Lully in Versailles and Paris, Handel in Saint-Omer and Prague

Atys by Lully at the Opéra Royal de Versailles

Leonardo García-Alarcón, conducting Cappella Mediterranea, and Angelin Preljocaj, responsible for stage direction and choreography, together with the Ballet Preljocaj, revived their Atys by Lully at the Opéra Royal de Versailles, four years after its acclaimed premiere at Geneva’s Grand Théâtre. The production has since become something of a landmark, also distinguished by the contributions of two visual artists: Prune Nourry, who designed the set, and Jeanne Vicérial, who created the costumes.

With Giuseppina Bridelli, Ana Quintans, Andreas Wolf, Victor Sicard, Mariana Flores, Luigi De Donato, Nicholas Scott, Lore Binon, Valerio Contaldo, Attila Varga-Tóth, the Chœur de l’Opéra Royal, Cappella Mediterranea and Leonardo García-Alarcón.

Cadmus et Hermione by Lully at the Philharmonie de Paris

With Cadmus et Hermione, Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques brought their cycle devoted to the complete tragédies lyriques of Lully to a close at the Philharmonie de Paris at the end of January. The performance crowned a recording project of the composer’s fourteen tragédies lyriques, begun with Persée in 2001. First performed in April 1673 at the Académie Royale de Musique, Cadmus et Hermione laid the foundations of French tragédie lyrique.

With Éléonore Pancrazi, Jérôme Boutillier, Marie Lys, Lysandre Châlon, Mathilde Ortscheidt, Thaïs Raï-Westphal, William Shelton, Les Pages et les Chantres du Centre de musique baroque de Versailles, Les Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset.

Acis, Galatea and Polyphemus by Handel in Saint-Omer (France)

At the Théâtre de Saint-Omer, nicknamed the “coffee grinder” because of its shape, Paolo Zanzu and his ensemble Le Stagioni performed Handel’s Acis, Galatea and Polyphemus in its 1708 Italian version. The collective staging, overseen by Caroline Mounier-Vehier with scenography by Andreas Linos, places Acis and Galatea aboard an Orient Express for their honeymoon, swiftly cut short by the untimely arrival of the giant Polyphemus, determined to thwart the lovers’ plans. In this Italian-style theatre of modest proportions, whose favourable acoustics ideally support both voices and instruments, the atmosphere encouraged a sense of closeness and conviviality. Fully renovated between 2015 and 2018, the theatre reopened only in 2019 after forty-six years of slumber.

With Lila Dufy, Laura Muller, Rafael Galaz, Le Stagioni and Paolo Zanzu.

Maayan Licht and Collegium 1704 at Vzlet, Prague

Under the telling title “Fireworks Vocal”, Collegium 1704, conducted by Václav Luks, and countertenor Maayan Licht presented a concert at Prague’s Vzlet Cultural Centre dedicated to the golden age of Baroque vocal virtuosity, featuring arias by Porpora and Handel. For both singer and orchestra, it marked a reunion following an earlier collaboration in the Czech Republic at the National Theatre in Brno, in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, staged by Jiří Heřman.

With Maayan Licht, Collegium 1704 and Václav Luks.

The Fairy Queen by Purcell in St Gallen (Switzerland)

After an open-air production disrupted by rain during the 2024 summer festival, the Theatre of St Gallen (Switzerland) has now offered audiences — enthusiastic yet previously drenched — an indoor version of The Fairy Queen, Purcell’s semi-opera.

With Olivia Smith, Kali Hardwick, Theresa Steinbach, Robert Bartneck, Jonas Jud, Théo Imart, the Theatre of St Gallen Chorus, the St Gallen Symphony Orchestra and Robert Howarth.