Near Trianon, the young Queen Marie-Antoinette built a small and secret theater, to act and sing herself with friends and family. The little theater is still there, newly restored. For the first time since the XVIII century, opera arias and symphonies by Gretry and Gossec, two of the queen's best composers, are played with ancient sets and instruments. A cycle of late 18th century music, programmed by the Baroque Music Center of Versailles, showcases the finest compositions of the musical repertoire played in Paris, under the influence of Marie-Antoinette, during the reign of Louis XVI. The Center joined with French-speaking musicians from different horizons, giving pride of place to the great French-Walloon composers, Andre-Modeste Gretry and Francois-Joseph Gossec. Both enjoyed major careers under Louis XVI: the first built his reputation on his comic operas, which Marie-Antoinette greatly admired; the second came to be considered the true father of the French symphony.

Réné Jacobs reinvents Handel’s Orlando for the 21st century with the help of the young period instrument ensemble B’Rock and a brilliant cast of soloists led by Bejun Mehta as the title hero and Sophie Karthäuser as his adored Angelica.

Die Zauberflöte is one of Mozart’s most famous works and one of the most beloved of the entire operatic repertoire. Generations of spectators have been fascinated by the melodies and adventures of Papageno, the Queen of the Night, Tamino, and Pamina, the ordeals faced by the young lovers, and the work’s inexhaustible allegorical depth. The director Romeo Castellucci has deliberately stepped back from the narrative dimension of the opera in order to explore its raw emotion and its philosophical heart. For his part, the conductor Antonello Manacorda brings Mozart’s immortal music to life with the help of an outstanding cast that includes Sabine Devieilhe, one of today’s finest interpreters of the Queen of the Night.

In Tamerlano, Handel defied rules both written and tacit—offering a main role to a mature tenor at a time when the castrato voice dominated; and not shying away from shocking scenes that other composers approached hesitantly, like suicide. Pierre Audi’s elegant, minimalist staging allows an all-star cast of singers to highlight the work’s many dramatic elements, proving that Baroque opera can still move and thrill us as it did 300 years ago!

Berlioz’s whimsical and nostalgic take on Shakespeare’s great comedy Much Ado About Nothing graces the stage of Glyndebourne in Laurent Pelly’s astute 2016 production. Italian maestro Antonello Manacorda leads the London Philharmonic in Berlioz’s brilliant score.

The Magic Flute by Mozart at La Monnaie.