, coming to France, the site of its 1976 Avignon Festival world premiere, at the tail end of this 2014 revival tour for a landmark Theâtre du Châtelet production and a first ever filming by award-winning arts filmmaker Don Kent. Eschewing conventional narrative, the opera revolves loosely around pacifist Einstein’s relationship to the creation of the atomic bomb.

Since the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival was founded in 2020, the city of Bayreuth has become a mecca for Baroque music. Sandrine Piau invites us to savour the frivolity of 18th-century Rome through cantatas with enchanting notes.

Pianist Alexander Malofeev in a live recital from the Verbier Church at the Verbier Festival 2022. The young virtuoso offers an entirely Russian program which brings together Scriabin, Rachmaninov, and Prokofiev, with Rachmaninov’s sublimely mysterious Études-Tableaux op.33 as the centerpiece, alongside Prokofiev’s celebrated Piano Sonata no.7, which blends certain expressionist elements with a pensive lyricism. Program: SCRIABIN: 5 Preludes op.16 … RACHMANINOFF: Etudes-tableau op.33 … SCRIABIN: 2 Impromptus op.12 … PROKOFIEV: Sonata 7 in B-flat op.83 … LISZT: Mazeppa S.139/4 … MEDTNER: Canzona Serenate (Forgotten Melodies I op.38/6) … TCHAIKOVSKY/PLETNEV: Pas de deux (Andante maestoso)(Nutcracker) … MEDTNER: Tales of the Elves (Fairy Tales op.48/2) … PROKOFIEV: Tocata op.11

“Everyone steals according to one’s position in society.” A social critique, a credo to live by, and a recipe for the hilarious satire of Jacques Offenbach’s Les Brigands! The Opéra Comique’s rollicking 2011 production took full advantage of the talents of stage directors Macha Makeïeff and Jérôme Deschamps (members of the wildly successful French comedy troupe Les Deschiens) and the accomplished music director François-Xavier Roth.

Inspired by Georges Seurat's magnificent painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's soaring musical is itself an artistic masterpiece. The musical begins with the story of Georges and his model and lover Dot. As Georges struggles to find his artistic voice, he becomes more and more distant from the one woman who truly sees him for who he really is. A century later, Georges and Dot's descendants, themselves struggling artists, grapple with the same issues of artistic ingenuity, and a public that just doesn't understand. Through melodic and heartbreaking music, poetic lyrics, and quick, jaunty wit, Sunday In the Park With George reveals universal truths about the nature of art, love, and passion, with the breadth and depth of art's most enduring masterpieces. Filmed live at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris in 2013 and broadcast on Mezzo.

In the 1980s, Algeria experienced a tumultuous social context which reached its peak during the riots of October 88. This wave of protest, with youth as its figurehead, echoed the texts of raï singers. Thirst for freedom, misery of life and the aspirations of youth are among the main themes of their works which will inspire an entire generation. More than music, raï celebrates the Arabic language and becomes a vector of Algerian culture, thus providing the cultural weapons of emerging Algerian nationalism With Cheb Khaled, Cheb Mami and Chaba Fadela as leaders of the movement, raï is also a way of telling and reflecting the essence of Algeria in these difficult times. While the threat weighs on artists in Algeria, their exile allows raï to be exported internationally and thus, to bring the colors of Algeria to life throughout the world.

Envy and conspiracy, but also passionate loves, jealousy, revenge and final forgiveness come together in the masterpiece of Verdi, which aroused the anger and prohibitions of censors of the time until the composer and librettist was compelled to make changes in it: from the original Sweden to far away Boston. The great Polish tenor Piotr Beczala returns to the Liceu with one of his opening credits, accompanied by the soprano Keri Alkema. Vincent Boussard’s sets reinforce the dark and mysterious atmosphere surrounding the piece, which features costumes by Christian Lacroix and Vincent Lemaire’s sober staging, which allows one to focus their attention on the dramatic core of the score. The cast, directed by a true specialist like Renato Palumbo, also presents a leader in Verdian song: Dolora Zajick.

The world famous conductor reminisces about his life in a wide ranging discussion about his varied and successful career.

Feature film.

While the young people of Europe forsake Love to follow Bellone at war, Cupid sets out to shoot his arrows into the rest of the world. A masterpiece of the Enlightenment, Les Indes galantes is sparkling entertainment. Yet Rameau’s first opera‑ballet also bears witness to the Europeans’ ambiguous view of ‘savage’ cultures. The Belgian choreographer-director Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui adapts Les Indes Galantes to a contemporary setting, where globalisation has transformed the notions of exoticism.

Recording of a performance by Ballet de l'Opéra national de Paris of the ballet on Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich, choreographed by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker.

Based on real events and drawing on Georg Büchner's revolutionary play, Alban Berg's Wozzeck turns a grimly tragic narrative of violence and murder into one of the most powerful and original operas of the 20th century. Berg's uncompromising portrayal of brutality and madness generated much controversy, but the significance of Wozzeck was soon recognised; its compelling lyrical expansiveness, large-scale dramatic gestures and remarkable musical structures producing music of overwhelming emotional intensity. The Financial Times declared this to be 'a beautiful, moving, engrossing production… this is a consummate Wozzeck, blending clarity, lyricism, compassion and crushing force.'