Nick Hammond
Tartuffe or the Hypocrite
Blasphemous Molière Play Reconstructed
Molière’s comedy Tartuffe is probably the most famous – and infamous – play in the French repertoire. First staged as a three-act piece at Versailles in 1664 in front of Louis XIV, with the title Tartuffe or the Hypocrite, its … Read More
Anja Harteros
Soprano's Sterling Recital Sparks Extra Enthusiasm
Even though opera and ballet inevitably dominate the schedule at Paris Opera’s two locations, the occasional one-off event is worth signaling, especially when it is a recital at the Palais Garnier by the German soprano Anja Harteros, who will be … Read More
The Snow Maiden & Wozzeck
Exceptional Singing Distinguishes Two Operas
Two very different operas, written less than half a century apart, were staged on successive evenings at the Opéra Bastille last week. The operas of Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) are all too rarely performed outside of Eastern Europe, so … Read More
Césars 2017
César Looks to Oscar for Inspiration
Who needs the Oscars when you can have the Césars? The immediate answer is that the organizers of the Césars themselves seem to be the ones who can’t do without their American equivalent. Like the British Oscars – the BAFTAs … Read More
Lohengrin
Wagner Opera Looks to Both Past and Future
Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin, currently on stage at the Bastille Opera, is an extraordinary thing. Written in 1850, when the composer was still in his 30s, it marks the end of what one might call the trio of his youthful operas … Read More
Babylone
Extraordinary Ordinary Lives
Yasmina Reza is best known as a playwright, with worldwide successes such as Art (1994), currently enjoying a second run on the West End London stage (a rare distinction for a living French writer), and God of Carnage (2006), which was staged both in London and on Broadway, and was made into the film Carnage by Roman Polanski in 2011. In France, however, Reza also maintains a distinguished reputation as a novelist. Her latest offering, her eighth novel, Babylone, recently won the coveted Renaudot literary prize.
Pascal, le Cœur et la Raison
17th - Century Genius on Show
“Pascal, le Cœur et la Raison,” at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (François Mitterrand), may not be the sexiest exhibition currently on show in Paris, but it is definitely worth visiting before it closes on Jan. 29. Devoted to the … Read More
The Only Street in Paris
From Jesuits to DVDs: The Life of a Parisian Street
When I saw that a book devoted to one of my favorite streets in Paris, the Rue des Martyrs, had recently been published, I leapt at the chance to read it. To be honest, the apartment that has been my … Read More
Le Grand Condé: Le Rival du Roi-Soleil?
‘Great’ Man’s Lasting Legacy: Chantilly
It may seem unlikely, but Chantilly Castle, for many years the home of the Condé dynasty, has only now devoted an exhibition, “Le Grand Condé: Le Rival du Roi-Soleil?,” to perhaps its most illustrious inhabitant, Louis de Bourbon, Prince de Condé … Read More
Frantz
Pastiche or Homage? Entertaining in Either Case
François Ozon’s already prolific output of films is evidence of one of two things. Take your pick: 1. He is an outrageously talented director who revels in the variety of themes and styles that filmmaking affords him. 2. He is … Read More