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The Royal Opera and the Royal Chapel of Versailles season 2018/2019

When you attend a show at the Royal Opera or the Royal Chapel of Versailles, there is a some miracle and certainly a feeling of magic in the air. In the world, few places are as full of history and, above all, few historical halls are still able to receive opera, theater or ballet productions.

In addition to concerts, the Château de Versailles offers productions of incredible quality. Baroque music is obvious here and many of the 17th and 18th century composers are played but not only those. It is necessary without delay to reserve its places for ballets, for example the extraordinary Romeo and Juliet of Angelin Preljocaj, Swan lake or the creation in world premiere, Marie-Antoinette danced by the company of Thierry Malandain.

There is also the impressive Berlioz series that should not be missed. The two greatest Berliozian leaders are at Versailles. John Eliot Gardiner conducts the Symphonie fantastique and François-Xavier Roth, another masterpiece, the Damnation of Faust. The richness of the programming at the Château de Versailles is reflected in the notoriety of the great artists and the great voices that perform there (Sandrine Piau, Anna Caterina Antonacci, Karine Deshayes, Magdalena Kozená, Cyrille Dubois, Marc Mauillon …). You have to book her tickets for the Julie Fuchs recital, who sings bel canto scores.

Another sensational artist, counter-tenor Franco Fagioli, offers a recital with Vinci airs that are obviously virtuose. Philippe Jaroussky is accompanied by Emöke Baráth to perform Handel airs and duets. With Jakub Józef Orlinski, another great voice that counts today is that of counteralto Lucile Richardot in three concerts. There are so many events not to be missed at the Château de Versailles!

A magnificent cycle of religious music is offered during the Holy Week with Charpentier directed by Sébastien Daucé or Bach by Jordi Savall. A great baton also in Bach, the very talented Raphael Pichon offers his interpretation of the Mass in Si and also directs the Vespers of Monteverdi and another concert at the source of the Venetian opera. Other wonderful conductors are like in residence in Versailles like Hervé Niquet, Vincent Dumestre or Christophe Rousset. These wonderful Baroque batons lead a broad repertoire with Couperin, Handel, Pergolesi and rediscoveries such as the Requiem of Marie Antoinette de Plantade or the awaited Divisione del Mondo by Giovanni Legrenzi, directed by Jetske Mijnssen. To propose so many operas in scenic version is a luxury of which it is necessary to know how to benefit by reserving the best places without delay.

Purcell’s King Arthur is a reprise of the fantastic production of Corinne and Gilles Benizio (aka Shirley and Dino) as this Beggar’s Opera by the duo William Christie / Robert Carsen. But great fans will discover the Devin du Village of a certain Jean-Jacques Rousseau or the Finta pazza Sacrati. The brilliant Leonardo García Alarcón is one of the major players in this project.

This season 2018-2019, he also directs Bach’s Mass in Si or a reprise of his success, Il Diluvio Universale de Falvetti. Like the musical pleasures it offers us, Versailles is a festival of every moment.