Members of AROP, the patrons' association of the Opéra national de Paris, were yesterday the first to hear details of the company's 2013-2014 season, with the official announcement following today - a sequence other companies might consider in the interests of customer retention.
The penultimate season of artistic director Nicolas Joel, whose contract was not renewed, has a Italianesque flavour of hard cheese and sour grapes.
Despite his previous commitment to increase the number of French operas presented, there's only one new production in French next season - Alceste is directed by Olivier Py, with Roberto Alagna and Sophie Koch.
Olivier Py pops up again with a new Aida. Robert Carsen too gets a pair of new shows - Elektra and Die Zauberflöte. Benoît Jacquot will direct Diana Damrau in La traviata. Laurent Pelly tackles I puritani, and Robert Wilson L'incoronazione di Poppea, with Nikolaus Lehnhoff's La fanciulla del West bringing the number of new productions up to eight.
Revivals include Werther, Lucia di Lammermoor, Madama Butterfly and La bohème.
*******UPDATE*********
Full details now available on the Paris Opera website . Booking for individual operas begins on 24 June 2013.
And here's the promotional trailer. If you can't see it, try ONP's season playlist page, which also includes trailers for the individual productions.
