Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider

Lyon National Orchestra

Opéra de Dijon

María lives and dies, sings and dances, giving birth to the destiny of a city, Buenos Aires, and of a music, Piazzolla's Nuevo Tango . Powerful and dreamlike, this María of Buenos Aires lets us experience the unsettling magic of Buenos Aires nights .

Like a true sorcerer, Ástor Piazzolla blends tango, jazz, and classical music in his crucible. From an urban legend—that of a young factory worker who became a tango singer and then a prostitute, and on whose grave the city of Buenos Aires is said to have grown—germinates a vital cycle, as carnal as the pulse of tango: dead or alive, daughter or mother, María haunts the city. Sung, spoken, danced, her drama is surreal or mystical, embodied and searing. The work remains unclassifiable, like its performers—starting with Sol García, who embodies María here. In Amélie Parias's staging and under the artistic direction of William Sabatier, whose bandoneon leads an orchestral ensemble of rare colors, the complete version in eighteen tableaux is finally presented.

Maria from Buenos Aires

Subtitled " Sunday Morning Sessions" in reference to jazz and improvised music, the program for this concert opens the doors to uncharted musical territories, at the crossroads of contemporary research, improvisation, and traditional Mediterranean music. A single, powerful, irresistible spirit prevails.

Openness and curiosity are the watchwords of Jean-Guihen Queyras. Supported by the captivating percussion of brothers Bijan and Keyvan Chemirani, who play the zarb and daf respectively (Iranian instruments which they take far beyond the Persian tradition), and by the magical lyra (a small violin dating back to the Byzantine era) of Sokratis Sinopoulos, the luminous French cellist offers us an imaginary journey through the Balkans, to discover the "Thracian" civilization, a people of explorers, curious and open to other cultures. A beautiful metaphor for these four musician friends who all grew up amidst the fragrant Mediterranean hills.

Thrace

The French Youth Orchestra returns to the Dijon Opera with dazzling epics. An opportunity to hear the cream of the crop of the new French generation, alongside cello prodigy Edgar Moreau.


In residence at the Dijon Opera for the past three seasons, the French Youth Orchestra has built a reputation for concerts brimming with infectious energy. Under the direction of Kristiina Poska, their program will undoubtedly uphold this reputation, beginning with Exodus by Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tüür, a fresco for large orchestra brimming with visceral passion. This will be followed by Also sprach Zarathustra , a symphonic poem by Richard Strauss, famous for its inclusion in Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey . And in between, Elgar's Cello Concerto will be performed by one of today's most virtuosic French artists, Edgar Moreau. A musical triptych with sonorities that are by turns epic and elegiac, where every note is sure to move the listener.

French Youth Orchestra

The Lyon Opera Ballet recreates two mythical pieces from the contemporary repertoire: House and The Rite of Spring , where rhythm is at the helm.

Although nearly thirty years and distinct approaches to choreographic writing separate The Rite of Spring (1984) and House (2011), both pieces share a certain sense of collective vertigo, echoing ancient rituals. This is the heart of The Rite of Spring , originally choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky and reinterpreted here by the Swedish choreographer Mats Ek, which retains Igor Stravinsky's score intact. This version—reworked in 2022—is characterized by a dance that is both rigorous and eruptive, where virtuoso leaps, sweeping gestures, and combative postures coexist. The opening piece, House , an emblematic work by Sharon Eyal, is guided by the pulse of techno music. In it, the choreographer deploys her unique vocabulary, imbued with club dances and a technique inherited from classical ballet. A hypnotic tour de force where bodies undulate and unfold in a perpetual game of imbalances.

House & The Rite of Spring

The Lyon Opera Ballet rekindles the flame of DANCE , Lucinda Childs's dizzying classic, and shines the first sparks of a new piece by Alessandro Sciarroni.

Created in 1979 after a series of silent pieces, DANCE juxtaposes the writing of American choreographer Lucinda Childs with a sublime score by Philip Glass. With its expansive and ethereal gestures, its penchant for repetition and variation, and its play on trajectories, its vocabulary embodies a stimulating modernity, made even more spectacular by the collaboration with Sol LeWitt. For DANCE , the visual artist conceived a system in which a film projected onto a screen faithfully and dizzyingly echoes the events unfolding on stage. This sense of vertigo is something Alessandro Sciarroni has often explored, whether revisiting traditional dances in The Collection or studying rotation in TURNING_motion sickness , two pieces danced by the Lyon Opera Ballet, with whom the Italian choreographer maintains a fruitful relationship. With this creation, he further develops his long-standing exploration of the potential of the group.

Høpe & Dance

2027 marks the bicentenary of one of the greatest names in music: Ludwig van Beethoven. To celebrate, international star Viktoria Mullova will give three concerts in Dijon. This is the first installment of what promises to be an unmissable series. 

Beethoven's violin and piano sonatas represent the alpha and omega of any duo performance. Written at the turn of the Classical and Romantic periods, they continually demonstrate their composer's talent and visionary inventiveness. The majestic Viktoria Mullova and her faithful partner on the fortepiano, Alasdair Beatson, have chosen these three sonatas from among the ten to begin this cycle, including the ninth, nicknamed "The Kreutzer," undoubtedly the most extraordinary. The two soloists meet as equals in a virtuosic and eloquent dialogue. All of this is performed on period instruments to be as close as possible to the sound Beethoven envisioned. This recital is only the first part of their triptych in Dijon. It continues in April and May, and in parallel, during the same season, the Zaïde Quartet also takes up the composer's legacy.

Viktoria Mullova & Alasdair Beatson #1

The Zaïde Quartet celebrates Beethoven's bicentenary with an extraordinary project: presenting his complete quartets through the lens of traditional music. Beethoven Folk  : an ambitious undertaking that has been a resounding success! 

Zaïde Quartet #1

The Zaïde Quartet celebrates Beethoven's bicentenary with an extraordinary project: presenting his complete quartets through the lens of traditional music. Beethoven Folk  : an ambitious undertaking that has been a resounding success! 


Tarantella, gypsy dance, Scottish and Celtic airs: throughout his career, Beethoven constantly composed to traditional European melodies. Yet this is a little-known aspect of his music, long preferred to be heard as an art form devoid of external references. The demanding musicians of the Zaïde Quartet have explored this question and revealed the many connections Beethoven maintained with the folk songs of his time. The result is a concert where they share the joy that arises from this connection and where we rediscover Beethoven's pieces with astonishment through the lens of this different repertoire. And to top it all off, the Quartet is releasing a complete discography, recorded at the Auditorium, and will return to Dijon for a second installment of Beethoven Folk in May 2027. In a related vein, violinist Viktoria Mullova will perform a complete cycle of the composer's sonatas this season.

Zaide Quartet #1

Between a miniature opera and a carousel, Carrousel invites children on a ride unlike any other. A festive experience based on the repertoire of Jacques Offenbach.

Children are invited to take their seats aboard the beautiful horses of a carousel, adorned with elegant strings of lights, for an unusually long ride: 20 minutes—a dream come true! There are no pom-poms to grab here, but a playful acrobat roams the stage, and a small central stage features two singers—a soprano and a mezzo-soprano—performing excerpts from Offenbach's *The Tales of Hoffmann* and * Orpheus in the Underworld* . Around the carousel, six members of a chamber orchestra (violin, cello, double bass, flute, clarinet, and percussion) bring to life the memorable melodies of Jacques Offenbach. Parents and guardians are not left out of the show, but comfortably seated on either side of the carousel. With this format designed for children, fairground expertise and opera combine to create a moment of collective and heartfelt wonder.

Carousel

With his augmented quartet, the musician Chapelier Fou offers an inventive reinterpretation of the music of The King and the Bird , a timeless masterpiece to (re)discover in a film concert. 

In the kingdom of Takicardia, "Charles V and three make eight and eight make sixteen" reigns as a megalomaniacal despot, blind to the nocturnal lives of the figures in the paintings and sculptures that populate his apartment. Among them are a shepherdess and a chimney sweep, whose love, aided by a bird—the king's sworn enemy—will turn the kingdom upside down. A marvel of animated cinema by Paul Grimault and Jacques Prévert, adapted from an Andersen tale, The King and the Mockingbird, whose definitive version was released in 1980, has captivated generations with its poetry and formal inventiveness. Louis Warynski—aka Mad Hatter—pays homage to the masterpiece that shaped his childhood by revisiting the scores of Wojciech Kilar and Joseph Kosma. The musician embellishes his string quartet with a multitude of instruments: synthesizers, toy piano, melodica, trombone, trumpet, triangle, glockenspiel, autoharp and flutes, like an inventory à la… Prévert.

The King and the Bird

The Victor Hugo Orchestra, the symphony orchestra of Burgundy-Franche-Comté, and the Choir of the Dijon Opera come together for a meditative and powerful concert, featuring masterpieces by Mozart, Poulenc and Fauré. 

Victor Hugo Orchestra & Dijon Opera Chorus

Gustav Mahler's final work, Symphony No. 9, unfolds as a fervent and poignant meditation on human destiny. This concert is presented by the Lyon National Orchestra, which has built a renowned expertise in this repertoire. 

Gustav Mahler's symphonies are like chapters of a single book: the book of life, and particularly of the composer's own life. Each one embarks on an intense emotional journey, reaching the realms of the sublime. The Ninth, his last symphony, is no exception: serene and rebellious, despairing and profoundly joyful, it contains all opposites and speaks to our deepest feelings. The score, in particular, offers a final farewell to the earth and to nature, in which humanity always finds its purpose. Exalted music of the post-Romantic era, performed by one of France's most renowned orchestras.