The 2016-2017 opera season, presented this Tuesday at the Montserrat Caballé foyer of the Nice Opera, held delightful surprises for us.
This year, 2016, is very important for the opera scene in Nice. Besides a new general director in the person of Mr. Éric Chevalier, who has been in position since January 18, there is also the departure of conductor Philippe Auguin, who will be replaced next September.
The new director presented us with the 2016-2017 program featuring five operas, accessible to the widest audience. The aim of the organizers is to encourage the public to step through the doors of the opera theater. Thus, in November and December, The Magic Flute, an opera where texts, singing, and comedy intermingle, will be a perfect appetizer, an introduction to this first opera of the season co-produced with the Marseille opera.
Tosca in January 2017, also produced by the Marseille scene, a collaboration between Nice and Marseille, is expected to solidify in the future. With Eugene Onegin, a production of the Angers-Nantes opera, tribute is paid in February 2017 to the Russian community of the Riviera.
In March, Carmen will be co-produced by the Anthéa theaters and the theater of Antibes. The fifth opera planned is Rigoletto in May, featuring for the first time on the Nice stage: Mihaela Marcu in the role of Gilda.
The symphony season will kick off outside the walls in September at Saint Roch square with Lully and Handel. It’s a very eclectic program. Family Sundays provide an opportunity to introduce classical music to the younger audience. The ballets from September to July will begin and end at the open-air theater.
This is the eighth season of the Nice Mediterranean Ballet. Five ballets, including three at the opera. This ballet company will perform in the region and on international stages, proof of its renown.
The operetta festival returns in September with The Mexican Singer, to mark the 100th anniversary of Francis Lopez’s birth. In November, it concludes with Hello Dolly, a musical comedy.
The young audience is not forgotten, with events at the Lino Ventura theater, Phoenix park, and the community center. In June 2017, the children’s choir of the Nice Opera and the school and college students from the Ariane and Moulins neighborhoods will perform The Pied Piper of Hamelin.
The director takes the opportunity to remind us of the mission entrusted by the mayor of Nice: “Act so that the greatest number discover or rediscover this place.”
It is clear that the 2016-2017 season aims above all to be accessible, with works known to the general public.
A season of introduction to the art of opera, an initiation into classical music, an opening of the opera to those who do not dare to step inside its doors.
Thierry Jan
