Name: Great pages of opera
Start: 2026-03-12T19:15:00
Location: Vignette Theater

Noëlle Gény

Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier

Conductor Paul Agnew and Les Arts Florissants continue their exploration of the moving world of the Neapolitan composer Carlo Gesualdo (1566 – 1613), and join forces with choreographer Amala Dianor for a powerful stage creation, where a cappella singing blends with the expressive force of the bodies. At the heart of this show: the responses for Holy Week . Composed in 1611, shortly before the composer's death, these responses recount in a chiseled polyphony the last days of Christ in a musical language that is at once mystical, dramatic and of rare expressiveness. Six singers and four dancers embody this Passion on stage , where voices rise in space while bodies translate the spiritual and physical intensity of the story. In this original stage creation, emotion circulates freely between past and present, between voices and gestures, between faith and humanity.

Gesualdo Passione

Opéra Comédie

Fancy a coffee break like no other? The artists of the National Opera Choir and their choirmaster Noëlle Gény offer you a musical (and gourmet!) break during your day. Join us at 2:30 p.m. for a coffee before the concert!

Coffee Break #2

Valerie Coleman opens with Umoja , a vibrant hymn to unity and peace. This short but intense introduction, inspired by African traditions, deploys a rhythmic and melodic energy that ideally prepares us for the works to come. Then comes American lyricism with Samuel Barber's Cello Concerto , magnificently served by the sensitive playing of Maximilian Hornung. Alternating virtuoso passages and profound melancholy, this work reveals the full expressive range of the cello, dialoguing with an orchestra that is by turns tender and tumultuous. As a grand finale, Brahms' Symphony No. 1 displays its beautiful architecture and tormented lyricism. After fifteen years of doubt, the composer delivers a masterful response to Beethoven's legacy, culminating in a finale with a triumphant theme that has become legendary.

Symphonic Bridge

Opéra Berlioz

Relieve stress, strengthen your body, and awaken your mind in a unique setting, in the Grand Foyer of the Opéra Comédie with its exceptional view of the Place de la Comédie! Soloists from the Orchestra will provide musical accompaniment to your session.

Harmony: Pilates #1

Led by renowned restaurant executives and punctuated by musical interludes, this evening, partially deductible through patronage, offers a unique experience in the sumptuous foyers of the Opéra Comédie. An exceptional event to share with friends, colleagues, clients, or partners.

Gala dinner

Among them, parallel trajectories echo each other with poignant force. Korngold and Schoenberg, two major figures in Viennese music, had to flee Nazism. The former found refuge in Hollywood where he revolutionized film music; the latter reconstructed his musical language in the United States. Their works bear the scars of this uprooting, between nostalgia and audacity. Pablo Casals and Roberto Gerhard, Spanish exiles, embody resistance through music. Casals, an opponent of Franco, transformed El cant dels ocells into a hymn of freedom. Gerhard, a disciple of Schoenberg, blended avant-garde and Catalan folklore in a unique style, shaped by his exile in England. Arvo Pärt, Olga Podgaiskaya, and Samir Odeh-Tamimi extend this reflection on wandering and creation. Pärt, forced to leave Soviet Estonia, found refuge in timeless music. Podgaiskaya and Odeh-Tamimi, heirs to these journeys, in turn question boundaries and shifting identities. An evening resonating with the echoes of a torn 20th century and the persistence of a beauty born of absence. A world concert where each note echoes a lost land, but also the hope of a new beginning.

Exiles #2

For over twenty years, the Grand Chinese New Year Concert has toured Europe, inviting Western audiences to discover the immense wealth of traditional Chinese music. To celebrate the entry into the Year of the Horse, the Opera Orchestra invites a large orchestra from China, which will offer a musical journey through the Chinese provinces, exploring a repertoire spanning over 3,000 years of musical history. On stage, the musicians play emblematic instruments such as the Erhu, the Pipa, and the Yangqin, whose captivating sounds transport spectators from the steppes of Mongolia to the gardens of Canton. By highlighting these repertoires rarely performed outside of China, the Grand Chinese New Year Concert invites you to discover Chinese culture through a captivating musical universe, rare on Western stages.

Grand Chinese New Year Concert

The lion roars, the birds sing, the elephant waddles, the swan glides... All come to life thanks to the instruments of the Orchestre National Montpellier in Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals , a joyful musical bestiary to discover with the family. Each instrument becomes an animal, each piece a sound tableau: flute for the birds, cello for the swan, piano for the kangaroos... This fabulous work is a fun way to discover the sounds of the orchestra by following a real animal parade. Alongside Damien Robert, who designed the staging, actress Wafae Ababou blends gesture and music in a poetic interpretation in LSF, while Lim Kiihwan's projected illustrations accompany the music and invite wonder.

Carnival of the Animals

Immerse yourself in this eclectic and captivating program, led by Sora Elisabeth Lee, a Korean conductor who trained in Berlin and Vienna and worked under the direction of Christian Thielemann and Neeme Järvi.

Romance under the stars

Dive into the golden age of burlesque with an  exceptional film concert! The Orchestre National Montpellier accompanies three silent film masterpieces live: Big Business and Liberty by Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, and Payday by Charlie Chaplin. In the first two hilarious short films, the iconic duo pushes the art of slapstick to its paroxysm: an absurd war between Christmas tree sellers and an irascible owner, dizzying stunts at 70 meters in the air... Jens Troester's music, faithful to the tradition of silent films, mixes mischievous fanfares, wild percussion, and catchy melodies to enhance the humor and energy of these timeless classics. In Pay Day, our famous Tramp, a construction worker, tries to enjoy  his pay despite his bossy wife and a drunken night that leads him into hilarious situations.

Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin

The Montpellier National Opera Choir unveils its full virtuosity in a repertoire that is dear to its heart. Under the direction of Noëlle Gény, it will perform, for the greatest pleasure of all, an anthology of great choral pieces from the most beautiful operas… A beautiful musical interlude!

Great pages of opera

Vignette Theater

The opening performance is Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 , a rare gem, astonishing with its youthful vitality and intimate lyricism. Then soprano Golda Schultz illuminates André Previn's sensual Honey and Rue , a cycle of melodies fusing classical and jazz to poems by Toni Morrison. Carried by the orchestra, her radiant timbre captivates and illuminates this sensitive kaleidoscope of feminine emotions, from intimate murmurs to passionate flights. As a grand finale, Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier suite unfolds its intoxicating waltzes and fiery duets. Under the impassioned direction of Roderick Cox, this short opera becomes a symphonic poem where the human soul throbs, each note making our hearts dance. Between symphonic power, vocal confidence, and orchestral voluptuousness, this program weaves a golden thread between the centuries—where music always beats.