La Vestale
Opéra Bastille
19h
Dress Cocktail attire
Julia, a priestess in the Temple of Vesta, is torn between her religious duties and her love for the Roman general Licinius. This is the crux of La Vestale, Gaspare Spontini’s opera, written at the beginning of the First Empire. Dedicated to Josephine and multiplying political allusions to Napoleon, the work was a triumph from its first performance at the Paris Opera in 1807. Admired by Berlioz, the score features brilliant orchestration and a sustained lyrical vocal style that heralds grand opera while remaining true to the legacy of Gluck. After remaining absent from the Paris Opera for almost 150 years, the return of this work in its original French version is an eagerly awaited event. Stage director Lydia Steier explores the themes of religious extremism and militaristic zeal: can love have any hope of surviving between these two ruthless extremes?
La Vestale
La Vestale - Lydia Steier
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Music
Gaspare Spontini
(1774 - 1851) -
ConductorBertrand de Billy
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Chorus masterChing-Lien Wu
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Libretto
Étienne de Jouy
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Director
Lydia Steier
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Set design
Étienne Pluss
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Costume design
Katharina Schlipf
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Lighting design
Valerio Tiberi
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Dramaturgy
Olaf A. Schmitt
Cast
Hache
Julia
Spyres
Licinius
Hubeaux
La Grande Vestale
Behr
Cinna
Teitgen
Le Souverain Pontife
Mbia
Le Chef des Aruspices, un consul
Paris Opera Orchestra and Chorus
A recording of the opera will be made by Mathilde Jobbé-Duval and produced by the Paris Opera, with the support of the Fondation Orange, sponsor of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts.
Live broadcast on 29 June on Paris Opera Play, the Paris Opera's streaming platform, available in replay between September 9, 2024 and March 6, 2025 on OperaVision.
La Vestale will be broadcast on France Musique on Saturday September 21 at 8pm in the program "Samedi à l'Opéra" presented by Judith Chaine.