André Morsch

Messiaen's breathtakingly intense opera on the life of St Francis of Assisi stars Rod Gilfry as the charismatic visionary, beguiled by the glory of creation, yet fearful of both its imperfections and its transience. Pierre Audi's thoroughly engaging production for The Netherlands Opera brings out the naive imagery, the grandeur, and above all the vast tenderness of the resplendent score, revealed as a grandiose ritual with the meaning and purpose of life as its central theme. But the real drama of the work takes place in the orchestra. Elevated to stupendous heights by the sublimely inspired Ingo Metzmacher, The Hague Philharmonic and the Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera combine forces with a brilliant cast to produce the finest possible musical pilgrimage.

A night in April 1673 at rue de Vaugirard, Paris: lucky spectators discover the very first French opera in a converted tennis court theater. Cadmus et Hermione’s libretto comes from the pen of a renowned academic, the musical score from the King’s brilliant Superintendent of Music. Cadmus et Hermione became one of those exceptional works whose memory stays with audience members forever... a dreamlike experience brought once more to life by the soloists, dancers, choir, and orchestra of the Poème Harmonique under the music direction of Vincent Dumestre. This 2008 production from the Opéra-Comique brims with a baroque elegance and beauty sure to captivate and delight!

With his affinity for the 16th-century sculptor Benvenuto Cellini's advocacy of artistic and personal freedom, Hector Berlioz went straight for the grand gesture with his first completed opera. Returning to it years after initial production debacles, Berlioz stated that he would 'never again find such verve and Cellinian impetuosity, nor such a variety of ideas.' The plot revolves around Cellini's wooing of Teresa, a match frustrated at every opportunity by his rival, the cowardly Fieramosca. Benvenuto Cellini is a pithy work combining romance, excitement, violence, comedy and spectacle; the perfect stage for Terry Gilliam's stylishly colorful and larger than life directing.