Francesco Cavalli, a natural successor to Monteverdi, was the most famous and influential Italian opera composer during the mid-17th century. Cardinal Mazarin, chief minister to the king, commissioned Cavalli to create a Parisian spectacle to celebrate the wedding of the ‘Sun King’ Louis XIV and the Infanta of Spain. Ercole amante (‘Hercules in Love’) was the flattering subject chosen for this regal extravaganza combining larger-than-life characters with mythology, and genuine human emotions with natural and cosmic phenomena. The result is a sumptuous Baroque spectacle, conceived on a vast scale in this lavish production by directors Valerie Lesort and Christian Hecq.

Beethoven's only opera came to the stage of the Opéra Comique in Paris in 2021 in a sensational production. The work of conductor Raphaël Pichon and director Cyril Teste reveals their appreciation for a work that is rarely performed in France. At the center of the plot is Leonore, who, disguised as a man, searches for her husband Florestan.

When, in 1733, Voltaire, the most brilliant mind of his day, collaborates with Rameau, its greatest composer, in undertaking an ambitious reform of operatic practice, the result is the biblical opera Samson. But the libretto is condemned and the score lost – possibly reworked here and there in later compositions. Claus Guth and Raphaël Pichon, haunted by this interesting project that had turned into one of the most intriguing failures in operatic history, have tried, not to recreate the letter, but to revive the spirit: to marry a strong, noble libretto with the most eloquent music.

Amour, the messenger of the gods, tells Orpheus that he may descend to the underworld and return with Eurydice. His singing has the power to appease the Furies and animate the blessed Shadows. Yet, his voice cannot reassure Eurydice who despairs of the feigned indifference of Orpheus, put to the test by Jupiter. Raphaël Pichon conducts the opera of operas and Aurélien Bory displays the giddiness of the mental and supernatural spaces traveled by Orpheus and beyond. Marianne Crebassa plays a new breeches role with Hélène Guilmette (Hélène in Le Timbre d’argent) and Lea Desandre (the title role in Alcione).

Opera in three acts by Christoph Willibald Gluck, Hector Berlioz's version (1859)

Relive an unforgettable musical and theatrical experience with this singular production of Mozart's Requiem, staged by the defiantly nonconformist director Romeo Castellucci at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2019. Raphaël Pichon leads his acclaimed ensemble Pygmalion, whose impeccable musicianship and refreshingly original approach to early music have led them to the highest echelon of period-instrument outfits working today. Four magnificent solo voices—soprano Siobhan Stagg, alto Sara Mingardo, tenor Martin Mitterrutzner, and bass Luca Tittoto—blend seamlessly with the choir and orchestra in the most famous of all requiem masses, left unfinished by Mozart at his death. "Mozart's Requiem," writes musicologist Olivier Bellamy, "is resolutely theatrical. From moment to moment, the music alternates between terror, joy, supplication, exaltation, and scriptural piety."

Raphaël Pichon and his Ensemble Pygmalion resonate with the humanity, hope and light that permeate Johann Sebastian Bach's most beautiful sacred scores. A concert full of emotion.