Pierre Doyen

Antarctica is the story of John and his fellow explorers who get stuck on Antarctica and attempt to save themselves. Their journey is both physical and a spiritual one. John escapes his past but when fate catches up with him, he is forced to confront himself.

A staging of Jules Massenet's opera "Manon" stage by Olivier Py. Recorded at the Grand Théâtre de Genève.

This ever-popular opera is given a fresh point of view in Barrie Kosky’s highly physical production, originally created for Frankfurt Opera. The Australian director is one of the world’s most sought-after opera directors, whose Royal Opera debut with Shostakovich’s The Nose in 2016 was greeted with delight. For Carmen he has devised a far-from-traditional version, incorporating music written by Bizet for the score but not usually heard, and giving a new voice to the opera’s endlessly fascinating central character.

Live performance from the Opéra de Lyon, July 1 2012. Controversial production by Olivier Py.

“Manon is like any person who, strolling down the street one day, glances up at a second-story window and catches a glimpse of a different life,” explains Vincent Huguet about his staging of Massenet’s Manon, “a life that she suddenly desires ardently … and will do anything to have.” In his update of Prévost’s famous novel, Huguet demonstrates, with empathy and acuity, that Manon’s tale could really be anyone’s.