The Nightingale - Nice Opera house (2024) - Le Rossignol - Opéra Nice Côte d'Azur (2024)

Description

Played with Les Mamelles de Tiresias.
Co-production Théâtre des Champs-Elysées (where it was given in 2023, we reported on it in French), Oper Köln and Opéra Nice Côte d’Azur.

Exceptional evening! Here we bring together two major masterpieces from the beginning of the 20th century: The Nightingale by Stravinsky, dreamlike and marvelous, and Les Mamelles de Tirésias by Poulenc with their gently offbeat humor.
Loosely inspired by a tale by Andersen, Stravinsky's The Nightingale transports us to a mythical China, where the Emperor, first charmed by the song of a nightingale, one day allows himself to be seduced by the song of a mechanical bird offered to him by Japanese emissaries. Upset, the nightingale leaves the court... But he will not forget the unfaithful Emperor when he sees the latter threatened by death. The work was created in Paris, in French, on the eve of the First World War... Faced with this fable about friendship and loyalty, Les Mamelles de Tirésias takes us from drama to comedy. Poulenc sets to music a piece by Apollinaire which caused a scandal in its time: the poet depicts a woman, Thérèse, who rebels against the macho society in which she lives. And, as unexpected as it may seem, she then transforms into a man! A poem full of humor and lucidity, which Poulenc's always fabulously imaginative music transcends in every measure. Two themes and two worlds which inspired Olivier Py, who directed the production alongside the young conductor Lucie Leguay, whose love for French music is well known.

New: “Come with your parents” for 5 to 10 year olds: While your parents attend the show, you discover the Opera by participating in a unique cultural activity. Session for “Le Rossignol / Les Mamelles de Tirésias”: Saturday October 1 at 3 p.m., go to the box office for reservations, subject to availability.

More information is available on the official website of the opera house.