Fountains Shows & other events
Francais
English
Support 
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 created in December 2019 for John Corigliano’s opera The Ghosts of Versailles. 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 have led the Orchestra over the seasons, each lending their own musical vision to the programme, including Gaétan Jarry, Stefan Plewniak, Victor Jacob and, most recently, the young baroque violin virtuoso Théotime Langlois de Swarte.
The Orchestra, with its varying formations, adapts to the requirements of the different projects of the Royal Opera and Château de Versailles Spectacles. These different formations allow the Orchestra to offer the best possible musical cohesion to each genre, from chamber music to opera, through symphonic concerts.
This 2024-2025 season, the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal will have a strong presence at Versailles, with more than 20 productions and over 40 performances, not counting tours in France and around the world !
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.
Access the online shop
Access the online shop
WHAT WOULD THE ROYAL OPERA BE WITHOUT ITS CHOIR…
The Chœur de l’Opéra Royal made its debut in 2022, lending a real musical identity to the Royal Opera of the Château de Versailles, along with the already established Orchestra.
Last season, the Choir performed in Versailles and Vienna in Lully’s Alceste conducted by Stéphane Fuget, and in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo conducted by Jordi Savall at the Royal Opera and at the Grange au Lac festival Évian.
The Choir has also taken part in the Royal Opera’s stage productions of Zingarelli’s Giulietta e Romeo conducted by Stefan Plewniak, Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio conducted by Gaétan Jarry, as well as programmes such as Couperin’s Les Leçons de Ténèbres both at the Chapelle Royale and on tour in Spain or at summer festivals.
This season, the Choir will perform with the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal in staged productions of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Bizet’s Carmen and Donizetti’s The Daughter of the Regiment. The Chœur de l’Opéra Royal will be performing at a wide range of concerts, including the ADOR Gala concert, Handel’s Messiah, Sonya Yoncheva’s recital, Fauré’s Requiem, Charpentier’s Mass for Four Choirs with the Consort Musica Vera and José de Torres’ Requiem for Louis I of Spain, King for 150 Days ! with the Los Elementos ensemble.
This season, the Choir will be making its début at the Auditorio Nacional de la Música in Madrid, the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse and the Handel Festival in Karlsruhe.
The Chœur de l’Opéra Royal has already made a number of recordings including Gloire Immortelle conducted by Hervé Niquet with the Orchestre de la Garde Républicaine, The Crown, Dis-moi Vénus…, the recital of arias from French baroque operas with soprano Marie Perbost… and many more to come.
Full schedule
