Things are heating up at the Opéra-Comique — as hot as the coffee Louis Langrée served to the journalists welcomed into his office, a mythical place haunted by the ghosts of all the artistic directors who came before him. Birthplace of Carmen, Pelléas et Mélisande, Lakmé and Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Paris’s other national opera house has not only succeeded in preserving its unique status, but has risen high in the ranks of major French institutions. Since the inauguration, in 1898, of the current auditorium — which has retained the same proportions as the original 1783 hall — numerous renovations have been undertaken. However, the stage tower, damaged in the 2000s, now requires further work, leading to a temporary closure. There will indeed be a 2026–27 season, with concerts and masterclasses held in the foyer, but productions will take place on tour, notably across the regions, within the network of Italian-style theatres. The Maîtrise Populaire and the Opéra-Comique Academy, united under the name “Campus Favart”, will of course continue their activities. Major events will return as of 2027–28, with a Maeterlinck cycle, a Goethe cycle, and the continuation of great French lyric tragedies. After Iphigénie en Tauride, scheduled from 2 to 12 November 2025 — a highly anticipated new production staged by Wajdi Mouawad, with Louis Langrée sharing the podium with Théotime Langlois de Swarte — the maestro announces another Gluck opera with Alceste, as well as Scylla et Glaucus by Leclair. Langrée is expected to conduct Pelléas et Mélisande, while Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust — returning to the hall of its premiere in concert version as in 1846 — should be entrusted to a commanding Berlioz specialist. A production of the rarely heard Ariane et Barbe-Bleue by Dukas is also in the pipeline. Now dividing his time between his duties as director and his acclaimed conducting career, Louis Langrée has had his mandate at the Théâtre national de l’Opéra-Comique extended until 2029.

© Fabrice Robin