A season where the slogan “Everyone finds themselves here,” associated with the 20-21 season, unfortunately cut short by the health crisis, can truly take on its full meaning.
This year is thus one of renewal: lyric, choreographic, and symphonic offerings will be tailored to all tastes, all budgets, and all ages, addressing both experienced music and ballet lovers, as well as the curious eager for discoveries.
This exceedingly rich season aims to introduce opera, ballet, and symphonic music in all its forms, with unusual and sometimes playful perspectives that are sure to entice people to come through the doors of this house.
The opera and theater season 21/22 features 12 titles, new artistic proposals, 6 new productions including 3 co-productions, 1 opera in concert version, 2 world premieres, 2 operettas, 3 contemporary shows in collaboration with CIRM and the MANCA Festival, and a world premiere participatory opera with children from Nice schools (as part of the City of Nice’s cultural policy “100% Culture at School”).
In September, the main elements of the season will be presented during an exceptional evening: “Family Reunion,” which will showcase some of the most striking sections of the presented works with the participation of the vibrant forces of the House, Choir, Ballet, and Orchestra.
The phenomenal “Akhnaten” by Philip Glass will open the season with all the performing arts, with Lucinda Childs’s proposal ingeniously blending music, singing, and dance.
Other titles will delight opera enthusiasts: “Macbeth” by Giuseppe Verdi directed by Daniel Benoin, “Phaéton” by Jean-Baptiste Lully with musical direction by Jérôme Correas, “The Merry Widow” by Franz Lehár, featured alongside “Andalousie” by Francis Lopez in the Operetta and Musical Festival, “The Voyage to the Moon” by Jacques Offenbach, a new production in collaboration with the French Center for Lyric Promotion and 17 opera houses.
The Nice Opera is setting up a second stage at the heart of its production center, La Diacosmie, a 320-seat theater that allows for the development of new activities around music and dance, as well as the exploration of new territories, with a focus specifically dedicated to shows for children, to be enjoyed with the family.
This season, it will host three works as part of the Manca festival: “Le Cosmichomiche,” “La Ralentie,” and “Ma Vie rêvée,” and two works for young audiences, “Pomme d’Api” and “Le Singe d’une Nuit d’été” in co-production with the Regional Cultural Authority, and “Babel” by Sergio Monterisi and Magali Thomas, a world premiere participatory opera.
The Nice Méditerranée Ballet, directed by Eric Vu-An, will offer an alternation between off-the-beaten-path discoveries and great repertoire works, including the traditional Christmas ballet devoted to a classic, “Don Quixote” by Minkus.
