Jean-Sébastien Bou

French contemporary composer Thierry Escaich and French essayist, politician, and now librettist Robert Badinter transform Victor Hugo’s short story Claude Gueux into an operatic call for human dignity in the 21st century.

A dive into the delirious daily life of Mr. Follavoine, his wife and Toto, their tyrannical son who suffers from constipation.

Louis Langrée, Guillaume Gallienne and Clairemarie Osta combine performing arts to honour these two masterpieces, inspired by the gallant XVIIIth century, in a show that celebrates comic spirit’s fruitfulness and freedom in genre.

Jonas Kaufmann and Anna Caterina Antonacci bring rare erotic intensity to the drama of Don José and Carmen in this darkly passionate reading of one of the most popular operas. Kaufmann uses his burnished tenor and smouldering good looks to portray the man undone by Carmen's love. As the object of his desire, Antonacci gives a physical and compelling performance.

Live performance from Opéra National de Lyon.

Opera in four acts Libretto by Victor-Joseph Étienne de Jouy and Hippolyte-Louis-Florent Bis

Don Giovanni prides itself in being a dramma giocoso. Not an easy expression to translate, given how starkly contradictory the terms would appear to be. But dig below the surface and you are plunged into a delightful swirl of ambiguities. Nothing here is set in stone: the libertinage is passionate, but couples meet and part. Fate plays tricks with masks, right up until the final challenge.