In the 1860s, Ambroise Thomas was among those composers who, like Verdi with Macbeth and Gounod with Roméo et Juliette, chose to bring a Shakespeare play to the opera stage. He selected Hamlet, the most famous and also the most philosophical. In the version crafted by librettists Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, the Prince of Denmark loses some of his metaphysical dimension, which is offset by a score full of vivid detail, even featuring two saxophone solos.

Hamlet

Opéra Bastille

Figaro here, Figaro there! The Barber of Seville is everywhere always ready to lend a hand, whether it’s giving someone a haircut or playing matchmaker. Especially when it comes to helping Count Almaviva win the heart of the young Rosina, jealously watched over by her guardian. 

Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Singer, dancer and actress Josephine Baker, the beloved artist of Paris during the Roaring Twenties, was far more than that. There was also her love for France, where, as a Black woman, she found a form of liberation, her involvement in the Resistance and her fight for civil rights. 

EPSG:4326

Black Pearl: meditations for Josephine

Palais Garnier

On the occasion of the revival of L'Histoire de Manon at the Palais Garnier, Dorothée Gilbert reflects on Kenneth MacMillan's great ballet, which she has chosen to perform as her farewell to the stage. The Étoile dancer speaks about her work in the studio and the way she approaches the complex and captivating character of Manon.

Toï toï toï : L'Histoire de Manon

Amphithéâtre Olivier Messiaen

Concert of the Paris Opera Orchestra as part of the Festival de La Chaise-Dieu

Felix Mendelssohn /​ Gustav Mahler

Festival de La Chaise-Dieu 

“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

"The subject for the 'Satin Slipper' comes from a Chinese legend about two celestial stars in love who, each year, having travelled far, manage to come within reach of each other without ever being able to come together from the disparate sides of the Milky Way.” So surmised Paul Claudel. The play, whose power of attraction has never wavered, occupies a special place in the theatrical repertoire of the 20th century: Written between 1919 and 1924 and first staged by Jean-Louis Barrault in an abridged version in 1943, it would have to await Antoine Vitez to be performed in its entirety. That production, performed in the courtyard of the Palais des Papes in 1987, lasted over ten hours and marked an entire generation of theatregoers, including Marc-André Dalbavie. Alternatively titled 'The Worst Is Not Always Certain', The Satin Slipper is an immense parable which alternates between the sublime, the comic and the disturbing. It is set in a specific era—the Spanish Golden Age—during which humanity experiences its first bout of “globalization”. Confronting a passionate desire for individual happiness, external imperatives and an aspiration for the universal, the work leads the spectator into a ongoing state hovering between hypnosis and joy. This new opera is the third world-premiere production commissioned by the Paris Opera for its cycle on French literature.

Le Soulier de satin

Four Sundays each season, the musicians of the Paris Opera Orchestra are inviting you to share one hour of chamber music in the great auditorium of the Palais Garnier.    

Au Bord de l’eau

To open the season, this concert dedicated to Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Christoph Willibald Gluck introduces the new artists in residence at the Academy — opera singers, pianists, and instrumental musicians — in a program of opera arias and ensembles.

Academy Season Opening Concert

“Manon is a beautiful sixteen-year-old girl who loves life and cannot resist fleeting pleasures. She is charming, but amoral.” This is how choreographer Kenneth MacMillan described the heroine of his ballet Manon, inspired by abbé Prévost’s famous novel.

L'Histoire de Manon

Musicians from the Paris Opera Orchestra and members of the Chorus offer a series of lunchtime concerts preceded by an introductory presentation.  

Musical encounter October 1

Studio Bastille

Even babies love opera!
Et Op’! is a lyrical moment designed for children aged six months to three years.

This baby concert offers an immersive experience that is auditory, tactile, and visual, introducing young audiences to the world of opera through a mix of well-known arias and music to rediscover (Ravel, Rossini, Schubert, Aperghis, and others).

Et Op’ !

In Götterdämmerung, Siegfried takes leave of Brünnhilde to travel the world and accomplish new feats. These will be his last: during his journey along the Rhine, he falls victim to a sinister plot hatched by Alberich and his son Hagen. The downfall of the gods is now inevitable...

Götterdämmerung

Recitals are offered to families and school groups to help young audiences become familiar with the voice in the intimate setting of the Studio Bastille. Accompanied in their listening by musicians, students are also able to exchange with the artists at the end of the recital.

The artists of the Paris Opera Choirs pay tribute to Bob Chilcott, a major figure in contemporary British choral music, whose work draws on jazz and sacred music.

A suspended moment with Bob Chilcott

A highlight of the season, the Défilé du Ballet introduces the opening gala of the Paris Opera’s dance season, bringing together the entire company on the stage of the Palais Garnier, from the “little rats” of the Ballet School to the Étoiles and the Junior Ballet.

Gala

In the intimate setting of the Amphithéâtre Olivier Messiaen, the musicians of the Paris Opera Orchestra welcome you for a programme of chamber music.

Échos et battements

Celebrated worldwide for their virtuosity and artistic rapport, sisters Katia Labèque and Marielle Labèque return to the Palais Garnier.

The two renowned French pianists showcase a repertoire by women composers that has remained unexplored throughout their long careers.

Katia and Marielle Labèque Recital

Entitled “Inner Landscapes”, this evening suggests an intimate quest, an exploration of emotions and movement in three pieces, two of which are new additions to the repertoire.

In Vers un pays sage (1995), choreographer Jean-Christophe Maillot pays tribute to his father, the painter Jean Maillot. To the frenzied music of John Adams, the dancers engage in a dazzling marathon, a joyful explosion of colour.

Aszure Barton makes her Paris Opera debut with a black-and‑white piece, Busk (2009), whose title refers both to the English word for street performance and the Spanish buscar (to search). Using gypsy and choral music, the Canadian choreographer highlights the potential of the dancers’ bodies in an expressive and virtuoso language, sometimes close to mime.

Finally, William Forsythe’s sharp writing marries David Morrow’s music to offer the Rearray trio, a brilliant set of theme and variations pushing bodies to their limits.

Inner Landscapes

The artists in residence at the Academy perform lieder by Robert Schumann, Gustav Mahler, and Richard Strauss. These inner landscapes, where music and poetry intertwine, evoke passion, wounded love, wandering, and solitude.

Au coeur du romantisme allemand

For the final season of the “L’Opéra en Guyane” program, artists from the Paris Opera Ballet and Academy present an evening of dance and an evening of music at the Salle des Trois Fleuves.  

Une Nuit dansée à l'Opéra

Les Trois Fleuves

Méditerranée

In the intimate setting of the Amphithéâtre Olivier Messiaen, the choral artists of the Paris Opera Orchestra welcome you for a programme of chamber music.  

« Rire et pleurer avec la musique d’Isabelle Aboulker »

Musicians from the Paris Opera Orchestra and members of the Chorus offer a series of lunchtime concerts preceded by an introductory presentation.

Musical encounter November 5

Unique in the history of opera, The Ring of the Nibelung is the colossal tetralogy Richard Wagner worked on for thirty years. First performed in 1869, the Prologue The Rhinegold unveils from its first telluric chord a world riddled with existential questions. Who will obtain the power of the ring forged from the gold of the Rhine? The gods, the giants or the Nibelungen?

Das Rheingold (RING Festival)

The Paris Opera continues its exploration of Richard Wagner’s colossal Ring, directed by Calixto Bieito. After the final scene of The Rhinegold, in which the gods ascend to Walhalla, The Valkyrie, the second part of the cycle, focuses on humans in the form of twins Sieglinde and Siegmund.

Die Walküre (RING Festival)

 With Siegfried, staged in Calixto Bieito’s new production, the Paris Opera presents the third part of Richard Wagner’s extraordinary undertaking, the Ring of the Nibelung. Siegfried, the son of Sieglinde and Siegmund, has become a dauntless young man who knows no fear.

Siegfried (RING Festival)

Götterdämmerung (RING Festival)

Noted for her acclaimed performances in the title role of Salome in the 2023-2024 season at the Opéra Bastille, Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen appears in recital at the Palais Garnier in a programme entirely devoted to the Lieder of Franz Schubert.

Lise Davidsen

The musicians of the Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Paris and the Académie de l’Opéra national de Paris invite students to meet the instruments and the orchestra, and to discover a wide range of varied and unusual musical repertoires.

Concert with musicians from the Orchestra #1

Serge Lifar, who died 40 years ago, distilled his neoclassical art in Suite en blanc (1943). This work of “pure dance” has become almost a ritual for the Paris Opera Ballet, paying tribute to the French school while continuing to inspire it over time.

Rituals

Entitled “Pulsations”, this programme evokes both the rhythm of time and the beating heart, mirroring the repetitive music of Max Richter that permeates two pieces in the programme: the brand new creation by Lucinda Childs, icon of post-modern dance, for the Paris Opera Ballet, 42 years after Premier orage, and Schmetterling (2010) by Sol León and Paul Lightfoot.

Pulsations

Recitals are offered to families and school groups to help young audiences become familiar with the voice in the intimate setting of the Studio Bastille. Accompanied in their listening by musicians, students are also able to exchange with the artists at the end of the recital.

Carmen remains one of the most iconic heroines of the French repertoire. This recital highlights the full dramatic power and musical richness of Georges Bizet’s masterpiece.

Tell me about Carmen

Designed around shows in the Young Audiences program, the “The Artist, my Parents and I” workshops offer a sensitive and playful approach to opera and dance.

These dance and singing workshops provide a better understanding of performances in the Opéra national de Paris repertory and allow participants to enter fully into the world of opera and ballet.

Workshop with choir director Isabelle Briard. 

Parle-moi de Carmen, mes parents et moi

On stage, five performers challenge conventions and redefine norms of the dancing body. With XXL, choreographer Sofiane Chalal explores, with sensitivity, the ways in which larger bodies are perceived. Between power and precision, the performers deliver an energetic dance, shaped by their personal journeys and differences. Driven by a writing style that is both engaged and humorous, the piece celebrates self-acceptance and the strength of the collective.

Designed around shows in the Young Audiences program or artists programmed on the stages of the Opéra Bastille and Palais Garnier, the “The Artist, my Parents and I” workshops offer a sensitive and playful approach to opera and dance.

These dance and singing workshops provide a better understanding of performances in the Opéra national de Paris repertory and allow participants to enter fully into the world of opera and ballet.

Dance workshop with Moustapha Bellal, assistant choreographer.

XXL, my Parents and I

From Finland to Brazil, on the tundra or among orange groves, snow falls. Sometimes icy, sometimes melting, sometimes powdery or rolled into balls, snow falls. In unison, in multiple voices, accompanied or a cappella, snow falls. And it is sung!

For their first concert, the young singers of the Maîtrise de l’Opéra de Paris reinvent winter through music.

Flocons de neige

The students of the Dance School, directed by Élisabeth Platel, invite audiences to discover some of the key stages in their training as dancers: dance technique, singing, and ballet rehearsal.

At the Paris Opera Dance School

Ballet School Opera National De Paris

Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s tale, The Steadfast Tin Soldier revisits the story of a soldier and a dancer balanced on one leg. The two performers create a sensitive dialogue around difference and the way bodies are perceived.

Le Soldat de plomb /​ La Langue des oiseaux

Designed around shows in the Young Audiences program, the “The Artist, my Parents and I” workshops offer a sensitive and playful approach to opera and dance.

These dance and singing workshops provide a better understanding of performances in the Opéra national de Paris repertory, and allow participants to enter fully into the world of opera and ballet.

Dance workshop led by Maxime Thomas, choreographer and dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet.

La Langue des oiseaux, my Parents and I

To mark the centenary of Régine Crespin’s birth, the Paris Opera is paying tribute with a gala in support of the House’s activities. Born in Marseille in 1927, this sumptuous soprano joined the Paris Opera company, where she made her debut as Elsa in Lohengrin in 1951.

Regine Crespin Gala

Recitals are offered to families and school groups, giving young audiences the opportunity to discover the voice in the intimate setting of the Studio Bastille. Guided in their listening experience by the musicians, students can also meet and talk with the artists after the recital.

Florence Price

Crawl explores the connections between traditional Ukrainian dance povzunets and breakdance, focusing on floor-based movements characteristic of both styles. On stage, the two languages meet without merging, each preserving its own identity.

Crawl /​ Amazigh in situ

Designed around shows in the Young Audiences program, the “The artist, my Parents and I” workshops offer a sensitive and playful approach to opera and dance.

These dance and singing workshops provide a better understanding of performances in the Opéra national de Paris repertory, and allow participants to enter fully into the world of opera and ballet.

Amazigh in situ, my Parents and I 

Who, man or woman, committed the first act of infidelity?
To resolve this question, a prince reveals to his court, and to the woman he desires, an experiment once imagined by his father: to return to the origins of the world by staging the encounter of four teenagers, isolated from society and from one another for seventeen years. First glances, first emotions, upheavals of the senses: soon the experiment takes unexpected turns, leaving the question unanswered.

Ce qui brûle en silence

Théâtre de l'Athénée

Like a Russian Madame Bovary, Katerina is profoundly bored in the company of her husband. The arrival of a new employee, Sergei, leads her into adultery and then crime, making her more akin to Lady Macbeth. But unlike Shakespeare’s character, Katerina acts not out of a thirst for power but to satisfy urges stifled by a sordid environment.

Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

Musicians from the Paris Opera Orchestra and the Academy of the Opéra national de Paris invite students to discover the instruments and the orchestra, and to explore a variety of unusual musical repertoires.

Concert with musicians from the Orchestra #2

It is harvest time. The wheat is tender, much like the heart of Nemorino, a young peasant consumed with love for the beautiful, capricious Adina. Faced with her indifference and fear oflosing her to a rival, he naively buys a love potion from Dulcamara, an itinerant doctor, without realising that it is... a simple bottle of wine!

L’Elisir d’amore

Do not come closer, do not be seen—these places are said to be haunted. It is said that fairies, goblins, bogeymen, and other white silhouettes can be encountered there, so shhh! Keep your distance, stay discreet… and listen carefully.

Sortilèges

On stage, a pop-up book comes to life, unfolding before the audience’s eyes—sometimes becoming a refuge, sometimes a space for adventure, and sometimes a playmate. Without words, the story is built through choreography, imagery, and colourful landscapes, leaving each spectator free to imagine their own narrative. A playful and poetic experience designed to awaken curiosity and perception.

Pop Up

What connects Louise, the young waitress at “La Petite Bohème”, Raoul, an unscrupulous deserter, Gabriel, an upright mathematics teacher, and the mysterious Désiré, by turns spokesperson for the Ministry of Information, street singer and priest? The “phoney war” and the debacle of 1940 are experienced in different ways by each of these children of catastrophe. As their epic journey along the roads of the exodus unfolds, the past of Louise’s mother comes to light, revealing unexpected links between the characters.

Mirror of our sorrows

Musicians from the Paris Opera Orchestra and the Academy of the Opéra national de Paris invite students to discover the instruments and the orchestra, and to explore a variety of unusual and diverse repertoires.

This concert, performed by artists in residence at the Academy, highlights the richness of string writing across the centuries.

Piano and strings

The Trojan War is over. Idomeneo, the King of Crete, returns home after ten years of absence, but encounters a terrible storm on his way. To appease Neptune, he promises to sacrifice the first person he encounters on the shore, without realising that it will be… his own son!

Idomeneo

Inspired by the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty, this production brings together the Children's Chorus of the Paris Opera around the work of Carl Reinecke. In Pascal Neyron’s new staging, the story is revisited through a contemporary lens.

La Belle au bois dormant

In the village of the “Unhappy Ones,” plunged into moonless nights, the inhabitants complain about Rosa Lune, who sings at the top of her voice against all odds. Blending shadow theatre and storytelling, this performance draws audiences into a poetic universe where paper images and light play come to life. Through singing, cello, and body percussion, a narrative inspired by fairy tales unfolds, exploring difference and the way we perceive others.

RosaLune

Airs d’opéra et mélodies

One glance is all it takes for Romeo and Juliet to fall in love. But their passion collides with the ancestral hatred dividing their families in a Verona on the brink of implosion.

Although Charles Gounod had been attracted to Shakespeare’s play from a young age, it was only some twenty years later, after the success of Faust, that he set about transforming it into an opera.

Roméo et Juliette

An elderly and wealthy bachelor, Don Pasquale, takes it into his head to marry a young girl – something he denies his nephew Ernesto, already engaged to the charming (but penniless) Norina.

Fortunately, Doctor Malatesta concocts a clever stratagem to force him to change his mind. A fake marriage, a sweet bride turned harpy and a misunderstanding later, order is restored, in perfect keeping with the traditional framework of the commedia dell’arte.

Opéra national de Paris

Sep 12 - Nov 5, 2026

Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Sep 12 - Nov 5, 2026

Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Sep 20, 2026

Au Bord de l’eau

Sep 18 - Oct 9, 2026

Hamlet

Sep 24, 2026

Academy Season Opening Concert

Sep 18 - Oct 9, 2026

Hamlet

Sep 12 - Nov 5, 2026

Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Opéra national de Paris