Nick Hammond
Andromaque
Back to the Roots of Racine
Jean Racine’s first major theatrical success, Andromaque, has been much on my mind in recent months, as a book of essays on the play that I co-edited was published recently. It was, therefore, a particular delight to be able to … Read More
Philharmonie de Paris
Concerted Sound in Disconcerting Hall
The group of concert halls located at the Cité de la Musique in Paris’s Parc de la Villette, known as the Philharmonie, has now been open for almost five years, but for various reasons, I had never managed to attend … Read More
Matthias et Maxime
Will They or Won't They?
Having just turned 30, the director and actor Xavier Dolan can no longer be called the wunderkind of Canadian cinema, but the fact that he has already directed eight full-length features shows how prolific he has been. He has also … Read More
La Belle Époque
High-Tech Time Machine
My heart sinks these days when I see the cast list of new French movies containing familiar names of great actors from the past. All too often they seem to have phoned in their roles and appear perfectly content to … Read More
Chambre 212
Ghosts of Lovers Past
Although not born in the city, Christophe Honoré has become the quintessential Parisian film director. Many of his movies (such as Dans Paris and my particular favorite, Les Chansons d’Amour) are set in very recognizable locations around the city. His … Read More
Don Carlo
Political Intrigue at the Spanish Court
Paris has a close connection with Verdi’s most ambitious and – in the five-act version now at the Bastille Opera – longest work. A French-language version of Don Carlo was first performed in the city in March 1867, with an … Read More
Un Air dItalie: LOpéra de Paris de Louis XIV à la Révolution
Court Ballet Meets Italian Opera
The Paris Opera is celebrating two significant dates this year: the 350th anniversary of the founding of the first French Opera by Louis XIV, and the 30th of the opening of the opera house at Bastille, built as a result … Read More
Le Malade Imaginaire
The Joys of Hypochondria
It certainly makes a good story: Molière, playing the role of Argan the hypochondriac in his play Le Malade Imaginaire, is said to have died onstage in the middle of the fourth performance on February 17, 1673. The reality is … Read More
Extreme Manuscripts
Heartfelt Messages from the Past
The overarching idea of “Extreme Manuscripts,” the new exhibition at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, is highly original. Instead of showcasing sets of full manuscripts that would go on to form part of the canons of great literature, it concentrates … Read More
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District
The Hazards of the Opera Stage
With the necessary fusion of so many musical and theatrical forces, staging opera can be a hazardous business, as was demonstrated at the second performance of Polish director Krzysztof Warlikowski’s new production of Dmitri Shostakovich’s 1934 opera Lady Macbeth of … Read More