Art
Orgon is a man of property duped by the false piety of the penniless Tartuffe. Orgon takes him into his house, believing him a paragon of virtue. Orgon orders his daughter to reject her fiancé and marry Tartuffe. First Dorine, the family servant, tries a strategy to avert the marriage; then Orgon's son tries his hand. They anger Orgon, and to prove paternal power, he disinherits his son and makes Tartuffe his heir. Next Orgon's wife tries to bring her husband insight, a stratagem that partially backfires. With the bailiff at the door ordering Orgon to vacate his own home and with Tartuffe at court to prove Orgon's a traitor, all seems lost.
This epic opera follows Virgil, beginning as the Greeks appear to have ceded the field after ten years of the Trojan War. Cassandra tries to warn of the terrible fate to come, but fate is set and Troy falls. The first two acts cover this tragic end, then the flight of survivors to Carthage and events at Carthage continue in acts 3 - 5, culminating in the further voyage for Italy and Rome. This is Virgil's classic epic, in operatic form, in about a three and a half hour performance from French Opera.
Mise-en-scène of the classic tragedy of Sofocles, carried out by Antoine Vitez in the National Theatre of Chaillot
Hélène Masson visits her friend Gérôme Savignat in the isolated rejuvenation clinic owned by Dr. Devilers and his partner Dr. Berbard. But after a series of tragic events, Hélène goes further in her investigation of the clinic.
The opera is based on the Biblical tale of Samson and Delilah found in Chapter 16 of the Book of Judges in the Old Testament. It is the only opera by Saint-Saëns that is regularly performed. The second act love scene in Delilah's tent is one of the set pieces that define French opera. Two of Delilah's arias are particularly well known: "Printemps qui commence" and "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix", the latter of which is one of the most popular recital pieces in the mezzo-soprano/contralto repertoire. Staged by greek director Yannis Kokkos and conducted by Valery Gergiev on May 25th, 2016 at the Mariinsky Theatre.
La Comédie-Française is the oldest continuous repertory company in the world, founded in Paris in the late 17th century. This is the first time a documentary film-maker has been allowed to look at all the aspects of the work of this great theatrical company. Sequences in the film include sections of plays, casting, set and costume design, administrative meetings and rehearsals and performances of four classic French plays, Don Juan by Molière, La Thebaide by Racine, La Double Inconstance by Marivaux and Occupe-toi d'Amelie by Feydeau. (Zipporah Films)
In Gibellina, in deep Sicily, the sumptuous staging, by Yannis Kokkos, of OresteĂŻa by Iannis Xenakis, after Aeschylus.
Founded in 2012 by Laurence Equilbey, the Insula Orchestra performs on period instruments and experiments with new concert formats. In summer 2018, the French conductor and her ensemble will present a little-known work by Mozart at the Parisian cultural center La Seine Musicale: the incidental music to "Thamos, King in Egypt". In 1773, the author Tobias Philipp Freiherr von Gebler asked his fellow Freemason Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to compose incidental music for his heroic drama "Thamos, King of Egypt". The boy wonder composed two choruses and five interludes for the play, which took up the Egyptian theme popular in the 18th century.
Mise-en-scène, at the Comédie-Française, of La Vie de Galilée by Bertolt Brecht. This is the last staging by Antoine Vitez.
Initiatory journey of a soprano and an ethnologist in Africa, Asia and South America, in search of music from other cultures.
Film based on the lyrical tragedy of the same name by Jean Cocteau and Francis Poulenc, directed by Alain Françon at the Théâtre du Châtelet.
