Have you ever found yourself somewhere spectacular, wishing you could tug a friend’s sleeve and say, “Look, isn’t that stunning!”?
It’s a feeling I know all too well. A life in music is a life on the road, traveling to concerts and operas in every corner of the world. The reward? Many of these performances happen in some of the most beautiful cities imaginable, on legendary stages where the grandest operas and musical masterpieces were born.
In Cities That Sing, I am delighted that I can finally share these magical places—and the glorious music that they have inspired—with you. We’ll visit cultural capitals, discover their musical treasures, and meet friends and colleagues who will bring these destinations to life. We’ll talk about the great composers and the unforgettable melodies they created; reigning opera stars and exciting young singers will perform this music for you. And to do justice to these opulent sights and sounds, we’ll make our journey via the immersive wonder of IMAX, with the visual scale and breathtaking audio that make this format so extraordinary.
First stop: Paris, possibly the greatest opera capital the world has ever known. It’s not only where countless beloved operas premiered, it’s also the setting for many of their most heartrending stories. We’ll hear music of Bizet, Massenet,
Offenbach, Gounod, Fauré, and Delibes, performed in the Beaux Arts splendor of the iconic Théâtre du Châtelet. Joining me will be superstar tenor Piotr Beczala and two exciting French singers, Axelle Fanyo and Alexandre Duhamel. We’ll visit the atelier of top couturier Alexis Mabille and chat with the renowned Robert Carsen, director of some of my most memorable performances in Paris.
So please join me on our premiere journey and fall in love with the city of light—as a city that sings!
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INTRODUCTION
Renée Fleming
OPERA Les Contes D’Hoffmann (The Tales Of Hoffmann)
COMPOSER Jacques Offenbach (1819–1880)
BARCAROLLE
DATE FIRST PERFORMED February 10, 1881
LOCATION FIRST PERFORMED Opéra-Comique, Paris
SUNG BY Renée Fleming and Axelle Fanyo
NICKLAUSSE
Belle nuit, ô nuit d’amour, souris à nos ivresses!
Nuit plus douce que le jour, ô belle nuit d’amour!
GIULIETTA, NICKLAUSSE
Le temps fuit et sans retour emporte nos tendresses!
Loin de cet heureux séjour le temps fuit sans retour.
Zéphyrs embrasés, versez-nous vos caresses!
Zéphyrs embrasés, donnez-nous vos baisers! Vos baisers! Vos baisers! Ah!
Belle nuit, ô nuit d’amour, souris à nos ivresses, nuit plus douce que le jour, ô belle nuit d’amour!
Ah! Souris à nos ivresses!
Nuit d’amour, ô nuit d’amour!
Ah! Ah! Ah!
SYNOPSIS
The poet Hoffmann’s quest for love continues as his faithful friend Nicklausse introduces him to the sensual courtesan Giulietta at her palace in Venice.
NICKLAUSSE
Lovely night, oh, night of love, smile upon our joys!
Night much sweeter than the day, oh, beautiful night of love!
GIULIETTA, NICKLAUSSE
Time flies by, and carries away our tender caresses for ever!
Time flies far from this happy oasis and does not return Sultry breezes, embrace us with your caresses! Sultry breezes, give us your kisses!
Your kisses! Your kisses! Ah!
Lovely night, oh, night of love, smile upon our joys!
Night much sweeter than the day, oh, beautiful night of love!
Ah! Smile upon our joys!
Night of love, oh, night of love!
Ah! Ah! Ah!
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FRENCH LYRICS
ENGLISH LYRICS
AU FOND DU TEMPLE SAINT
PEARL FISHERS DUET
OPERA Les Pêcheurs De Perles (The Pearl Fishers)
COMPOSER
Georges Bizet (1838–1875)
DATE FIRST PERFORMED
September 30, 1863
LOCATION FIRST PERFORMED Théâtre Lyrique, Paris
SUNG BY Piotr Beczala and Alexandre Duhamel
SYNOPSIS
Zurga, the leader of a mythical fishing village, and his friend Nadir remember how their friendship was tested by a beautiful woman and how their bond overcame a potentially disastrous rivalry.
FRENCH LYRICS
NADIR
Au fond du temple saint, paré de fleurs et d’or, une femme apparaît . . . je crois la voir encore.
ZURGA
Une femme apparaît . . . je crois la voir encore.
NADIR
La foule prosternée la regarde, etonnée, et murmure tous bas: Voyez, c’est la déesse qui dans l’ombre se dresse et vers nous tend les bras.
ZURGA
Son voile se soulève; ô vision, ô rêve!
La foule est à genoux.
NADIR ET ZURGA
Oui, c’est elle, c’est la déesse plus charmante et plus belle; oui, c’est elle, c’est la déesse
ENGLISH LYRICS:
NADIR
At the back of the holy temple, decorated with flowers and gold, a woman appears . . . I can still see her.
ZURGA
A woman appears . . . I can still see her.
NADIR
The prostrate crowd looks at her amazed, and murmurs under its breath: Look, this is the goddess looming up out of the shadow and holding out her arms to us.
ZURGA
Her veil parts slightly; what a vision, what a dream! The crowd is kneeling.
NADIR AND ZURGA
Yes, it is she, it is the goddess, more charming and more beautiful; yes, it is she, it is the goddess,
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qui descend parmi nous. Son voile se soulève, et la foule est à genoux.
NADIR
Mais à travers la foule, elle s’ouvre un passage.
ZURGA
Son long voile déjà nous cache son visage!
NADIR Mon regard, hélas, la cherche en vain!
ZURGA Elle fuit!
NADIR Elle fuit! Mais dans mon âme soudain quelle étrange ardeur s’allume!
ZURGA Quel feu nouveau me consume!
NADIR
Ta main repousse ma main.
ZURGA
Ta main repousse ma main.
NADIR De nos cœurs l’amour s’empare et nous change en ennemis.
ZURGA Non, que rien ne nous sépare!
NADIR Non, rien!
who has come down among us. Her veil has parted, and the crowd is kneeling.
NADIR But through the crowd, she makes her way.
ZURGA
Her long veil still hides her face from us.
NADIR My eyes, alas, seek her in vain.
ZURGA She flees!
NADIR She flees! But what is this strange flame which is suddenly kindled within my soul!
ZURGA
What unknown fire consumes me!
NADIR Your hand pushes mine away.
ZURGA
Your hand pushes mine away.
NADIR Love takes our hearts by storm and turns us into enemies.
ZURGA No, let nothing part us!
NADIR No, nothing!
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ZURGA
Jurons de rester amis!
NADIR
Jurons de rester amis!
ZURGA ET NADIR
Oh oui! Jurons de rester amis!
Oui, c’est elle, c’est la déesse en ce jour qui vient nous unir, et fidèle à ma promesse, comme un frère je veux te chérir!
C’est elle, c’est la déesse qui vient en ce jour nous unir!
Oui, partageons le même sort, soyons unis jusqu’à la mort!
ZURGA AND NADIR
Let us swear to remain friends!
Oh yes! Let us swear to remain friends!
Yes, it’s she, she is the goddess who today came to unite us, and, faithful to my promise, I’ll cherish you like a brother! It’s she, she is the goddess who today came to unite us! Now we shall tread one single path, never again to part till death!
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ADIEU, NOTRE PETITE TABLE
OPERA
Manon
COMPOSER
Jules Massenet (1842–1912)
DATE FIRST PERFORMED
January 19, 1884
LOCATION FIRST PERFORMED
Opéra-Comique, Paris
SUNG BY Renée Fleming
SYNOPSIS
Having discovered that her father is sending men to kidnap her love Des Grieux, Manon knows that the end of their relationship is near. She bids farewell to the table where they ate their meals, a symbol
FRENCH LYRICS
MANON
Allons! Il le faut pour lui-même . . .
Mon pauvre chevalier!
Oui, c'est lui que j'aime!
Et pourtant, j'hésite aujourd'hui.
Non, non! . . . Je ne suis plus digne de lui!
J'entends cette voix qui m'entraîne contre ma volonté:
Manon, Manon, tu seras reine . . .
Reine . . . par la beauté!
Je ne suis que faiblesse et que fragilité . . .
Ah! Malgré moi je sens couler mes larmes . . .
Devant ces rêves effacés, l'avenir aura-t-il les charmes de ces beaux jours déjà passés?
Adieu, notre petite table, qui nous réunit si souvent!
Adieu, adieu, notre petite table, si grande pour nous cependant!
On tient, c'est inimaginable . . . Si peu de place . . . en se serrant . . .
Adieu, notre petite table!
Come now, I must do it, for his sake . . . My poor chevalier!
Yes, he's the one I love!
And yet today I'm still hesitating. No, no! . . . I'm no longer worthy of him!
I keep hearing this voice that attracts me against my will: Manon, Manon, you will be queen . . . A queen . . . by your beauty!
I am nothing but weakness and frailty . . .
Ah! In spite of myself I feel my tears flowing.
After these dreams have been erased,
will the future have the charms of these beautiful days that have already passed?
Farewell, our little table, which brought us together so often!
Farewell, farewell, our little table,
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ENGLISH
LYRICS MANON
Un même verre était le nôtre, chacun de nous, quand il buvait y cherchait les lèvres de l'autre . . .
Ah! Pauvre ami, comme il m'aimait!
Adieu, notre petite table, adieu!
which for just us two seemed so large! It's unbelievable, but we take up so little space . . . especially when we're embracing.
Farewell, our little table! We used the same glass, the two of us, and when each of us drank, we tried to find the other's lips. My poor friend, how he loved me!
Farewell, our little table, farewell!
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OPERA Werther COMPOSER
Jules Massenet (1842–1912)
POURQUOI ME RÉVEILLER
LOCATION FIRST PERFORMED
Hofoper, Vienna
SUNG BY Piotr Beczala
SYNOPSIS
The poet Werther has returned to see Charlotte, his true love who is now married to another man, and the encounter prompts him to embrace sorrow as his fate.
DATE FIRST PERFORMED
February 16, 1892
FRENCH LYRICS
Toute mon âme est là!
Pourquoi me réveiller, ô souffle du printemps?
Pourquoi me réveiller?
Sur mon front je sens tes caresses, et pourtant bien proche est le temps des orages et des tristesses!
Pourquoi me réveiller, ô souffle du printemps?
Demain dans le vallon viendra le voyageur se souvenant de ma gloire première. Et ses yeux vainement chercheront ma splendeur. Ils ne trouveront plus que deuil et que misère! Hélas!
Pourquoi me réveiller, ô souffle du printemps!
ENGLISH LYRICS
All my soul is here!
Why do you awaken me, O breath of spring?
Why do you awaken me?
On my forehead I feel your caresses, and yet very near is the time of storms and sorrows!
Why do you awaken me, O breath of spring?
Tomorrow, into the valley will come the traveler remembering my early glory. And his eyes in vain will look for my splendor. They will find no more than grief and misery. Alas!
Why do you awaken me, O breath of spring!
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TOI! VOUS! AH! PERFIDE MANON . . .
N’EST-CE PLUS MA MAIN?
OPERA Manon
SUNG BY Renée Fleming and Piotr Beczala
SYNOPSIS
Des Grieux has forsaken Manon and devoted his life to the church, but the sight of her overcomes his resolve, and he is hers once more.
FRENCH LYRICS
DES GRIEUX
Toi! Vous!
MANON Oui, c’est moi, moi! C’est moi. C’est moi.
DES GRIEUX
Que viens-tu faire ici? Va-t-en! Va-t-en! Éloigne-toi!
MANON
Oui, je fus cruelle et coupable!
Mais rappelez-vous tant d’amour!
Ah! Dans ce regard qui m’accable, lirai-je mon pardon, un jour?
DES GRIEUX Éloigne-toi!
MANON
Oui, je fus cruelle et coupable!
Ah! Rappelez-vous tant d’amour!
Rappelez-vous tant d’amour!
ENGLISH LYRICS
DES GRIEUX
You here! You!
MANON Yes, it’s me! It’s me!
DES GRIEUX
What are you doing here? Get out! Get out! Go away!
MANON Yes, I was cruel and to blame! But remember how we loved! In this glance that destroys me now, will I see forgiveness, some day?
DES GRIEUX Go away!
MANON Yes, I was cruel and to blame! Ah! Remember how we loved! Remember how we loved!
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DES GRIEUX
Non! J’avais écrit sur le sable ce rêve insensè d’un amour que le ciel n’avait fait durable que pour un instant, pour un jour!
MANON Oui! Je fus coupable!
DES GRIEUX J’avais écrit sur le sable . . .
MANON Oui! Je fus cruelle!
DES GRIEUX C’était in rêve que le ciel n’avait fait durable que pour un instant, pour un jour! Ah! Perfide Manon!
MANON Si je me repentais . . .
DES GRIEUX Ah! Perfide! Perfide!
MANON . . . est-ce que tu n’aurais pas de pitié?
DES GRIEUX Je ne veux pas vous croire. Non, vous êtes sortie enfin de ma mémoire ainsi que de mon cœur!
MANON Hélas! Hélas! L’oiseau qui fuit ce qu’il croit l’esclavage, le plus souvent la nuit
DES GRIEUX No! I wrote on sand this wild dream of love that Heaven sustained for only an instant, for a day!
MANON Yes, I was cruel!
DES GRIEUX I wrote on sand . . .
MANON Yes! I was cruel!
DES GRIEUX It was a dream that Heaven sustained for only an instant, for a day! Ah! Faithless Manon!
MANON If I repented . . .
DES GRIEUX Ah! Faithless! Faithless!
MANON . . . would you not feel some pity?
DES GRIEUX I do not want to trust you. No, you’ve finally been erased from my memory as well as from my heart!
MANON Alas! Alas! The bird that escapes what it thinks is servitude, very often comes back in the night
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d’un vol désespéré revient battre au vitrage!
Pardonnez-moi!
DES GRIEUX Non!
MANON
Je meurs à tes genoux.
Ah! Rends-moi ton amour si tu veux que je vive!
DES GRIEUX Non, il est mort pour vous!
MANON
L’est-il donc à ce point que rien ne le ravive?
Écoute-moi! Rappelle-toi!
N’est-ce plus ma main que cette main presse?
N’est-ce plus ma voix?
N’est-elle pour toi plus une caresse, tout comme autrefois?
Et ces yeux, jadis pour toi pleins de charmes, ne brillent-ils plus à travers mes larmes?
Ne suis-je plus moi?
N’ai-je plus mon nom?
Ah! Regarde-moi! Regarde-moi!
N’est-ce plus ma main que cette main presse, tout comme autrefois?
DES GRIEUX
Ô Dieu! Soutenez-moi dans cet instant supreme!
MANON Je t’aime!
in a desperate flight, to beat against the glass! Forgive me!
DES GRIEUX No!
MANON
I am dying at your feet. Give me back your love if you want me to live!
DES GRIEUX No, my love for you is dead!
MANON Is it so dead that nothing can bring it back to life?
Listen to me! Remember! Is this no longer my hand pressing yours?
Is this no longer my voice?
Is it no more for you like a caress, just as it used to be?
And my eyes, at one time full of charm for you, are they no longer sparkling through my tears?
Am I no longer myself?
Have I no longer my name?
Ah! Look at me! Look at me! Is this no longer my hand pressing yours, just as it used to do?
DES GRIEUX
O Lord! Protect me in this crucial moment!
MANON I love you!
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DES GRIEUX
Ah! Tais-toi!
Ne parle pas d’amour ici, c’est un blaspheme!
MANON Je t’aime!
DES GRIEUX Ah! Tais-toi! Ne parle pas d’amour!
MANON Je t’aime!
DES GRIEUX C’est I’heure de prier . . .
MANON Non! Je ne te quitte pas!
DES GRIEUX
On m’appelle la-bas . . .
MANON
Non! Je ne te quitte pas! Viens! N’est-ce plus ma main que cette main presse, tout com me autrefois?
DES GRIEUX Tout comme autrefois!
MANON Et ces yeux, jadis pour toi pleins de charmes, n’est-ce plus Manon?
DES GRIEUX Tout com me autrefois!
DES GRIEUX
Ah! Don’t speak! Don’t talk about love in this place, it’s blasphemy!
MANON I love you!
DES GRIEUX Ah! Don’t speak! Don’t talk about love.
MANON I love you!
DES GRIEUX
It is the hour of prayer . . .
MANON No! I will not leave you!
DES GRIEUX
They’re calling me down there . . .
MANON No! I will not leave you! Come! Is this no longer my hand pressing yours, just as it used to do?
DES GRIEUX
Just as it used to do!
MANON And my eyes, at one time so full of charm for you, is this no longer Manon?
DES GRIEUX
Just as it used to be!
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MANON
Regarde-moi!
Ne suis-je plus moi? N’est-ce plus Manon?
DES GRIEUX Ah! Manon! Je ne veux plus lutter contre moi-meme!
MANON Enfin!
DES GRIEUX Et dusse-je sur moi faire crouler les cieux, ma vie est dans ton coeur, ma vie est dans tes yeux! Ah! Viens Manon! Je t’aime!
MANON Je t’aime!
DES GRIEUX Je t’aime!
MANON Look at me! Am I any different? Is this no longer Manon?
DES GRIEUX Ah! Manon! I cannot struggle against myself any longer!
MANON At last!
DES GRIEUX And even if I cause Heaven to come crashing down, my life is in your heart, my life is in your eyes! Ah! Come Manon! I love you!
MANON I love you!
DES GRIEUX I love you!
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Charles Gounod (1818–1893)
AH! JE RIS DE ME VOIR SI BELLE
DATE FIRST PERFORMED March 19, 1859
LOCATION FIRST PERFORMED Théâtre Lyrique, Paris
MARGUERITE
Ô Dieu! Que de bijoux!
Est-un rêve charmant qui m’éblouit, ou si je veille?
Mes yeux n’ont jamais vu de richesse pareille!
Si j’osais seulement me parer un moment de ces pendants d’oreille!
Ah! Voici justement, au fond de la cassette, un miroir!
Comment n’être pas coquette?
Comment n’être pas coquette?
Ah! Je ris de me voir si belle en ce miroir!
Ah! Je ris de me voir si belle en ce miroir!
Est-ce toi, Marguerite, est-ce toi?
Réponds-moi, réponds-moi, réponds, réponds, réponds vite!
Non! Non! Ce nest plus toi!
Non . . . non, ce nest plus ton visage;
c’est la fille d’un roi; ce n’est plus toi,
SUNG BY Axelle Fanyo
SYNOPSIS
Marguerite spots a box filled with jewels and is dazzled, unaware that the gift is a ploy by Mephistopheles.
MARGUERITE
O God! What jewels! Is it a charming dream which dazzles me, or am I awake?
My eyes have never seen riches like this! Do I dare adorn myself for one moment with these earrings? Ah! Just here it is, at the base of the box, a mirror! How to resist being a coquette? How to resist being a coquette? Ah! I laugh to see myself so beautiful in this mirror! Ah! I laugh to see myself so beautiful in this mirror! Is it you, Marguerite, is it you? Answer me, answer me, Answer, answer, answer quickly!
No! No! It is no longer you! No . . . no, it is no longer your face; it is the daughter of a king; it is no longer you, it is the daughter of a king
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OPERA Faust
COMPOSER
FRENCH LYRICS
ENGLISH LYRICS
c’est la fille d’un roi qu’on salut au passage! Ah, s’il était ici!
S’il me voyait ainsi, comme une demoiselle, il me trouverait belle, ah!
Achevons la métamorphose, il me tarde encor d’essayer le bracelet it le collier!
Dieu! Cest comme une main qui sur mon bras se pose! Ah! Ah! Ah!
Je ris de me voir si belle dans ce miroir!
Etc.
whom one bows to as she passes!
Ah, if only he were here!
If he could see me like this, like a lady, he would find me beautiful, ah!
Let us complete the metamorphosis, I still have to try on the bracelet and the necklace!
God! It is like a hand placed on my arm! Ah! Ah! Ah!
I laugh to see myself so beautiful in this mirror!
Etc.
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OPERA Faust
SUNG BY Renée Fleming and Piotr Beczala
IL SE FAIT TARD . . . O NUIT D’AMOUR
SYNOPSIS
Marguerite gives in to Faust’s advances, then asks him to leave—but it is clear, much to Mephistopheles’s delight, that Faust will win her over.
FRENCH LYRICS
MARGUERITE
Il se fait tard . . . adieu!
FAUST Quoi? Je t’implore en vain?
Attends! Laisse ma main s’oublier dans la tienne!
Laisse-moi, laisse-moi contempler ton visage sous la pâle clarté dont l’astre de la nuit, comme dans un nuage, caresse ta beauté!
MARGUERITE Ô silence! Ô bonheur! Ineffable mystère!
Enivrante langueur!
J’écoute et je comprends cette voix solitaire qui chante dans mon cœur!
Laissez un peu, de grace . . .
FAUST Qu’est-ce donc?
MARGUERITE
Un simple jeu!
Laissez un peu!
ENGLISH LYRICS:
MARGUERITE
It is getting late, now . . . farewell!
FAUST What? Must I plead in vain? Wait! Let your hand linger in mine!
Let me gaze on your face under the pale beams through which your beauty shines, as though through a cloud, caressed by the moon!
MARGUERITE
O silence! Happiness! Unutterable mystery! Rapturous languor!
I listen and I understand this solitary voice which sings inside my heart! Please, allow me . . .
FAUST
What is all this?
MARGUERITE
A childish game! Please, allow me!
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Que dit ta bouche à voix basse?
MARGUERITE
Il m’aime! Il ne m’aime pas!
Il m’aime! Pas! Il m’aime! Pas!
Il m’aime!
FAUST
Oui, crois en cette fleur éclose sous tes pas!
Quelle soit pour ton cœur l’oracle du ciel même!
Il t’aime!
Comprends-tu ce mot sublime et doux?
Aimer! Porter en nous une ardeur toujours nouvelle!
Nous enivrer sans fin d’une joie éternelle!
FAUST ET MARGUERITE Éternelle! Éternelle!
FAUST
Ô nuit d’amour, ciel radieux!
Ô douces flammes!
Le bonheur silencieux verse les cieux dans nos deux âmes!
MARGUERITE
Je veux t’aimer et te chérir!
Parle encore!
Je t’appartiens!
Je t’adore!
Pour toi je veux mourir!
FAUST
Marguerite!
MARGUERITE Ah, partez!
FAUST
What are your lips whispering?
MARGUERITE
He loves me! He loves me not!
He loves me! Not! He loves me! Not! He loves me!
FAUST
Yes, believe this flower, blooming under your feet!
Let your heart hear it as the voice of heaven itself!
He loves you! Do you understand this sweet and sublime word?
To love! To carry in our hearts a constantly renewed flame!
To be forever drunk with eternal bliss!
FAUST AND MARGUERITE Eternal!
FAUST
O night of love, radiant sky!
O tender flames!
Silent bliss instills heaven into both our souls!
MARGUERITE
I want to love and cherish you!
Speak again!
I am yours! I adore you!
I would die for you!
FAUST Marguerite!
MARGUERITE
Ah, you must leave!
28 FAUST
FAUST
Cruelle!
MARGUERITE
Je chancelle!
FAUST
Me séparer de toi, cruelle?
MARGUERITE
Laissez-moi!
Ah, partez, oui, partez vite!
Je tremble! Hélas! J’ai peur!
Ne brisez pas le cœur de Marguerite!
FAUST
Tu veux que je te quitte!
Hélas! Vois ma douleur!
Tu me brise le cœur!
Ô Marguerite!
MARGUERITE
Si je vous suis chère, par votre amour, par ces aveux que je devais taire, cédez à ma prière!
Cédez à mes vœux!
Partez! Partez! Oui, partez vite!
FAUST
Divine pureté!
Chaste innocence, dont la puissance triomphe de ma volonté!
J’obéis! Mais demain . . .
MARGUERITE
Oui, demain! Dès l’aurore!
Demain! Toujours!
FAUST
Cruel girl!
MARGUERITE
I can hardly bear it!
FAUST
Must I then part from you?
MARGUERITE
Leave me!
Ah, you must go, yes, quickly!
I tremble, I am afraid!
Don’t break Marguerite’s heart!
FAUST
You want me to leave you!
See how unhappy I am!
You are breaking my heart!
Oh, Marguerite!
MARGUERITE
If you love me, by your love, by this vow, which I should not have spoken, give in to my plea!
Give in to my wishes!
You must go, yes, go now!
FAUST
Divine purity!
Chaste innocence, whose power triumphs over my will! I obey. But tomorrow . . .
MARGUERITE
Yes, tomorrow! As soon as day breaks!
Tomorrow! Always!
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Un mot encore!
Répète-moi ce doux aveu!
Tu m’aimes?
MARGUERITE Adieu!
FAUST
Félicité du ciel! Ah, fuyons!
FAUST
Just one more word!
Repeat once more this sweet avowal!
You love me?
MARGUERITE Farewell!
FAUST
Heavenly bliss! Ah, let’s go!
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FAUST
L’HEURE EXQUISE
A BEAUTIFUL HYMN TO THE NATURAL WORLD
DATE COMPOSED 1890
FRENCH LYRICS
La lune blanche luit dans les bois. De chaque branche part une voix sous la ramée. Ô bien-aimée.
L’étang reflète, profond miroir, la silhouette du saule noir où le vent pleure. Rêvons, c’est l’heure.
Un vaste et tendre apaisement semble descendre du firmament. Que l’astre irise.
The white moon gleams in the woods. From every branch there comes a voice beneath the boughs. O my beloved.
The pool reflects, deep mirror, the silhouette of the black willow where the wind is weeping. Let us dream, it is the hour.
A vast and tender consolation seems to fall from the sky. The moon shines. It is the exquisite hour.
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COMPOSER Reynaldo Hahn (1874–1947)
SUNG BY Renée Fleming
ENGLISH LYRICS
COMPOSER
Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924)
DATE COMPOSED 1896
PLEURS D’OR
SUNG BY Renée Fleming SYNOPSIS
Fauré was introduced by his sometime lover, the singer Emma Bardac, to the poetry of Albert Samain. Fauré fell in love with the verses, and this gorgeous song was the result.
FRENCH LYRICS
Larmes aux fleurs suspendues, larmes de sources perdues aux mousses des rochers creux;
Larmes d’automne épandues, larmes de cor entendues dans les grands bois douloureux;
Larmes des cloches latines, Carmélites, Feuillantines . . .
Voix des beffrois en ferveur;
Larmes des nuits étoilées, larmes des flûtes voilées au bleu du parc endormi;
Larmes aux grands cils perlées, larmes d’amante coulées jusqu’a l’âme de l’ami;
Larmes d’extase, éplorement délicieux, tombez des nuits! Tombez des fleurs! Tombez des yeux!
ENGLISH LYRICS
Tears of hanging flowers, tears of lost springs in the mosses of hollow rocks;
Tears of autumn spilled, tears of horns heard in the great sorrowful woods;
Tears of the Latin bells, Carmelites, Feuillantines . . . Voices of the belfries in fervour;
Tears of starry nights, tears of veiled flutes in the blue of the sleeping park; Tears beading on long eyelashes, tears of the lover flowed to the soul of the beloved;
Tears of ecstasy, weeping deliciously, fall from the nights! Fall from the flowers! Fall from the eyes!
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COMPOSER LÉO DELIBES (1836–1891)
DATE COMPOSED
1874
LES FILLES DE CADIX
SUNG BY Renée Fleming SYNOPSIS
Diving into the French fascination with the exotic at the time, Delibes wrote this song about the Spanish port of Cadix, which points towards Morocco, and its women.
FRENCH LYRICS
Nous venions de voir le taureau, trois garçons, trois fillettes. Sur la pelouse il faisait beau et nous dansions un bolero au son des castagnettes. Dites-moi, voisin, si j’ai bonne mine et si ma basquine va bien, ce matin?
Vous me trouvez la taille fine?
Ah! Ah!
Les filles de Cadix aiment assez cela.
Et nous dansions un bolero au pied de la colline. Sur le chemin passait Diégo qui pour tout bien n’a qu’un manteau et qu’une mandoline.
La belle aux doux yeux, veux-tu qu’à l’église demain te conduise un amant jaloux?
Jaloux! Jaloux! Quelle sottise!
Ah! Ah!
Les filles de Cadix craignent ce défaut là!
ENGLISH LYRICS
We’d just left the bullfight, three boys, three girls. The sun shone on the grass and we danced a bolero to the sound of castanets. Tell me, neighbor, am I looking good, and does my skirt suit me, this morning? Have I a slender waist?
Ah! Ah!
The girls of Cadiz are fond of that.
And we were dancing a bolero at the foot of the hill. Diego was passing by, who has no other clothes but a coat and a mandolin. Fair, gentle-eyed lady, Would you like
To be led to church tomorrow by a jealous lover?
Jealous! Jealous! What folly! Ah! Ah!
The girls of Cadiz fear this flaw!
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OPERA Carmen
COMPOSER
Georges Bizet (1838–1875)
HABANERA
DATE FIRST PERFORMED March 3, 1875
LOCATION FIRST PERFORMED Opéra-Comique, Paris
SUNG BY Axelle Fanyo
SYNOPSIS
We see Carmen for the first time as she teases her many male admirers with a warning.
FRENCH LYRICS
L’amour est un oiseau rebelle que nul ne peut apprivoiser.
Et c’est bien en vain qu’on l’appelle s’il lui convient de refuser.
Rien n’y fait, menaces ou prières.
L’un parle bien, l’autre se tait.
Et c’est l’autre que je préfère.
Il n’a rien dit mais il me plaît.
L’amour! L’amour! L’amour! L’amour!
L’amour est enfant de Bohême.
Il n’a jamais, jamais connu de loi.
Si tu ne m’aimes pas, je t’aime.
Si je t’aime, prends garde à toi!
Si tu ne m’aimes pas, si tu ne m’aimes pas, je t’aime!
Mais, si je t’aime,
si je t’aime, prends garde à toi!
L’oiseau que tu croyais surprendre cattit de l’aile et s’envola . . .
ENGLISH LYRICS
Love is a rebellious bird that no one can tame.
And if you call for it, it’ll be quite in vain, for it’s in its nature to say no. Nothing helps, neither a threat nor a prayer.
One talks well, the other stays mum.
And it’s the other one that I prefer. He doesn’t say a thing, but pleases me. Love! Love! Love! Love!
Love is a gypsy child. It has never, never known what law is.
If you do not love me, I love you. If I love you, then beware!
If you do not love me, if you do not love me, I love you. But if I love you, if I love you, then beware!
The bird you thought you had caught by surprise beats its wings and flies away . . .
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L’amour est loin, tu peux l’attendre.
Tu ne l’attends plus, il est là!
Tout autour de toi, vite, vite.
Il vient, s’en va, puis il revient.
Tu crois le tenir, il t’évite.
Tu crois l’éviter, il te tient.
L’amour! L’amour! L’amour! L’amour!
L’amour est enfant de Bohême.
Il n’a jamais, jamais connu de loi.
Si tu ne m’aimes pas, je t’aime.
Si je t’aime, prends garde à toi!
Si tu ne m’aimes pas, si tu ne m’aimes pas, je t’aime!
Mais, si je t’aime, si je t’aime, prends garde à toi!
Love is far off, you can wait for it.
And when you don’t expect it anymore, there it is!
All around you faster, faster. It comes and goes, and then comes back.
You think you’ve caught it, it eludes you.
You think you’ve escaped it, it captures you. Love! Love! Love! Love!
Love is a gypsy child. It has never, never known what law is.
If you do not love me, I love you.
If I love you, then beware!
If you do not love me, if you do not love me, I love you!
But if I love you, if I love you, then beware!
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OPERA Carmen
SUNG BY Piotr Beczala
LA FLEUR QUE
TU M’AVAIS JETÉE
SYNOPSIS
The soldier Don José has been imprisoned for letting Carmen escape arrest. He insists that he loves her.
FRENCH LYRICS
La fleur que tu m’avais jetée, dans ma prison, m’était restée. Flétrie et sèche, cette fleur gardait toujours sa douce odeur. Et pendant des heures entières sur mes yeux, fermant mes paupières de cette odeur je m’enivrais et dans la nuit je te voyais. Je me prenais à te maudire, à te détester, à me dire: Pourquoi faut-il que le destin l’ait mise là sur mon chemin?
Je m’accusais de blasphème et je ne sentais rien moi-même je ne sentais qu’un seul désir. Un seul désir, un seul espoir: te revoir, ô Carmen, oui, te revoir!
Car tu n’avais eu qu’à paraître qu’à jeter un regard sur moi pour t’emparais de tout mon être.
Ô ma Carmen.
J’étais une chose à toi. Carmen, je t’aime!
ENGLISH LYRICS
The flower you had thrown at me, in my prison, I kept with me.
Withered and dry, this flower always kept its sweet smell. And for hours at a time, with my eyelids closed over my eyes from this smell I would get drunk. And in the night I saw you. I began to curse you, to hate you, to tell myself: Why must destiny put her there in my way? Then I blamed myself for blasphemy and I felt in myself nothing, I felt but only one desire. Only one desire, one hope: to see you again, O Carmen, yes, see you again!
Because you had only to appear, only to look at me, to take hold of all my being.
O my Carmen. I belonged to you.
Carmen, I love you!
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TORÉADOR EN GARDE
OPERA Carmen SUNG BY Alexandre Duhamel
SYNOPSIS
A new candidate for Carmen’s love enters, the famous bullfighter Escamillio, and he is not bashful!
FRENCH LYRICS
Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre.
Senor, senors, car avec les soldats, oui, les Toréros, peuvent s’entendre.
Pour plaisirs, pour plaisirs, ils ont les combats!
Le cirque est plein, c’est jour de fete!
Le cirque est plein du haut en bas.
Les spectateurs, perdant la tete.
Les spectateurs s’interpellent a grand fracas!
Apostrophes, cris et tapage
pousses jusques a la fureur!
Car c’est la fete du courage!
C’est la fete des gens de coeur!
Allons! En garde! Allons!
Allons! Ah!
Toréador, en garde! Toréador, Toréador!
Et songe bien, oui, songe en combattant qu’un oeil noir te regarde, et que l’amour t’attend.
Toréador, l’amour t’attend!
Et songe bien, oui, songe en combattant qu’un oeil noir te regarde, et que l’amour t’attend.
ENGLISH LYRICS
Your toast, I give it back to you. Sirs, sirs, for along with the soldiers, yes, the Toreros get along well. For pleasures, for pleasures, they have combats!
The arena is full, it is the feast day!
The arena is full, from top to bottom. The spectators are losing their minds.
The spectators go wild! Oaths, cries, and uproar grow to a furor!
Because it is a celebration of courage!
It is the celebration of people with heart!
Let’s go, en guard! Let’s go! Let’s go! Ah!
Toréador, en guard! Toréador, Toréador!
And dream away, yes, dream in combat, that a dark eye is watching you, and that love awaits you.
Toréador, love awaits you!
And dream well, yes dream in combat, that a dark eye is
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Toréador, l’amour t’attend!
Tout d’un coup, on fait silence . . .
Ah! Que se passe-t-il?
Plus de cris, c’est l’instant!
Plus de cris, c’est l’instant!
Le taureau s’elance, en bondissant hors du Toril!
Il s’elance! Il entre.
Il frappe! Un cheval roule, entrainant un picador,
Ah! Bravo, toro! Hurle la foule!
Le taureau va, il vient,
il vient et frappe encore!
En secouant ses banderilles, plein de fureur, il court!
Le cirque est plein de sang!
On se sauve, on franchit les grilles!
C’et ton tour maintenant! Allons!
En garde! Allons! Allons! Ah!
Toréador, en garde! Toréador, Toréador!
Et songe bien, oui, songe en combattant qu’un oeil noir te regarde, et que l’amour t’attend.
Toréador, l’amour t’attend!
Et songe bien, oui, songe en combattant qu’un oeil noir te regarde, et que l’amour t’attend.
Toréador, l’amour t’attend!
watching you, and that love awaits you. Toréador, love awaits you!
All of a sudden, it is silent . . . Ah, what is happening?
No more cries! It is the moment!
No more cries! It is the moment!
The bull hurls himself out, bounding out of the bullpin!
He hurls himself out! He enters. He strikes! A horse rolls, dragging a picador. Ah! Bravo, toro! The crowd roars!
The bull goes, he comes, he comes and strikes again!
Shaking his dart-stabbed neck, full of fury, he runs!
The arena is full of blood! They save themselves, they pass the gates.
It is your turn now. Let’s go!
En guard! Let’s go! Let’s go! Ah!
Toréador, en guard! Toréador, Toréador!
And dream well, yes, dream in combat, that a dark eye is watching you, and that love awaits you.
Toréador, Love awaits you! And dream well, yes, dream in combat, that a dark eye is watching you, and that love awaits you.
Toréador, love awaits you!
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LIBIAMO NE’ LIETI CALICI
(BRINDISI)
OPERA La Traviata
COMPOSER
Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901)
DATE FIRST PERFORMED
March 6, 1853
ITALIAN LYRICS
ALFREDO
LOCATION FIRST PERFORMED Teatro La Fenice, Venice
SUNG BY Renée Fleming, Piotr Beczala, Azelle Fanyo, and Alexandre Duhamel
Libiamo, libiamo ne’ lieti calici che la bellezza infiora. E la fuggevol fuggevol’ora s’inebrii a voluttà.
Libiam ne’ dolci fremiti che suscita l’amore, poiché quell’occhio al core onnipotente va.
Libiamo, amore, amor fra i calici più caldi baci avrà.
TUTTI
Ah! Libiam, amor fra i calici più caldi baci avrà.
VIOLETTA
Tra voi, tra voi saprò dividere il tempo mio giocondo.
Tutto è follia follia nel mondo ciò che non è piacer.
Godiam, fugace e rapido è il gaudio dell’amore.
È un fior che nasce e muore, né più si può goder.
SYNOPSIS
At a party in Paris, new guest Alfredo and the courtesan Violetta lead the gathering in a toast.
ENGLISH LYRICS:
ALFREDO
Let’s drink, let’s drink from the joyous goblets that beauty so truly enhances. And may the brief moment be drunk with pleasure. Let’s drink for the ecstatic feeling that love arouses. Because this all-powerful eye aims straight to the heart. Let’s drink, my love, and the love among the goblets will warm our kisses.
ALL Ah! Let’s drink, and the love among the goblets will warm our kisses.
VIOLETTA
With you all, I can share my happiest times.
Everything in the world is foolish except for pleasure. Let’s enjoy ourselves, for the delight of love is fleeting and quick.
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Godiam c’invita c’invita un fervido accento lusighier.
TUTTI Ah! Godiamo, la tazza e il cantico, la notte abbella, e il riso.
In questo in questo paradiso ne scopra il nuovo dì.
VIOLETTA La vita è nel tripudio . . .
ALFREDO Quando non s’ami ancora . . .
VIOLETTA
Nol dite a chi l’ignora.
ALFREDO È il mio destin così . . .
TUTTI Ah! Godiamo, la tazza e il cantico, la notte abbella, e il riso.
In questo in questo paradiso ne scopra il nuovo dì.
It’s like a flower that blooms and dies and we can no longer enjoy it.
So enjoy! A keen and charming voice invites us!
ALL
Let’s enjoy the wine and the singing, the beautiful night, and the laughter. Let the new day find us in this paradise.
VIOLETTA Life means celebration . . .
ALFREDO
Only if one hasn’t known love . . .
VIOLETTA Don’t tell someone who ignores it.
ALFREDO But this is my fate . . .
ALL
Let’s enjoy the wine and the singing, the beautiful night, and the laughter. Let the new day find us in this paradise.
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RENÉE FLEMING
Soprano
Renée Fleming is one of the most acclaimed singers of our time, performing on the stages of the world’s greatest opera houses and concert halls. Honored with four Grammy® awards and the US National Medal of Arts, Renée has sung for such momentous occasions as the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony and the Diamond Jubilee Concert for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. A groundbreaking distinction came in 2008 when Renée became the first woman in the 125-year history of the Metropolitan Opera to solo headline an opening night gala. In 2014, she brought her voice to a vast new audience as the only classical artist ever to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Super Bowl.
In November, Renée will star in the Metropolitan Opera’s world premiere staging of The Hours, a new opera based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and award-winning film. Known for bringing new audiences to classical music and opera, Renée has starred in and hosted an array of television and radio broadcasts, including The Met: Live in HD and Live from Lincoln Center. and she has been a frequentr guest star for the PBS Memorial Day and Capitol Fourth telecasts from the East Lawn of the US Capitol. Renée has sung with great artists ranging from Andrea Bocelli
and Luciano Pavarotti to Elton
John, Sting, Paul Simon, Josh Groban, and Joan Baez.
Renée’s voice is featured on the soundtracks of Best Picture Oscar winners The Shape of Water and The Lord of the Rings. She has recorded everything from complete operas and song recitals to indie rock and jazz, and her album Signatures was selected by the US Library of Congress for the National Recording Registry as an “aural treasure worthy of preservation as part of America’s patrimony.” Renée’s latest album, released last year, is Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene, with Yannick Nézet-Seguin as pianist. A collection of classic songs and specially commissioned world premieres, the album sounds an alarm about the climate crisis, focusing on nature as both an inspiration and a casualty of humans.
In 2019, Renée appeared opposite Ben Whishaw in Norma Jean Baker of Troy to open The Shed in New York City. Later that year, she starred in the London premiere of The Light in the Piazza, bringing the acclaimed production to Los Angeles and Chicago in the autumn. Renée earned a Tony Award nomination for her performance in the 2018 Broadway production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel
In recent years, Renée has become known as a leading advocate for research at the intersection of arts, health,
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BIOGRAPHIES
and neuroscience, giving presentations with scientists and practitioners around the world and winning Research!America’s Rosenfeld Award for Impact on Public Opinion. In 2020, Renée launched Music and Mind LIVE, a weekly web show exploring the connections between arts, human health, and the brain, amassing nearly 700,000 views from seventy countries. Renée’s book The Inner Voice was published by Viking Penguin in 2004 and is now in its sixteenth printing. It is also published in France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Poland, Russia, and China. Renée is artistic advisor to the Kennedy Center, advisor for special projects at LA Opera, and leads SongStudio at Carnegie Hall. She is co-director of the Aspen Opera Center and VocalArts at the Aspen Music Festival. Renée’s other awards include the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal, Germany’s Cross of the Order of Merit, and France’s Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. More about Renée can be found at www.reneefleming.com.
PIOTR BECZALA Tenor
The Polish tenor Piotr Beczala made his Royal Opera debut in 2004 as the Italian tenor (Der Rosenkavalier) and has since sung Faust, Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto), Lensky (Evgeny
Onegin), Verdi’s Requiem in concert, Rodolfo (La bohème), Roméo (Roméo et Juliette), and Alfredo Germont (La Traviata) for the Royal Opera. Beczala grew up in CzechowiceDziedzice and studied at the Katowice Academy of Music with Sena Jurinac. He began his career in Linz, where he also studied with Dale Fundling. He went on to become a company member of Zürich Opera and now sings for the world’s leading opera houses, including New York’s Metropolitan Opera, Milan’s La Scala, the Paris Opéra, the Vienna State Opera, the Semperoper Dresden, and the Bavarian State Opera. Beczala has sung in concert and recital at major venues including Carnegie Hall in New York, the Vienna Konzerthaus, and the Berlin Konzerthaus.
AXELLE FANYO Soprano
After studying musicology at the Sorbonne Paris IV and receiving a violin award from the Regional School of Music in La Courneuve, France, Axelle Fanyo joined the National School of Music Paris in Glenn Chambers’s class. She graduated in 2016 and obtained her master’s degree. She won the prestigious US Kaleidoscope Competition in 2019, was a double prize-winner at the Concours-Récital du Festival Classica in Montreal, won first
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prize at the International Song Competition in Enschede, and won the Young Artist Prize at the International French song competition in Toulouse. Most recently, Axelle was selected to compete in the prestigious Operalia competition in Moscow.
ALEXANDRE DUHAMEL Baritone
The French baritone Alexandre Duhamel studied at the Paris National Conservatoire and was a member of the Opera de Paris Young Artists Program. He was awarded Le Prix Lyrique du Cercle Carpeaux and Le Prix de Association pour le Rayonnement de l’Opéra National de Paris, which both reward the most noticeable young singer during a season. Alexandre made his debut at the Opera National de Paris in Gianni Schicchi and returned for L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, La fancuilla del West, Don Giovanni, Le Roi Arthus, and Platée. He made his US debut with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra under Ludovic Morlot for L’Enfant et les Sortilèges.
Verdier is presented as one of the most interesting personalities of the French musical world. He is the first solo clarinetist of the Paris Opera Orchestra and considered one of the best European clarinetists. He is a laureate of the international competitions of Tokyo, Vienna, Anvers, Colmar, and Lugano. He has played under the direction of Bernstein, Ozawa, Muti, Gergiev, Salonen, Boulez, Jordan, Dohnanyi, Barenboim, Dudamel, and Nelsons, among others. He is also a guest of the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. Winner of the Bruno Walter Prize of the 2001 Lugano, he is also the permanent conductor of the Orchestre National de Lyon (2008–2010) and since 2010 has been artistic director of the Victor Hugo Orchestra, which has made several internationally acclaimed recordings, winning awards like Choc Classica, Choc Jazz, and OperaMag’s Diamond.
THE VICTOR HUGO FRANCHE-COMTÉ ORCHESTRA
JEAN-FRANÇOIS VERDIER Conductor
A conductor, soloist, composer, and teacher, Jean-François
The Victor Hugo FrancheComté Orchestra has an extensive repertoire, ranging from Bach to The Rite of Spring, from Bacri to Berio, from Glass to Mozart, from Mahler to Debussy, and from jazz-rock to Romanticism. Since 2010, Jean-François Verdier has been the orchestra’s artistic director
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and selects the best soloists and conductors for each season to participate in this musical adventure. The Victor Hugo Orchestra sees itself as a group of musicians at the service of the public and music. It participates in the social life of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and is an active ambassador for its region, both at the Paris Philharmonic and the Folle Journée in Nantes. The Victor Hugo Orchestra is one of the most creative orchestras in France in terms of discography, with no less than eleven releases since 2015 that have received numerous awards, such as 4F by Télérama, the Diamond of Opéra Magazine, Choc by Classica, and 5 Diapason.
TRIPP HORNICK Producer/Chief Operating Officer, Stage Access
Tripp Hornick was once hailed as a “whiz kid producer” by Variety’s legendary Army Archerd and continually strives to live up to the credit as an experienced “triple threat,” accomplished as an executive, line, and creative producer. He specializes in balancing creative vision with business needs and has brought his talents to productions on both coasts, including Teachers’ Lounge at the Abingdon Theater and The Melody Lingers On at the El Portal.
As Chief Operating Officer of Stage Access, Hornick is combining his production experience with his strong business background to expand the only company in North America that produces, distributes, and licenses classical arts content across multiple platforms—theatrically through a coproduction relationship with IMAX, and through its own on-demand streaming service, STAGE ACCESS.
An avid volunteer, Hornick has served in senior leadership board positions for nonprofit organizations focused on the arts and education, including president of The Mask and Wig Club in Philadelphia, the board of directors of Penn Alumni, and class president at the University of Pennsylvania, which awarded Hornick its 2017 Young Alumni Award of Merit.
As a theatrical producer, Hornick is a managing member of Quince Street Productions, whose upcoming works include the highly anticipated revival of Me and My Girl and the play Public Charge.
As a motion picture producer, his latest films, Renée Fleming’s Cities That Sing—Paris and Renée Fleming’s Cities That Sing—Venice, both premiere this fall in IMAX® theaters worldwide.
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ELMAR KRUSE
Producer
Elmar Kruse is a media executive and owner of the music company C Major Entertainment that is operating worldwide in the range of consulting, marketing, and distribution of audio and audiovisual music programs. Elmar Kruse and C Major Entertainment received the prestigious ECHO KLASSIK Award in Germany (in 2010, 2012, and 2015) for The Ring Cycle, Little Mermaid, and Der Rosenkavalier
From 1993–1997, Elmar Kruse was Head of Marketing and PR of the record company body IFPI in Germany. During this period he started the record company prize ECHO KLASSIK.
He then started working as Label Chief of Philips Music Group Germany from 1998–2000. Kruse marketed the first Andrea Bocelli classical album in Germany. Philips sold more than 320,000 copies (Gold Status) within three months. Other artists were: Alfred Brendel, Jessye Norman, Simon Rattle, and Wiener Philharmoniker
After working for Philips Music Group Germany as Director, as Managing Director he was part of expanding EuroArts Music International from a small independent audio-visual TV company to a Media company inclusive DVD Label.
Since November 2006, Elmar Kruse had been founder and owner of the music company C Major Entertainment GmbH, which is now the leading distribution company for classical audiovisual music worldwide. He has produced The Three Tenors, Jonas Kaufman—It’s Christmas, Pavarotti & Friends, and John Neumeier’s ballet Nijinsky among other successful productions. In addition to the ECHO KLASSIK honors, he received the 2018 Golden Prague Award for Nijinsky.
JASON RICHMOND Executive Producer
Jason Richmond is Senior Vice President of Music Strategy and Innovation at IMAX specializing in live experiential content. He oversees the strategic development and execution of all music-driven experiences, leveraging the company’s unrivaled technology, global footprint and unique position in the entertainment space.
Prior to IMAX, Richmond served as Senior Vice President, Music; Features, Television & Marketing at Paramount Pictures, where he oversaw the selection, production, and execution of music for the Motion Picture Group and led co-branded music initiatives across the global company. Richmond has contributed
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to more than 100 marketing campaigns throughout his career with top filmmakers and artists including Peter Jackson, Michael Bay, David Fincher, J.J. Abrams, Kanye West, Rihanna, Halsey, Selena Gomez, Pharrell, Imagine Dragons, and more. These projects have grossed billions in box office revenue and garnered multiple Oscar®, Emmy®, Golden Globes® and Grammy® wins.
JOHN TURNER Executive Producer
John Turner is Head of Documentaries for IMAX Corporation, where he oversees the development of all documentary films and nonfiction content for the IMAX® global network. Turner also helps identify new opportunities to create music content across platforms utilizing IMAX® technology. Prior to joining IMAX, he was a Development Consultant with Netflix Documentary Features, where he was also the creator of the acclaimed crime series Dirty Money, and an Executive Producer of the true crime documentary feature, Why Did You Kill Me?. Walk Run ChaCha, a short film featured in his anthology series, From Here to Home, produced by Turner for Davis Guggenheim’s Concordia Studio and New York Times’ OpDocs, was nominated for both the Academy Award®
and a News & Documentary Emmy® following its premiere at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival.
BRUCE H. LIPNICK Executive Producer/Founder & CEO, Stage Access
Bruce H. Lipnick is the founder and CEO of Stage Access, a streaming platform and production company for the performing arts featuring dance, opera, concerts, theater, and documentary films. His extensive background as a film producer has included The 3 Tenors: From Caracalla to the World 30th Anniversary Documentary; Yo-Yo Ma Performs Bach From the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Athens; The Extraordinary Journey of Fernando Bujones; La Frontera; The Heartbreaker; and Death of a Dynasty, starring Kevin Hart. Lipnick also appeared in the awardwinning films Three Days of the Condor and All The President’s Men. He held an ownership stake in Monarch Business & Wealth Management, a firm representing internationally acclaimed entertainers and athletes, including Justin Timberlake, Charlie Sheen, Anna Kournikova, and Rob Gronkowski. Lipnick previously enjoyed a long and distinguished financial services career as the founder, CEO, and Chairman of Asset Alliance Corporation,
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an alternative investment management company with more than $7 billion under management. He is a pioneer in hedge fund portfolio management and launched the first 40 Act mutual fund. He received numerous industry awards including Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award for Giving from Hedge Funds Care. Lipnick helped launch and served on the board of SMArtX Advisory Solutions, a leading asset management technology platform with $50 billion under management.
A devoted patron of the arts, Lipnick has proudly supported major performing arts institutions including New York City Ballet’s New Combinations Fund for the development of world premiere dance and music commissions, The Baryshnikov Arts Center, The Washington Ballet, Boston Ballet, and The School of American Ballet in New York.
FRANÇOIS-RENÉ
Director
MARTIN
Passionate about music and cinema, François-René Martin is a director of musical films and collaborates with numerous production companies, television channels, and French and international musical institutions: the Opéra national de Paris, the Mariinsky
Theatre of Saint Petersburg, Aspen Music Festival, La Folle Journée de Nantes, Verbier Festival, Les Chorégies d’Orange, the Monte-Carlo International Circus Festival, and Tomorrow’s Circus World Festival.
Since 2007 when he signed an amazing series of short films on classical music Presto for France Televisions, he has specialized in the realization of symphonic concerts, operas, ballets, and circus shows, and he accompanies many artists such as Valery Gergiev, Teodor Currentzis, Angelin Preljocaj, and Raphaël Pichon in their audiovisual projects.
Among his most recent projects, we can mention Quinte & Sens, a film codirected with the artist Gordon which stages the Orchestre de Paris in a “revolutionary way” at the Philharmonie de Paris; the film Lux Aeterna, which he shot at the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris with Teodor Currentzis and his ensemble Musica Aeterna; or the historic complete Bruckner Symphonies at the Sankt Florian Monastery (Austria) with the München Philharmoniker and Valery Gergiev.
He also filmed live broadcasts of the Opéra national de Paris, such as Verdi’s Aïda (Lotte de Beer), Massenet’s Manon (Vincent Huguet), and Swan Lake (Nureyev/Petipas). He has also filmed mythical productions such as Moses und Aron (Schönberg / Castellucci),
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Carmen (Bizet / Bieito), and The Dialogues of the Carmelites (Poulenc /
Py).
François-René Martin is also the cofounder of the Mirare record label, which has released more than four hundred titles with emblematic artists such as Pierre Hantaï, Boris Berezovsky, and Anne Queffélec.
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THÉÂTRE DU CHÂTELET
One of the most important and beautiful opera houses in Paris, the Châtelet was built on the site of a castle between 1860 and 1862. It seats around 2,500 people and was the largest opera house in the city at the time of its opening. One of its most successful early shows was a spectacular production of Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days, which ran for sixty-four years, only closing with the Nazi invasion of Paris. The Châtelet premiered operas like Debussy’s Le Martyre de Saint Sebastien and was the home of the famous Ballet
Russes. Other ballets that were first seen on its stage include Stravinsky’s Petrushka, Dukas’s Le Peri, Nijinsky’s Afternoon of a Faun, Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloe and Satie’s Parade. Many great composers appeared there, among them Mahler (his first appearance in Paris conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra) and Tchaikovsky. The Châtelet has also hosted various other genres, from jazz (Shirley Horn recorded an album there) to musicals. And it has a couple of unique surprises, such as an in-house nightclub and its own perfume brand!
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FILM CREDITS
Directed By
Francois-Rene Martin
Executive Producers
Jason Richmond
John Turner
Bruce H. Lipnick
Produced by Tripp Hornick
Elmar Kruse
Co-Producer
Simon Marre
Line Producer
Les Films Jack Febus
Artistic Advisor
Renée Fleming
Script by James Inverne
Director of Photography & Lighting Design
Julien Jaunet
STARRING
Renée Fleming
Piotr Beczala
Alexandre Duhamel
Axelle Fanyo
with Orchestre Victor Hugo
Franche-Compté
Conducted by
Jean-François Verdier
Pianist
Tanguy de Williencourt
Sound Engineer/MMO
Alix Ewald
Nicolas Bartholomée
Editor
Damien Duflos de Saint-Amand
Director of Communications, Office of Renée Fleming and Script Contributions by Paul Batsel
Consulting Music Producer
David Frost
Film Director Assistant
Alexandre Cauwel
Musical Script Girl
Isabelle Julien
Production Director
Christel Sangin
Sandra Labeyrie
Camera Operators
Sébastien Bergé
Olivier Cahn
Thomas Gillot
Sébastien Hestin
Denis Leroy
Crane Operator
Arnaud Cousin
Steadicamer
Makin’Stuff / Manu Alberts
Ronin Camera Operator
Pierre-Hubert Martin
Focus Full Frame
Ella Delormas
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Maxime Gerigny
Agnès Jeanneau
Raphaël Palin Sainte-Agathe
Adrien Manant
Lola Pion
Sylvain Viricel
Head of Electrical
David Kremer
Donovane Amelin
Head of Equipment
William Japhet
Florian Rivoal
Camera Assistants
Chani Luciani-Cadoz
Agnès Jeanneau
Jason Majorel
Lola Pion
Victor Venhard
Machinist
Olivier Georges
2nd Machinist
Fabrice Mignot
Electricians
Julien Agy
Hugues Aufort
Samy Chouane
Loïc Ozenfant
Gwilhem Rosemberg
Yann-Emmanuel Rousselet
Pauline Scherrer
Maxime Varin
Marek Breger
Bertrand Artaut
Thaïs Beaufils
Lucas Bion
Pierre Antoine Mouvilliat
DIT
Antoine Moreaux
Data Manager
Arthur Desnoyelles
Renée Fleming Make Up and Hair
Nancy McNamara
Make Up and Hair
Easy United Limited
Marie-Charlotte Stanquic
Wardrobe Master
Hugo Bardin
Dresser
Charlotte Camus
Artistic Coordination
Florian Bonifay
Orchestra Librarian (manager)
François-Henri Gourgues
Musical Script Girl (prompt lyrics)
Clara Vorfeld
Sound Engineer
Rafael Ridao
Laurent Gabiot
Sound Assistant
Thomas François
Sound Technician
La Manufacture Sonore
1st Camera Assistants
Raphaël Palin Sainte-Agathe
Maxime Gerigny
2nd Camera Assistants
Paul Cognet
Lucas Cringoli
Anabelle Depont
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Camera Assistant
Héloïse De Poyferre
Post Production Director
Marc Wieviorka
Color Grading
Sylvain Canaux / Studio Saint
Louis
Sound Studio
Yellow Cab
Soundways
Video Editor Assistant
Benjamin Florent
Graphic Designer
Elodie Maillard
Elena Paune
Additional Footage
Grand Angle Production
Les Films Jack Febus
Production Manager
Noémie Demirjian
Production Secretary
Diane Chabert
Pauline Biscans
Production Accountant
Clémence Petit
Manager
Blaise Denarnaud
Michel Gaillard
Fabien Mignery
Roading
Maroine Belmatih
Ilhan Hamza
Jamal Karkach
Adrien Lenie
Kévin Villeneuve
CEO Laurent Lesperon
Direction
Thomas Lauriot dit Prévost and all the permanent and temporary teams of the theater
Châtelet Event
Annabelle Alexandre
Gaëlle Lordinot
Meggie Bontemps
Séverine Ferrier
Jérôme Chaumond
Conductor and Music Director
Jean-François Verdier
First Violins
Eric Crambes
Wendy Ghysels James
Isabelle Debever
Sandrine Mazzucco
Caroline Sampaix
Sébastien Morlot
Serena Manganas
Julie Hardelin
Louise Couturier
Lucile Barizien
Michaël Ridler
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Second Violins
Camille Coullet
Clara Buijs
Alexis Gomez
Caroline Lamboley
Anna Simerey
Célia Ballester
Clémentine Benoit
Aurore Moutomé
Hugo Meder
Violas
Dominique Miton
Valérie Pelissier
Shih-Hsien Wu
Matéo Verdier
Loïc Abdelfettah
Ulysse Junek
Jacques Perez
Frédérique Rogez
Cellos
Sophie Paul Magnien
Sébastien Robert
Louise Rosbach
Emmanuelle Miton
Anais Bodart
Pierre Schaaf
Double Basses
Emilie Legrand
Bastien Roger
Baptiste Masson
Teddy Pentsch
Flutes
Thomas Saulet
Mélisande Daudet
Oboes
Fabrice Ferez
Suzanne Bastian
Clarinets
Anaïde Apelian
Luc Laidet
Bassoons
Benoit Tainturier
Michel Bochet
Horns
Nicolas Marguet
Mathieu Anguenot
Emma Cottet
Marianne Tauzin
Trumpets
Pierre Kumor
Florent Sauvageot
Trombones
Mathieu Naegelen
Cédric Martinez
Philippe Garcia
Tuba
Didier Portrat
Timpani and Percussion
Philippe Cornus
Marion Frétigny
Julien Cudey
Harp
Dorothée Corn
General Manager
David Olivera
Stage Manager, Production
Betty Andrey
Finance Officer
Vincent Adami
Secretary-Accountant
Laetitia Mesnier
Communication &
Public Relations Manager
Mylène Haas
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Production & Cultural Activities Manager
Mathilde Miguel
Music Librarian
Thierry Arnoux
Technicians
Boris Magnin
Cyril Vouriot
The Victor Hugo FrancheComté Orchestra is financed by the city of Besançon, the Bourgogne Franche-Comté region, the city of Montbéliard, and Pays de Montbéliard
Agglomération in the context of a shared union. It receives support from the Ministry of Culture (DRAC Bourgogne Franche-Comté).
Georges Bizet
Carmen—Entracte
Charles Gounod
Faust — Ah! Je ris de me voir si belle
Charles Gounod
Faust — Il se fait tard . . .
O nuit d’amour
Claude Debussy Clair de lune
Reynaldo Hahn
L’heure exquise
Gabriel Fauré Pleurs d’or
Léo Delibes
Les Filles de Cadix
Georges Bizet Carmen — Habanera
Jacques Offenbach
Orphée aux Enfers – Cancan
Jacques Offenbach
Les Contes d’Hoffmann — Barcarolle
Georges Bizet
Les Pêcheurs de Perles— Au fond du temple saint
Jules Massenet
Manon—Adieu, notre petite table
Jules Massenet
Werther—Pourquoi me réveiller
Jules Massenet
Manon — Toi! Vous! Ah! Perfide Manon . . . N’est-ce plus ma main?
Georges Bizet Carmen—La fleur que tu m’avais jetée
Georges Bizet
Carmen—Toréador en garde
Giuseppe Verdi
La Traviata—Libiamo ne’ lieti calici (Brindisi)
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Camille Saint-Saëns
Concerto pour violoncelle n°1
Orchestre de Chambre de Paris
Henri Demarquette violoncelle
© Mirare 2008
Georges Bizet
Les Pêcheurs de Perles — La romance de Nadir
Nathanaël Gouin piano
© Mirare 2020
Dedicated to the memory of Gloria Lipnick
For Stage Access: Bruce H. Lipnick
Tripp Hornick
SPECIAL THANKS
Robert Carsen
Alexis Mabille
Tenenbaum Jewelers
Ann Ziff for Tamsen Z
La Dame Blanche
Epicerie P. Legrand Filles & Fils
Label Mirare
For IMAX:
Megan Colligan
Jason Richmond
John Turner
Bruce Markoe
Linda Benjamin
Steve Oxman
Denny Tu
Mo Rhim
Craig Dehmel
Steve Garrett
For C Major Entertainment: Elmar Kruse
© 2021 IMAX Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Specially Formatted Exclusively For IMAX®
Filmed For IMAX®
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SPECIALL Y FORMA TTED EX CL USIVEL Y FOR ®
