Twenty operas, fourteen ballets, concerts and recitals, including several rare works, are scheduled for the next season.
The Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov will sign his first opera production in France: the Paris Opera commissioned him Lohengrin of Wagner for his 2023-2024 season, which will also mark the return of Nutcracker of Nureyev.
Describing Serebrennikov as “one of the most committed and daring directors on the current scene“, the general director of the Opera Alexander Neef, who unveiled the new season on Wednesday March 29, underlined that “the references to war and conquest present in Lohengrin resonate with the current situation“, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Kirill Serebrennikov, on all fronts in 2022, from the Cannes Film Festival to Avignon, had left Moscow in the wake of the invasion and is now based in Berlin.
“Médée” by Marc-Antoine Charpentier and “La Vestale” by Gaspare Spontini
And after 30 years of absence, the Opera will reconnect from September with an in-house opera troupe with the aim of supporting young artists and consolidating the link between its artists and the public. The Opera is also resuming a production of the Don Giovanni by Mozart, signed Claus Guth at the 2008 Salzburg Festival, and brought contemporary opera into the repertoire The Exterminating Angel by the British Thomas Adès (2016), directed by Calixto Bieito.
Several rare works are also programmed: Beatrice di Tenda by Vincenzo Bellini, in a production by American director Peter Sellars; Medeacreated three centuries ago by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, before Louis XIV at the Royal Academy of Music (the ancestor of the Opera); Don Quixote of Jules Massenet, absent from the scene for more than 20 years; The Vestal Virgin by Gaspare Spontini, in its original version in French, which has not been on the bill at the Opera since the 19th century. Added to this is an anthology of covers, Cosi Fan Tutte from Mozart to La Traviata from Verdi, via Turandot by Puccini or The Makropoulos Affair by Czech composer Leos Janacek.
The ballet revives a greater number of classics than in previous years: Nutcracker in Nureyev’s version, last given in December 2014, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, romantic ballet Giselle And The poorly guarded girl by Briton Frederick Ashton. On the contemporary side, Blue Beard by Pina Bausch Sadeh21 by Ohad Naharin and pieces by Jiri Kylian enter the repertoire. Three women choreographers are on the bill, first with the revival of The Seasons’ Canon by Crystal Pite, great success of 2016. The Chinese artist Xie Xin and Marion Motin, choreographer of clips and tours for Stromae, Redcar (ex-Christine and the Queens) or Angèle, will both sign their first creation for the ballet. A Jerome Robbins evening is planned, as well as a performance by the guest company Béjart Ballet Lausanne. It is still a season signed Aurélie Dupont, the former director of dance who had resigned in mid-2022, before being replaced by José Martinez.
A deficit of 6.4 million euros
Last year, the Opera recorded a deficit of 6.4 million euros (less than expected), but this will widen this year to 9.6 million euros, in particular due to inflation. . The institution clarifies that, “faced with rising energy costs, the Ministry of Culture granted the Opera exceptional support of two million euros at the end of the year“Despite this aid, all prices at the Opera have increased by an average of 5%, particularly in the most expensive categories (up to 170 euros for a ballet like Giselle). But in order to attract more audiences, 35% of the tickets will be sold at 50 euros or less and 30,000 others will be offered at 10 euros to people under 28 as part of the young previews.
From March 29, the Opera is launching its new streaming platform, Paris Opera Play, accessible in France and abroad, to watch shows live, in replay. The Opera also announced that the dancers of the classical company will do their exercises on a giant bar, open to amateur dancers, on July 14, 2024, as part of the Paris Olympics cultural Olympiad.