Shows
Highlights
All shows
The 2026-2027 musical season
The Palace of Versailles is hosting numerous operas, concerts, plays and ballets in some of its exceptional spaces, including the Royal Opera and the Royal Chapel. Check out the programme for the 2025–2026 music season at Versailles.
From November 2025 to June 2026
The musical Thursdays of the Baroque Music Centre of Versailles
Organised from November to June, by the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles, the public institution of the Palace of Versailles, the Royal Opera of the Palace of Versailles / Château de Versailles Spectacles and the CNSMD in Paris, the Musical Thursdays are performances by the choir of Pages and Chantres at the Royal Chapel of the Palace of Versailles.
Concert
Saturday, October 3rd, 2026
Concert of the 9th ADOR Gala
The Opéra Royal opens its doors to the now traditional Friends of the Opéra Royal Gala, an evening dedicated to the vitality of the new generation of lyric artists. Under the baton of Gaétan Jarry, the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal provides a showcase for the emerging talents of the Académie de l’Opéra Royal, in a program that explores the heights of operatic art.
Concert
Tuesday, October 6th, 2026
Rameau – Mondonville: The Grand Motets
The undisputed specialist of the French grand motet, William Christie brings together two complementary visions of this repertoire: that of Jean-Philippe Rameau, scholarly and architecturally structured, and that of Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville, flamboyant and spectacular.
Opera in staged version
From Saturday October 10th to Sunday October 18th 2026
Salieri : Tarare
In 1787, France’s most celebrated playwright joined forces with the decade’s star composer, Antonio Salieri, then a favourite of both audiences and the Queen. The work is a moral tale: the cruel King of Ormus sends his general Tarare to the frontiers in a bid to dispose of him, in order to take his fiancée into his own harem. But the valiant general returns victorious, leading his troops to overthrow the tyrant and place Tarare on the throne.
Concert
Thursday, October 15th, 2026
The Chevalier de Saint-Georges
The first mixed-race American composer and an indefatigable adventurer, Chevalier de Saint-George has been rediscovered through the remarkable quality of his music. Born in Guadeloupe, the son of a white plantation owner and an enslaved woman of African origin, he was educated in France and became one of the finest violinists of his time, as well as a conductor, opera director, and Music Master to Marie Antoinette. An exceptional fencer and revolutionary, he founded in 1792 the Free American Cavalry Legion, composed of free Black and mixed-race Caribbean soldiers, of which he served as colonel.
Concert
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2026
Mozart : Mass in C Minor
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart lies at the heart of Raphaël Pichon’s repertoire, whose interpretation of the Requiem — supplemented with various works by Mozart — caused a sensation both in 2019, in collaboration with Romeo Castellucci, and more recently on record. This time, the focus is on the Mass in C minor.
Opera in staged version
From Saturday November 7th to Sunday November 15th 2026
Mozart : Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni was commissioned by the Prague Opera immediately after the success of The Marriage of Figaro: Mozart and Da Ponte sought to build on their fame, choosing a subject that had triumphed in Venice only a few weeks earlier, Don Giovanni by Giuseppe Gazzaniga. Returning to the theme of the Seville Trickster, already widely present in theatre since the mid-17th century and notably embodied by Molière, as well as in Gluck’s ballet in Vienna in 1761, Da Ponte focused the work on Don Juan’s libertine character, likely drawing inspiration from his friend Casanova (who is said to have helped revise Act II, Scene 9, and was present at the Prague premiere…).
Concert
Thursday, November 12th, 2026
Lalande - Charpentier: Te Deum
Productions of the Royal Opera. Co-production with the Versailles Centre for Baroque Music. Scores published by the Versailles Centre for Baroque Music.
Concert
Tuesday, November 17th, 2026
Campra : Requiem
Having grown up beneath the radiant skies of Provence, André Campra brought a deeply personal vision to the text of the Requiem Mass. Rather than dwelling on the image of a wrathful God and the terrors of the Last Judgement, he finds instead every possible gentleness in the promise of eternity, eternal rest and everlasting light. From its opening chorus, the work reveals this profoundly consoling perspective.
Concert
Wednesday, November 18th, 2026
Allegri : Miserere
Rome, April 1639. Through the art of ornamentation, a simple falsobordone is transformed into a masterpiece – the very quintessence of the Baroque. Once reserved for the Holy Week liturgies in the Sistine Chapel, Allegri’s Miserere has long been regarded as one of the most legendary works in the choral repertoire.
Concert
November 21st and 22nd, 2026
Mozart : Requiem
An unfinished masterpiece, a musical testament, a timeless sacred work that transcends the boundaries of the liturgy – Mozart’s Requiem has inspired every superlative. By the time of his death on 5 December 1791, the composer had completed the Introit and Kyrie in full, while leaving the substance of the next five movements, from the Dies Irae to the Confutatis, substantially laid out.
Concert
Monday, November 23rd, 2026
Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda
William Christie and Paul Agnew join forces to direct this programme devoted to Claudio Monteverdi, inviting audiences to explore the origins of opera and discover the striking modernity of his music. A towering figure in the birth of modern music, Claudio Monteverdi stands at the crossroads of the madrigal tradition and the emergence of opera. This programme celebrates his revolutionary creativity through a selection of his finest madrigals alongside one of his most groundbreaking works: Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda (The Combat of Tancredi and Clorinda). Inspired by Torquato Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered, this dramatic scena recounts the tragic duel between the knight Tancredi and his beloved enemy, Clorinda, whom he fails to recognise.
Concert
Tuesday, November 24th, 2026
Buxtehude : Membra Jesu Nostri
Composed in 1680 to a medieval text by Arnulf of Leuven, Dietrich Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu nostri is a cycle of seven cantatas devoted to the body of Christ on the Cross. One of the most distinctive sacred works of the seventeenth century, it combines remarkable musical restraint with profound dramatic intensity. Each cantata meditates on one of Christ’s wounds, progressing from his feet to his face, and draws the listener into an intimate encounter with the suffering Saviour at the foot of the Cross.
Concert
Saturday, November 28th, 2026
Fauré : Requiem
Among the sacred works that have secured a lasting place in the concert repertoire, Fauré’s Requiem occupies a unique position. Far removed from the operatic grandeur and dramatic intensity of the requiems by Mozart, Berlioz, Brahms or Verdi, this is an intimate work of modest proportions, imbued with an unmistakably French elegance and refinement. Fauré had no desire to rival his illustrious predecessors; instead, he wrote a work that reflected the devotional spirit of late nineteenth-century Paris, where religious expression sought intimacy and accessibility. In this respect, his Requiem stands closer in spirit to the more recent settings by Liszt and Saint-Saëns.
Concert
Sunday, November, 29th, 2026
Splendors of the French Organ
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Clicquot-Tribuot organ of the Royal Chapel, built in 1710 and restored to its original condition after restoration by Bertrand Cattiaux in 1996 under the guidance of Michel Chapuis, the four official organists of the instrument come together for a concert featuring major works of the French classical organ repertoire: François Couperin, Louis Marchand, Nicolas de Grigny, Jean-François Dandrieu… A perfect opportunity to make this exceptional instrument shine!
Opera in concert
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2026
Mozart Gala Buffa : Vienna 1783
In Vienna in 1783, Mozart successively began work on two opera buffa, which he ultimately set aside in favour of other commitments, but which would become the foundations of a masterpiece: The Marriage of Figaro (1786). The theme of marriage, lovers and intrigue lies at the heart of both abandoned projects. In The Cairo Goose, an old marquis keeps his daughter locked in a tower to prevent her marriage. The young lovers resort to ingenious ruses to smuggle in the suitor… hidden inside a giant mechanical goose. In The Disappointed Fiancé, a tangle of thwarted marriage plans and romantic misunderstandings gives rise to sparkling vocal ensembles. Mozart was already devoted to love and its playful virtuosity, which would later ensure the success of Figaro.
Concert
Saturday, December, 5th, 2026
Charpentier : Midnight Mass and Bach : Magnificat
To celebrate Christmas, the Royal Chapel is adorned with some of the finest music of the season, bringing together two Baroque masters: Marc-Antoine Charpentier and Johann Sebastian Bach. This programme, now a cherished fixture of the festive season at Versailles, creates a dialogue between the warmth of French Christmas traditions and the magnificent instrumental splendour of Northern Germany.
Opera in staged version
From Thursday December 10th to Sunday December 13th 2026
Zingarelli : Romeo and Juliet
Napoleon’s Opera Who has not been moved by the love story of Romeo and Juliet? Napoleon, the great military leader with a little-known passion for the arts and Italian opera, was no exception. Nicolò Balducci and Juliette Mey reunite the outstanding duo formed by the castrato Crescentini and the admired Grassini in this opera by Zingarelli.
Concert
Friday, December 11th, 2026
Bach : Christmas Oratorio
Cappella Mediterranea continues its exploration of the sacred repertoire with Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, composed in Leipzig in 1734. This cycle of six cantatas traces the story of the Nativity, from the birth of Christ to the Adoration of the Magi, alternating recitatives, arias and choruses. Blending narrative, reflection and the collective voice of the choir, the work radiates light, joy and hope.
Concert
From Saturday, December 12th to Sunday, December 13th, 2026
Handel : Messiah
No work by Handel has achieved greater fame than Messiah. Premiered in Dublin in 1742, this oratorio was an immediate triumph. Demand for tickets was so great that gentlemen were asked to “leave their swords at home” and ladies to attend “without their hoop skirts”, allowing more people to be admitted and increasing the proceeds for charitable causes. Following the alto aria He Was Despised, the Reverend Delany is said to have exclaimed to the soloist: “Woman, for this, may all your sins be forgiven!”
Concert
Saturday, December 19th, 2026
Vivaldi : Gloria
Joined by the musicians of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera under the direction of Chloé de Guillebon, the young soloists from the two current cohorts of the Royal Opera Academy come together for this festive concert. A journey through the sacred repertoire, celebrating Christmas with some of the most striking masterpieces of the Baroque era.
Opera in staged version
From Sunday December 27th 2026 to Sunday January 3rd 2027
Donizetti : La Fille du régiment
Who has not been moved by the love story of Romeo and Juliet? Napoleon, the great military leader with a little-known passion for the arts and Italian opera, was no exception. Nicolò Balducci and Juliette Mey reunite the outstanding duo formed by the castrato Crescentini and the admired Grassini in this opera by Zingarelli.
Concert
Wednesday, December 30th, 2026
New Year’s Concert : Johann Strauss II and Jacques Offenbach
The Royal Opera of the Palace of Versailles welcomes the New Year with a sparkling musical showdown between Vienna and Paris. Under the baton of Victor Jacob, the Orchestra of the Royal Opera and soprano Amandine Sanchez bring to life the effervescent masterpieces of Johann Strauss and Jacques Offenbach. From elegant imperial waltzes to exuberant Parisian galops, let yourself be swept away by an irresistible whirlwind of wit, elegance and festive spirit.
Opera in staged version
Thursday, December 31st, 2026
Donizetti : La Fille du régiment
Renowned for its exceptional success, Donizetti presented in Paris in 1840 his first opera written in French: La Fille du régiment. King Louis-Philippe had just reopened the doors of Versailles by deciding to create a museum dedicated “to all the glories of France”. Napoleon was more honoured there than Louis XIV, and France was preparing to welcome with fervour the return of the Emperor’s ashes. In such a context, patriotism was running high, and La Fille du régiment was perfectly in tune with the spirit of the time. To portray the unlikely love story between Marie, a vivandière who has become the adopted daughter of the regiment, and the brave Tonio who saved her and joined the Napoleonic army, Donizetti indulges wholeheartedly: patriotic arias and choruses, a display of bel canto, and Tonio’s famous aria, the “Everest of operatic art” with its nine high C’s !
Ballet
From Thursday January 7th to Tuesday January 12th 2027
Ballet Preljocaj : Soulèvement
What is this mysterious force that binds us beyond our differences, our individuality, and our beliefs? The one that brings us together in streets, village squares, and the heart of great cities? The one that draws us out of our homes, pushes and uplifts us, circulating like a wave from one body to another, carrying a shared feeling in the face of injustice, inequality in resources, and social status. From Antiquity to the present day, via the Enlightenment, history is marked by these sporadic uprisings, fuelled by a dream, an utopia, but most often by a vital necessity.
Opera in staged version
From Saturday January 16th to Sunday January 17th 2027
Campra : Le Carnaval de Venise
Campra gave the premiere of The Carnival of Venice in Paris in 1699, and this grand entertainment made a considerable impact thanks to the audience’s enthusiasm. Festive and light-hearted, this depiction of the Venetian carnival brings together dancers, jugglers, singers and characters from the Commedia dell’arte, weaving amorous intrigues in which Columbine and Harlequin cross paths, all set to a particularly rich, Italianate score. Conducted by Camille Delaforge, this Carnival arrives at the Opéra Royal following a triumphant tour.
Concert
Monday, January 18th, 2027
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 “Eroica” and Symphony No. 7 “Apotheosis of Dance”
Royal Opera Productions.
Opera in staged version
From Friday January 29th to Sunday January 31st 2027
Rameau : Pygmalion Gluck : Le Cadi Dupé
In 1748, Rameau created an opéra-ballet in a single act of remarkable sensitivity: Pygmalion, in which the hero, in love with the statue he has sculpted, ultimately brings it to life through the power of love. A decade later in Vienna, Gluck composed a French opéra-comique on an alla turca theme, Le Cadi dupé: set in an eastern capital, two lovers wish to marry despite the opposition of the Cadi (the local magistrate). With the help of a cunning servant, they devise schemes to deceive him, and the Cadi is duly duped through disguises and comic misunderstandings. Brought together for a single evening through the wit and imagination of Jean-Romain Vesperini, these two Baroque gems include a hilariously entertaining Cadi, which remains little known today.
Concert
Friday, February 5th, 2027
Récital Nadine Sierra : Mozart - Donizetti
A shining star of the world’s leading opera stages, soprano Nadine Sierra comes to the Royal Opera for an evening of dazzling virtuosity and deep emotion. Bringing together the luminous elegance of Mozart’s finest arias and the refined artistry of Donizetti’s bel canto, this programme marks the American soprano’s first collaboration with the Royal Opera Orchestra—an artistic partnership that will continue with a tour of around ten performances across France and Spain.
Ballet
From Tuesday February 23rd to Sunday February 28th 2027
Ballet Preljocaj : Swan Lake
After Snow White and Romeo and Juliet, Angelin Preljocaj returns to narrative ballet and his love of the great stories that define timeless tales. Elevating Tchaikovsky’s musical masterpiece, he reimagines the myth of the Swan Princess, transposing it into a powerful world shaped by the pressing issues of our time, particularly environmental concerns. Power, beauty, love and death lie at the heart of this work by Angelin Preljocaj, which moved audiences so deeply that the Royal Opera of the Palace of Versailles is presenting it once again. This is a landmark production for all ages—a choreographic marvel that transcends styles.
Concert
Wednesday, February 24th, 2027
Vertigo, Imaginary Vespers
At the turn of the seventeenth century, German composers all looked to Italy for inspiration. Venice, with its magnificent sonic architecture and bold spatial effects, its cori spezzati and the flourishing tradition of polychoral music, exerted a profound influence that reached deep into Lutheran Germany. But the Thirty Years’ War brought this momentum to an abrupt halt. Musical expression became more intimate, giving rise to the kleine geistliche Konzerte, heirs to the Italian tradition of sacred motets for solo voice and continuo.
Concert
Sunday, March 7th, 2027
Beethoven : Symphony No. 5 and Symphony No. 6
For the past few seasons, the Orchestra of the Royal Opera has been led by the young conductor Théotime Langlois de Swarte, whose energy and imagination have fostered a remarkable artistic partnership. Together, they now embark on Beethoven’s monumental cycle of symphonies, presented at the Royal Opera for the very first time. Having explored heroism and dance, the Orchestra of the Royal Opera continues its Beethoven cycle under the direction of Théotime Langlois de Swarte. This programme brings together two of the most iconic works in the history of music, composed at the same time yet revealing two strikingly contrasting worlds: the relentless struggle of the Fifth Symphony and the serene contemplation of the Sixth Symphony, the celebrated Pastoral.
Opera in staged version
Saturday, March 13th to Sunday, March 21st, 2027 april
Rossini : Il barbiere di Siviglia
Rossini composed this masterpiece of opera buffa at the age of twenty-three, and its premiere in Rome in 1816 quickly became a European success. It was revived in Paris in 1819 at the Théâtre Italien, and from 1820 at the Opéra-Comique in a French version of the libretto by Castil-Blaze. It is in order to present this iconic work, inspired by Beaumarchais, in French that the Opéra Royal at the Château de Versailles is staging this production, with the sparkling direction of Cécile Roussat and Julien Lubeck, and Florian Sempey in the role of Figaro.
Opera in concert
Friday, March 19th, 2027
Scarlatti : Oratorio per le Passione
The Oratorio per la Passione, also known as La Colpa, il Pentimento, la Grazia (Guilt, Repentance and Grace), is one of the hidden treasures created at the court of Cardinal Ottoboni, who wrote the libretto for Holy Week in Rome in 1708. It represents the pinnacle of Alessandro Scarlatti’s expressive power in his later years, yet its legacy was overshadowed by the La Resurrezione of the young Handel, an oratorio premiered just days later in the same Roman palace.
Concert
Sunday, March 21st, 2027
Rossi : Oratorio for Holy Week
At the crossroads between musical theatre and spiritual contemplation, William Christie invites audiences to rediscover one of the founding milestones of the Italian oratorio: Luigi Rossi’s rarely performed Oratorio per la Settimana Santa, presented here alongside an equally little-known oratorio by Perti. Composed in the mid-seventeenth century, the Oratorio per la Settimana Santa reflects the profound aesthetic transformation of the emerging Baroque era, where musical theatre and spiritual meditation meet: the primacy of the text, expressive intensity, the dramatic portrayal of emotions and harmonic refinement.
Opéra en concert
Tuesday March 23rd 2027
Purcell : The Fairy Queen
Ensemble Correspondances invites audiences to discover one of the jewels of the English Baroque: Henry Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, a five-act semi-opera inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. First performed at London’s Dorset Garden Theatre in 1692, Purcell’s creation is a work of extraordinary imagination. To Shakespeare’s already intricate plot, he adds parallel storylines, fantastical characters, some touching, others comic or even mischievous.
Concert
Wednesday, March 24th, 2027
Couperin : Tenebrae Lessons
Candlelight concert. By the mid-17th century, Les Leçons de Ténèbres had become the subject of increasingly admired musical compositions. In France, Michel Lambert was the first to compose a cycle in 1662, soon followed by Marc-Antoine Charpentier and Michel Richard Delalande. But the most famous — and the first to regain popularity through recordings and with the wider public in modern times — are those by François Couperin, dating from 1714.
Concert
Thursday, March 25th, 2027
Carissimi : The Last Judgement
An undisputed masterpiece of the Roman Baroque, Historia di Jephte by Giacomo Carissimi was composed around 1649 for the Oratory of the Santissimo Crocifisso in Rome. It would go on to become one of the crowning achievements of the Italian musical repertoire. Carissimi recounts the story of Jephthah, who, before going into battle, rashly vows to God that, should he be granted victory, he will sacrifice the first living being to greet him on his return. It is his only daughter. From this tragic error unfolds a profoundly moving reversal of fortune: military triumph gives way to mourning, culminating in the celebrated final chorus, Plorate – a pinnacle of emotional expression that won admiration throughout Europe from the seventeenth century onwards.
Concert
Friday, March 26th, 2027
Vivaldi and Pergolesi : Stabat Mater for Two Castrati
Candlelight Concert Two countertenors for an iconic masterpiece: Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. This performance revives the history of the work’s premiere in France, originally performed by two castrati from the Royal Chapel of Louis XV.
Concert
Saturday, March 27th and Sunday, March 28th, 2027
Bach : St Matthew Passion
Johann Sebastian Bach’s St Matthew Passion, the summit of his oeuvre, was probably first performed on a Good Friday. The year 1727 at St. Thomas Church has haunted the history of music for nearly three centuries. Performed several times during Bach’s lifetime, it became the driving force behind the rediscovery of Bach in the nineteenth century. Nearly one hundred years after its premiere, Felix Mendelssohn conducted a version in Berlin, restoring Bach to the foremost place in the German musical heritage, where he has remained ever since.
Theater
From Thursday April 1st to Friday April 2nd 2027
Fabrice Luchini reads Victor Hugo
I first gave a public reading of texts and poems by Victor Hugo in June 2021, in the gardens of the Maison de Chateaubriand. Contrary to André Gide’s remark, from an otherwise keen critic, “Who is the greatest French poet? Victor Hugo, alas,” there are in Hugo’s writings moments of brilliance that go beyond the work of a gifted craftsman, and moments of sheer joy in writing that emerge from his extraordinarily fertile creativity.
Concert
Monday, April 19th, 2027
Vivaldi - Pergolèse : Stabat Mater
If there is one work capable of stirring the soul, it is undoubtedly Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. Composed on his deathbed at the age of twenty-six, this musical testament has become one of the cornerstones of the Baroque repertoire, moving generations of listeners with its melancholic grace and infinite tenderness. Alongside it, Antonio Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater reveals a distinctly Venetian fervour, where profound contemplation meets a masterful sense of dramatic contrast. As a final highlight, Franz Schubert’s celebrated Ave Maria will bring a touch of Romantic serenity to this exceptional evening.
Opera in staged version
From Friday April 23rd to Sunday April 25th 2027
Grétry : La Caravane du Caire
A true rediscovered masterpiece not to be missed ! La Caravane du Caire was a triumph at its premiere in 1783 and continued to resonate as far as Napoleon’s army, with the chorus “Victory is ours!”. Grétry’s colourful work, with its patriotic overtones, is a genuine hymn to France: in the Egyptian desert, the “brave Frenchman” Saint-Phar tries to free his beloved Zélime from the slave trader who intends to sell her to the Pasha, a veritable ogre of the tale. Grétry’s brilliant score consistently hits the mark in this large-scale entertainment. The lively situations and ballets showcase a sparkling cast, a true gallery of characters carried away into a music-hall version of the Orient by the winning duo behind Grétry’s Richard Cœur de Lion: Marshall Pynkoski and Hervé Niquet.
Concert
Sunday, April 25th, 2027
Charpentier : Meditations
A concert for male voices around Holy Week. Under the reign of Louis XIV, both the city and the court were accustomed to an extravaganza of lavish entertainments, creating the illusion of a never-ending celebration. Only Lent brought the laughter of comedy and the marvels of stage machinery to a halt. The exuberance of secular spectacle then gave way to the intimate, mysterious splendours of this season of contemplation. The French taste for beautiful singing and intense, impassioned expression found its continuation in the motets of Holy Week, where the drama of human solitude unfolds in the face of the apparent loss of all hope.
Opera in staged version
Thursday April 29th 2027
Heggie : The Judgment of Paris
In Paris in 1976, producers of America’s finest wines invited an exclusively French panel of judges to take part in a blind tasting. To the surprise of the French establishment, the two winning wines turned out to be American. This “Judgement of Paris” transformed the world of wine classification, which had until then been systematically biased against Californian wines.
Theater
From Tuesday May 11th to Sunday May 16th 2027
Molière – Lully : The Bourgeois Gentleman
This is a monument of theatre, which celebrated its 350th anniversary in 2020, and whose power remains undiminished: thanks to Molière’s remarkably skilful writing, we are still, today, hanging on the words of this bourgeois.
Concert
Saturday, May 22nd and Sunday, May 23rd, 2027
Beethoven : Symphony No. 9
For several years now, the Royal Opera Orchestra has been led by the young conductor Théotime Langlois de Swarte, whose energy and inventiveness have fuelled this outstanding artistic partnership. Together, they embark on the monumental cycle of Beethoven’s symphonies, in a first for the Royal Opera ! Ludwig van Beethoven’s final symphonic work, the Ninth Symphony transcends the boundaries of music to become a universal symbol of fraternity. A true artistic testament, it breaks with every established convention, bringing the human voice into the heart of the orchestra in a dazzling finale, with Schiller’s Ode to Joy at its centre.
Opera in concert
Friday, May 28th, 2027
Porsile : Spartacus
The rediscovery of Porsile’s opera Spartacus, led by Orkester Nord and conductor Martin Wåhlberg, has been hailed by critics as a major event. Appointed composer to the imperial court in 1720, Porsile ranks alongside the greatest creators of his age: Caldara, Fux, Conti, Porpora and even Vivaldi, who died in Vienna in 1741. Spartacus, premiered during the Carnival season of February 1726, is one of his finest operatic works and one of the very few operas of the period centred on a gladiator.
Opera in concert
Saturday, May 29th, 2027
Vivaldi : Juditha triumphans
The only surviving oratorio by the composer, written in 1716 for the young female musicians of the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, Juditha triumphans celebrates the victory of the Venetian Republic over the Ottoman Empire. An allegorical and political work as much as a spiritual one, it stages the biblical figure of Judith, a heroine of courage and cunning, who triumphs over the general Holofernes to save her people.
Ballet
From Saturday June 5th to Sunday June 6th 2027
Malandain Ballet Biarritz : El Amor Brujo and Don Quixote
Love, the Magician is set among the Gypsies of Andalusia, in an atmosphere of superstition and witchcraft. It portrays the love between Candelas and Carmelo, disrupted by the apparition of the ghost of a young man who, until his death, had been Candelas’ fiancé. The spell will only be broken when Candelas manages to redirect the jealous attention of the spirit towards another young woman.
Opera in staged version
Monday, June 14th, 2027
Molière - Lully : les comédies-ballets
The young Sun King was as passionate about dance as he was about music, and he soon placed Lully (his partner in the court ballets) in charge of organising his court festivities. Molière’s success with the King led to the creation of the comédie-ballet, a blend of court ballet and comedy. This new form entertained the King and his guests for a decade, producing masterpieces that remain part of our cultural heritage. This concert offers the chance to hear the most dazzling musical moments from the comédies-ballets created by Molière and Lully, performed by the singers of the Opéra Royal Academy.
Concert
Thursday, June 17th, 2027
Bach : Mass in B minor
This may well be the most fully realised masterpiece of Baroque sacred music: an intoxicating work of choral beauty, filled with dazzling arias. The story behind the celebrated Mass in B minor is a fascinating one. Bach completed the work in Leipzig around 1748, just two years before his death, bringing together his Missa Brevis of 1733, a Kyrie and Gloria dedicated to the Elector of Saxony for the brilliant, Catholic court of Dresden, with various pieces he had already composed, including the Sanctus, dated Christmas 1724, as well as newly written movements. The result was what his son Carl Philipp Emanuel called the “Great Catholic Mass”. In a sense, it was a work conceived without any specific performance in mind: after fifty years devoted to cantatas and Passions, Bach may have sought to create his great summation of sacred music.
Opera in staged version
From Friday June 18th to Sunday June 27th 2027
Haendel : Julio Cesare in Egitto
Giulio Cesare in Egitto is undoubtedly one of Handel’s finest operas, but before being a historical fresco, it is first and foremost a story of love. While in most operas political conflict tends to thwart matters of the heart and other passions, here it is diverging matters of state that instead encourage the blossoming and affirmation of the most tender feelings. The librettist delights in multiplying obstacles on the path of love, and Handel responds with some of his most beautiful arias.
Concert
Saturday, June 19th, 2027
Bach : The Brandenburg Concertos
In 1721, Bach dedicated a set of six concertos to the Margrave of Brandenburg, the great-uncle of the King of Prussia. A true “art of the concerto” in Bach’s own style, these “six concertos for multiple instruments” are of rare virtuosity, calling upon the strings, of course, but also various soloists such as the harpsichord and the trumpet, in a blend of styles in which the Italian concerto prevails, alongside an extraordinary command of German contrapuntal interweaving and magnificent French influences.
Concert
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2027
Charpentier : Vespers for the Virgin
A passionate admirer of Charpentier’s music, to which he has devoted around ten recordings with Le Concert Spirituel over nearly forty years, Hervé Niquet has decided to bring his sacred works back to life. And what luxury! By recreating today a concert that only Louis XIV could afford to produce at the time, Le Concert Spirituel and the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles revive the splendour of Versailles by summoning Charpentier’s Roman and Italian musical influences. With an octet of soloists, a double orchestra and a double choir, this trilogy brings together sixty-three performers in unison.
Concert
Thursday, June 24th, 2027
The Three Countertenors !
In Baroque Europe, castrati occupied an extraordinary place: that of the first true “stars” in the history of music. Nearly all Italian and trained in the conservatories of Naples, they devoted themselves either to opera careers or to serving the most prestigious princely chapels, reaching as far as the Vatican and the Royal Chapel of the Palace of Versailles, and often combining both positions.
Opera in staged version
From Wednesday June 30th to Thursday July 1st 2027.
Monteverdi : L’incoronazione di Poppea
To become Empress of Rome, the courtesan Poppaea will stop at nothing. A mistress of Emperor Nero, she removes every obstacle in her path to the throne. At the cost of breaking with her lover Otho, the enforced suicide of the philosopher Seneca, and the repudiation of the Empress Octavia, she ultimately achieves her goal: Poppaea marries Nero. What might have been a mere celebration of amorality instead becomes, through Monteverdi’s music, a hymn to overwhelming desire and an exaltation of humanity trapped in its own contradictions. Monteverdi’s final opera is also the first great masterpiece of the genre, strikingly modern despite being four centuries old.
Opera in staged version
From Saturday July 3rd to Sunday July 4th 2027
Hasse : Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra
Marc Antony and Cleopatra was created by the young Hasse in 1725 in Naples, on a private commission, with the castrato Farinelli and the mezzo-soprano Vittoria Tesi singing the two title roles. Its success was strategic for Hasse, allowing him to make a brilliant entry into the Italian operatic world. The virtuosity and beauty of the arias and duets are among the finest of the Baroque style, and will be enhanced at the Queen’s Theatre by the performances of Catherine Trottmann and Théo Imart. A timeless rendezvous…
Concert
Wednesday, July 14th, 2027
Vivaldi : The Four Seasons
The famous The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi, published in Amsterdam in 1725, achieved such immense success that they almost overshadowed Vivaldi’s other concertos (more than five hundred of them!). While their popularity owes much to their particularly expressive and virtuosic programmatic music, Vivaldi was already a celebrated master sought after throughout Europe, and his operatic triumphs had placed him among the foremost Italian composers. He was especially admired and performed in France, and was even commissioned by the French ambassador in Venice to compose works in honor of Louis XV.
