“Les Mousquetaires au couvent” back in Paris

We bet you didn’t especially wait for a new production of Strauss’ Fledermaus, right? Well, the Opéra Comique is going to put it on anyway, as the season opening 2014/15. In a new French version by Pascal Paul-Harang. And none other than Marc Minkowski—once the rival of current Opéra Comique director Jérôme Deschamps to become the new director of the house—will conduct. He already did so in Salzburg. You might remember that production because of the scandal surrounding good old Adolf Hitler walking through the ball room scene in act II. (It was a time, when some people still got upset about such things.) I personally did not think it was a musically or scenically special production. You can see it on DVD and make up your own mind.

But Minkowski is a local hero in Paris, so presumably it’s going to be a hit. (Sad, that he couldn’t be bothered to conduct the original French version…. La Tzigane. Offenbach’s girlfriend and star Zulmar Bouffar starred in it.)

If this re-written (sorry, newly translated) Fledermaus seems a little uninteresting to you, you might get more excited about the other new operetta production, Les Mousquetaires au couvent (1880) by Louis Varney, directed by Deschamps. The conductor is not Minkowski, but Laurent Campellone. First night is June 13, 2015. And if you don’t know the Mousquetaires, there are various quite marvelous recordings available on CD. It’s great music, sadly little known outside of France today. Maybe the Opéra Comique’s new version will stir international interest a bit?

There will also be a revival of Ciboulette—in the reconstructed version by Christophe Mirambeau. So, needless to say, we here at ORCA are very happy that the Reynaldo Hahn classic is back, in this newly freshened up version. Mélody Louledjian will take on the title role.

For more information click here.