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The Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal
The Royal Opera of the Château de Versailles presents one hundred performances each season, graced by great names and international performers on its prestigious stage. The Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal was founded in 2019 for The Ghosts of Versailles by John Corigliano. Comprising musicians who regularly work with leading conductors, the Orchestra champions a wide repertoire ranging from baroque to classical to romantic. Due to the history of the place whose name it bears, the core repertoire consist of music from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Several conductors lead the Orchestra throughout the seasons, each bringing their own musical vision depending on the programme, including Gaétan Jarry, Stefan Plewniak, Victor Jacob, Théotime Langlois de Swart, as well as Andrés Gambetta and Justin Taylor.
The Orchestra, with its varying formations, adapts to the requirements of the different projects of the Royal Opera and Château de Versailles Spectacles. From chamber music to opera and symphonic concerts, the Orchestra adapts its various formations to deliver the best musical cohesion for each genre. Its repertoire notably includes Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, works by Porpora, Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s violin concertos and St John Passion, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Zingarelli’s Romeo and Juliet, Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio, Don Giovanni and Requiem, Donizetti’s La Fille du régiment, and Bizet’s Carmen…
For the 2025-26 season, the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal takes centre stage at its home venue, with over twenty-five productions and more than fifty performances, not including tours in France and abroad.
Show moreThe Orchestra’s repertoire this season features Ariodante, Handel’s Messiah and Royal Fireworks Music, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio, Bach’s St John Passion, and Boismortier’s Les Saisons.
The Orchestra will continue exploring Romantic and 19th-century music with Offenbach’s La Vie parisienne, Rossini’s Cinderella, Gounod’s Faust, as well as a New Year’s concert celebrating the bicentenary of Johann Strauss. Additionally, the Orchestra will accompany the Malandain Ballet Biarritz in Les Saisons and Marie-Antoinette, as well as renowned artists Théo Imart, Alex Rosen, Juliette Mey, and Franco Fagioli in exceptional recitals.
Highly active on tour, the Royal Opera Orchestra showcases its virtuosity on France’s most prestigious stages as well as internationally. It regularly performs at Salle Gaveau (Paris), Théâtre de Poissy, Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, the New Year Festival in Gstaad, on tour in South Korea, and at major summer festivals including Festival Valloire Baroque, the Abbey of Le Thoronet, Cahors, Prades, Bauges, Uzès, Festival de Sablé, La Rochelle, Guéthary, Flâneries Musicales de Reims, Menton, Teatros del Canal in Madrid, Castellón, Peralada Festival, the National Auditorium of Music in Madrid, Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, and the Handel Festival in Karlsruhe.
In 2024, the Orchestra completed a fifteen-date tour across China, Mongolia, and Vietnam, returning there for the 2024-25 season. This series of concerts helped export the expertise of the Orchestra’s musicians to Asia. Notably, the Orchestra performed at the inauguration of Hanoi’s Ho Guom Opera House in 2023, establishing a partnership between the two opera houses. This collaboration was further strengthened through the co-production of Thierry Malandain’s ballet Les Saisons in December 2023, which toured Hanoi in 2024, and with performances of Bizet’s Carmen in April 2025.
In July 2025, the Orchestra will embark on a North American tour, performing in New York, at the Napa Valley Festival, and in Canada. This season also marks the Orchestra’s debut at the Enesco Festival in Bucharest (Romania) and the Bayreuth Baroque Festival, alongside a new Asian tour featuring the ballets Les Saisons and Marie-Antoinette.
A key contributor to the Château de Versailles Spectacles label—winner of the 2022 Label of the Year award from the International Classical Music Awards—the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal actively participates in its recordings. Among the most notable are Pergolesi and Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater under Marie Van Rhijn’s direction (awarded the Diamant by Opéra Magazine), Couperin’s Leçons de Ténèbres conducted by Stéphane Fuget, Guido and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with Andrés Gabetta (Choc by Classica), Zingarelli’s Romeo and Juliet under Stefan Plewniak (Choc by Classica), Purcell and Handel’s Coronation Anthems compiled by Gaétan Jarry in The Crown, the Plácido Domingo Gala in Versailles, Handel’s Messiah under Franco Fagioli, Mozart’s Don Giovanni and The Abduction from the Seraglio on DVD, Dis-moi Vénus… with Marie Perbost and Gaétan Jarry (France Musique’s Choice), and Franco Fagioli’s recital Arias for Velluti, the Last Castrato.
The musical season
A season teeming with new productions
The Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal will participate in new large-scale stage productions : Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with the sublime Sonya Yoncheva, who will also return to sing Christmas at the Royal Chapel (a must-see!), Porpora’s Polifemo with Franco Fagioli in the role of the Primo Uomo, and Galuppi’s L’Uomo femina, a fable about reversed genders directed by Agnès Jaoui. It will also perform masterpieces of Romanticism, including Carmen in an original version to open the Bizet Year, and Donizetti’s La Fille du régiment, a pinnacle of bel canto with the French Army Chorus !
Discover the new productions
Discover the new productions
The Orchestra will be playing at the ADOR Gala evening with two emblematic conductors Gaétan Jarry and Stefan Plewniak, in a new concert Joyaux du Bel Canto. In the 2024-2025 season, the Orchestra will once again be performing Fauré and Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s Sosarme and Messiah, and the New Year’s Concert celebrating the bicentenary of Johann Strauss. The musicians of the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal will also be performing The Prodigies of Romanticism, the Concertos for pianoforte by Mozart and Jadin, Bach’s Concertos for violin(s) and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. The Orchestra will also be accompanying talented artists such as Sonya Yoncheva, Marina Viotti, Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian and Marie Lys in recitals, as well as Samuel Mariño, Théo Imart and Rafał Tomkiewicz in the famous virtuoso competition, The Three Counter-Tenors.
ON TOUR IN FRANCE AND AROUND THE WORLD
The Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal on tour !
The Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal also tours extensively, showcasing its virtuosity on the finest stages in France and around the world. It has performed at the Salle Gaveau, the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, the New Year Festival in Gstaad, on tour in South Korea, in Hanoi and at the major summer festivals such as the Festival Valloire Baroque, at the Abbaye du Thoronet, in Cahors, Prades, Bauges and Uzès, at the Festival de Sablé, in La Rochelle, at the Teatros del Canal in Madrid, in Castellón, at the prestigious Peralada Festival and at the Grange au Lac festival in Évian.
After a successful debut in Korea, with a series of five concerts, notably at the Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul, and a tour of China completed at the beginning of 2024, it will continue its journey in Thailand and Vietnam during the 2024-2025 season.
The Orchestre et le Choeur de l’Opéra Royal will be back on the road in the summer of 2024 to bring you unforgettable musical experiences !
More info
More info
Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal recordings
The discographic label’s projects
The Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal is a key presence on the Château de Versailles Spectacles record label (winner of Label of the Year 2022 at the International Classical Music Awards) and plays an active role in its recordings.
Among the most acclaimed are the Stabat Mater by Pergolesi and Vivaldi conducted by Marie Van Rhijn (Diamond award from Opéra Magazine), Couperin’s Leçons de Ténèbres conducted by Stéphane Fuget, Guido and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with Andrés Gabetta (Choc award from Classica), Zingarelli’s Giulietta e Romeo conducted by Stefan Plewniak (Choc award from Classica), the Coronation Anthems by Purcell and Handel brought together by Gaétan Jarry in The Crown, Vivaldi’s La Senna festeggiante conducted by Diego Fasolis, the Plácido Domingo Gala at Versailles, Handel’s Messiah conducted by Franco Fagioli and Dis-moi Vénus… with Marie Perbost and Gaétan Jarry (choice award from France Musique).
The entire record collection is available in our online shop and on all streaming platforms.
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WHAT WOULD THE ROYAL OPERA BE WITHOUT ITS CHOIR…
The Royal Opera Chorus made its debut in 2022, bringing, alongside the already-established orchestra, a distinctive musical identity to the Royal Opera at the Château de Versailles. Recently, the Chorus has been heard in Alceste by Lully, conducted by Stéphane Fuget, in both Versailles and Vienna, as well as in L’Orfeo by Monteverdi under the baton of Jordi Savall, performed at the Royal Opera and at the Festival de la Grange au Lac in Évian.
The Chorus has also taken part in in-house stage productions such as Roméo et Juliette by Zingarelli, conducted by Stefan Plewniak, Carmen by Bizet (also performed on tour in Hong Kong and Hanoi), and La Fille du régiment by Donizetti. It has featured in concert programmes including Couperin’s Leçons de Ténèbres, both at the Royal Chapel and on tour in Spain and at various summer festivals.
This season, the Chorus performs with the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal in fully staged productions such as Rossini’s Cinderella, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Offenbach’s La Vie parisienne, Gounod’s Faust, and Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio. The Chorus also appears in a variety of concert performances, including Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, and Christine of Sweden with the ensemble Musica Vera. It will also feature in Lully’s Atys, directed by Angelin Preljocaj and conducted by Leonardo García-Alarcón.
The Royal Opera Chorus has already made numerous recordings, including Gloire Immortelle, conducted by Hervé Niquet with the Garde Républicaine Orchestra; The Crown, a collection of coronation anthems by Handel and Purcell; Dis-moi Vénus…, a recital of French baroque opera arias with soprano Marie Perbost; Alceste by Lully under Stéphane Fuget; Arias for Velluti with countertenor Franco Fagioli; and The Abduction from the Seraglio by Mozart. The Chorus has also appeared in broadcast recordings, including performances on Le Grand Échiquier.
Full schedule
