After Mozart left Salzburg for the first time in 1777, radical changes occurred in his life: He had a groundbreaking encounter with Haydn, who became his friend, and Mozart became acquainted with Munich and the Mannheim Orchestra. Added to this were his unhappy love affair with Aloysia Weber, a disappointing stay in Paris, and the tragic death of his mother. Mozart returned to his birthplace and, with a heavy heart, once again entered the service of Prince-Archbishop Colloredo. But he had changed profoundly as a person. The great vocal works he now composed are permeated by the spirit of the Enlightenment and by the philosophical and aesthetic currents that were then stirring Europe. Zaide marked the beginning of this new aesthetic, which refused any concession to gallant taste and instead explored the truth of the human soul. The fact that Mozart gradually freed himself from all tutelage — he left Colloredo, Salzburg, his father — and subsequently produced dramatic and sacred masterpieces such as Idomeneo (1780-1781), The Abduction from the Seraglio (1781-1782), and the Great Mass in C minor (1782-1783) is directly and unmistakably connected.

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Zaide or The Path of Light

Felsenreitschule

“Let us love, laugh and sing without end”, proclaims Manon, even more attracted by jewels and the easy life than by her love – however sincere – for the Chevalier des Grieux. If this opera, inspired by Abbé Prévost’s novel, is one of Jules Massenet’s most popular, it is because the drama is portrayed in a musical idiom as fertile as it is varied...

Manon

Opéra Bastille

The end of a war. A child's birthday party. A wall falls in the center of the city. A first kiss. The economy collapses. A new millennium. It's getting warmer. Friends die. And everyone keeps buying new mobile phones.

We Are The Lucky Ones

National Opera & Ballet

Lea Desandre, Thomas Dunford, and the Ensemble Jupiter invite you to explore the repertoire of Julie Andrews, the unforgettable embodiment of Mary Poppins and an emblematic figure of dreams, gentleness, and poetry, for one evening. Set to the most beautiful melodies of Leonard Bernstein, Henry Mancini, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Sandy Wilson, Noël Coward, Robert & Richard Sherman, Frederick Loewe, Carol Burnett & Julie Andrews.

Chasing rainbows

National Theatre of the Opera Comique

Massenet is the composer who did the most to establish the Opéra-Comique as a major performing arts center. Paradoxically, his adaptation of Goethe's first novel was rejected by the director at the time, who preferred to offer his bourgeois audiences happy love stories. The Viennese triumph of Werther quickly opened the doors to our institution, where it has become one of the most performed titles.

Werther

With his poetic opera The Cunning Little Vixen, Leoš Janáček brought nothing less than the eternal cycle of becoming and passing to the stage. It tells the life story of the young, rebellious vixen Bystrouška, or Sharp Ears, who is captured by the forester and starts a revolution at his homestead before she succeeds in escaping. Back in the freedom of the forest, she founds a family with a fox and is then shot by a poacher. The seemingly so civilized human world looks wistfully at wild nature, which follows its own laws of life and love.

Das schlaue Füchslein

Bebelplatz

A devilish seducer defying both God and society, Don Giovanni has become the symbol of the libertine with a formidable life force for some, and a profane and mendacious cynicism for others. The powerful man combines all the flaws and has fascinated artists and audiences since his creation by Tirso de Molina and Molière, closely followed, in Prague in 1787, by Mozart and da Ponte. The two creators fixed the myth and offered lyric art its first hero transcending the ages. In the staging, Agnès Jaoui achieves a rare balance between comedy and drama, multiplying the expressive power of the work and bringing a renewed vision of the characters. A sparkling ensemble of soloists praises this new co-production bringing together no fewer than three French opera houses. A production not to be missed under any circumstances!

Bertrand Couderc

Events

Upcoming events

13 - 14 Dec, 2025

Chasing rainbows · Jupiter Ensemble

19 - 29 Jan, 2026

Werther · Opéra Comique

Feb 28 - Mar 15, 2026

Das schlaue Füchslein · Staatsoper Berlin

24 - 31 May, 2026

Don Giovanni · Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier

Past events

17 - 22 Aug, 2025

Zaide or The Path of Light · Salzburger Festspiele

May 26 - Jun 6, 2025

Manon · Opéra national de Paris

About

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