Must-see operas this season in Paris
Some must-visit Paris venues regularly stage the greatest operas, and classical music’s best-loved works
The autumn cultural calendar would be incomplete without music. The city’s classical music and opera venues offer particularly rich and varied programming from September onwards.
Opera in Paris
This year, La Cenerentola, by Gioachino Rossini will enchant audiences at the legendary Opéra Garnier (from 10 September to 9 October 2022) in a production with unique staging by Guillaume Gallienne, a show in which the famous Cenerentola (Cinderella) is divested of her traditional attire (glass slipper, pumpkin, carriage) and in which her cruel stepmother is replaced by a tyrannical stepfather. Also at the Palais Garnier, the British director and scenographer Netia Jones presents a new original production of Le nozze di Figaro that situates the action in the dressing rooms of the Palais Garnier: an ‘opera within an opera’! (from 23 novembre to 28 december 2022).
At the Opéra Bastille, the curtain rises opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with stage sets by Pierre Audi (from 3 september to 26 november 2022). Also at the Opéra Bastille, Robert Carsen propose an optimistic interpretation of The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (from 17 september to 19 november 2022), Lydia Steier presents a new production of Salomé by Richard Strauss (from 12 october to 5 november 2022), and Calixto Bieito, known for his radical mise en scène, unveils his Carmen by Georges Bizet (from 15 november 2022 to 25 february 2023).
A worldwide success performed over 1,600 times since its creation, Lakmé is playing at the Théâtre national de l’Opéra-Comique (sung in French, with French and English overtitles) from 28 September to 8 October 2022. Stage direction by Laurent Pelly.
Classic music concerts in Paris
It gets harder every year to choose among the concerts on the Paris calendar, as the French capital offers such a plethora of opportunities to enjoy great works of classical music.
The Philharmonie de Paris, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, the Seine Musicale, the Auditorium du Louvre and the Maison de la Radio, all of them venues with outstanding acoustics, are once again hosting some of the world’s most renowned orchestras this year.
The magnificent Sainte Chapelle with its remarkable stained glass windows often thrills to the sounds of the finest classical music compositions. And the classical music concerts regularly hosted in Paris churches are a feast for the eyes as well as the ears: Église Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, Église de la Madeleine, Église Saint-Ephrem, Église Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the American Church or the Cathédrale Saint-Louis-des-Invalides.
