Festival d'Aix-en-Provence's 67th Season to Feature World Premieres, French Premieres & More

The 67th season of the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, under the leadership of General Manager Bernard Foccroulle, will present the world premiere productions of operas by Handel and Mozart; the French premiere of Jonathan Dove's children's opera The Monster in the Maze led by Sir Simon Rattle with the London Symphony Orchestra; and a revival of director Robert Carsen's acclaimed 1991 Festival production of Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Festival's major vocal presentations this season will also include Serbian composer Ana Sokolovi?'s unconventional one-act a capella opera Svadba (Marriage), and a double bill presenting Persephone,Stravinsky's melodrama for tenor, female narrator, choir, children's choir, dancers and orchestra, with Tchaikovsky's last opera, Iolanta.

A special highlight this season is the start of a three-year Stravinsky cycle to be launched with the above-mentioned Persephone, in addition to concerts led by artistic director Teodor Currentzis leading the Choir MusicAeterna in performances of Stravinsky's sacred choral works and his ballet/cantata, Les Noces. The cycle will continue through 2017, exploring the broad scope of the Russian composer's vision, from his operas and choral works to his symphonies and less frequently heard sacred pieces.

Regarded as an essential leader in the opera world, the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence's 2015 season of wide-ranging events will unfold in uncommon and historical venues, many of them open-air, in and around the picturesque, ancient Provençal city of Aix. Sustaining the principles of its ongoing mission, the works programmed by Festival d'Aix-en-Provence demonstrate its dedicated commitment to present innovative productions of operatic classics, to champion the creation of new works by today's leading composers, and to restore rarely-heard masterpieces to the stage.

Full details and casting of the Festival's 2015 series, including concerts of symphonic works, chamber music, recitals, and programs by the Académie Européenne de Musique (European Academy of Music) will be announced in the coming weeks.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) (World Premiere Production)

Mozart's three-act Die Entführung aus dem Serail was the first grand opera in the German language to be constructed as a singspiel, a German theatrical form that combines spoken and sung text. It premiered in Vienna's Burgtheatre in 1782 as part of Austrian emperor Joseph II's Nationalsingspeilproject to perform works in the German language. Although the project ultimately failed, Mozart's opera was a major triumph. The music, which features some of Mozart's most spectacular arias, shows the Ottoman Empire influence of Austria's neighbor Turkey, clothed in a lighthearted plot that follows the attempts of the hero Belmonte and his loyal servant Pedrillo to rescue the beloved Konstanze from the seraglio of the Pasha Selim.

Die Entführung aus dem Serail is staged by Austrian theater director Martin Kusej, currently artistic director of Munich's Residenz Theatre, and conducted by Paris native Jérémie Rhorer leading the Freiburger Barockorchester. A new Festival production, Die Entführung aus dem Serail will have seven performances at the emblematic Théâtre de l'Archevêché.

George Friedrich Handel: Alcina (World Premiere Production)

Part of the second in a three-year Handel cycle at Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, Alcina premiered in 1735 as the composer's last masterpiece in the Italian opera arena. Like his previous opera Ariodante-presented at the Festival in 2014-the story of Alcina is also taken from Ariosto's epic poem, Orlando Furioso. The magical plot follows the cruel enchantress Alcina, who lures the warrior Ruggiero to her mysterious island. He falls under her spell and forsakes his betrothed, Bradamante. The title role remains one of the great prima donna characters in operatic repertoire, demanding both virtuosity and dramatic power. The role of Ruggiero, originally created for one of the great castrati of Handel's era, will be sung by a countertenor.

Alcina is staged by British director Katie Mitchell, following her successful productions of Written on Skinand Trauernacht. Venice Baroque Orchestra founder and harpsichordist Andrea Marcon will conduct the Freiburger Barockorchester, now in its second year of residency at the Festival. Alcina is a new production of Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, and will be given seven performances in the Grand Théâtre de Provence.

Igor Stravinsky: Persephone

Peter Tchaikovsky: Iolanta

Festival d'Aix-en-Provence will launch its three-year Stravinsky Cycle with the composer's three-part melodrama Persephone on a double bill with Tchaikovsky's last opera, Iolanta.

Persephone is a hybrid theater work of song, choral singing, dance, instrumental music, and speech, performed with the title role spoken. The work was commissioned by Russian actress/arts patron Ida Rubenstein for a sung ballet on a poem by Andre Gide, and premiered at the Opéra Paris in 1934 under the baton of Stravinsky with Rubenstein herself playing the lead role. The plot is inspired by the Greek legend of Demeter, whose daughter Persephone is dragged into Hades by Pluto, god of the underworld. She stays to relieve the suffering of its inhabitants, but a compromise for her release is arranged. Persephone can live on earth for nine months but must return to the underworld in winter. It is on this myth of spring's arrival that Gide based the text used by Stravinsky for the production.

Presented alongside Persephone will be Tchaikovsky's 11th and last opera, Iolanta. Completed in 1892, the libretto was written by the composer's brother Modest, and is based on Danish writer Henrik Hertz's play King René's Daughter, a romanticized account of Yolande de Bar, the Duchess of Lorraine. In the opera, the king's daughter Iolanta has been blind from birth but is kept from knowing she is different from other people, or even that she is a princess. Through the true love of her suitor Vaudemont, and a Moorish doctor, she undergoes a spiritual journey and discovers the gif of sight.

The double bill of Iolanta and Persephone was dubbed "A shining study in vision" by the Wall Street Journal at Teatro Real de Madrid's production in 2012, which now comes to Festival d'Aix-en-Provence 2015 with its uncompromisingly original director, Peter Sellars. Musical director Teodor Currentzis will lead the Orchestra and Choir of the Lyon National Operawith dancers from Amrita Performing Arts, Cambodia in five performances at the Grand Théâtre de Provence.

Benjamin Britten: A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream was the result of a musical work needed to celebrate the re-opening of Jubilee Hall in Sussex, and was premiered with the composer on the podium in June 1960 at the Aldeburgh Festival (Britten's own festival). Due to a tight schedule involving the renovation of the Hall, Britten and his partner Peter Pears chose to adapt a libretto from Shakespeare's famous play for an opera. The story weaves a tangled web of mischief as Oberon, King of the Fairies, uses his servant Puck to gain possession of a boy from his Queen Tytania, while two pairs of lovers-Lysander and Hermia and Demetrius and Helena-endure a fantastical series of magical spells before all is finally resolved in the end.

Canadian director Robert Carsen's 1991 Festival d'Aix-en-Provence production of A Midsummer Night's Dream was a tremendous success, leading to subsequent engagements at the Lyon National Opera, the Opéra Comique Paris, and La Scala. He revives the production this season with the Lyon National Opera Orchestra led by principal conductor Kazushi Ono in seven performances at the Théâtre de l'Archevêché.

Ana Sokolovi?: Svadba (Marriage)

Ana Sokolovi?'s a cappella opera for six female a capella voices is a new production of the Festival's Académie Européenne de Musique (European Academy of Music Academy). The hour-long opera offers a glimpse into the life of a Serbian woman, Milica, at a get-together with five girlfriends on the eve of her marriage. Sokolovi?, born in Belgrade and based in Montreal, has created a mesmerizing score of voices in murmuring patterns of Serbian texts, chords, and folk-song influenced tunes that are sung as Milica's friends drink, play games, and help the bride prepare for her upcoming marriage. The performers also add the instrumental sounds of a drum and ocarina-like instruments worn around their necks. Svadbawas given its U.S. premiere at Opera Philadelphia in 2011.

Canadian-based conductor Dárine Ni Mheadhra, co-artistic director of Toronto's Queen of Puddings Music Theatre, is the musical director for Svadba, with staging by L'Académie Européenne de Musique artists Ted Huffman and Zack Winokur. The production will receive five performances at the Théâtre du Jeu de Paume.

Jonathan Dove: The Monster in the Maze

The children's opera, The Monster in the Maze, retells the story of Theseus, Ariadne, and the rescue of those slated for sacrifice to the beastly Minotaur. The idea for the work was born of conductor Sir Simon Rattle's desire to showcase local amateur singers-including children, teens, and adults-alongside professional artists in a new choral work. British composer Jonathan Dove, whose works have been commissioned by Sadler's Wells Theater and the Birmingham Opera, was chosen for the assignment.The Monster in the Maze will also be presented in London and Berlin this summer in each country's respective language before its French premiere at Festival d'Aix-en-Provence. The Festival production of the opera plans to use hundreds of amateur choristers from the Aix region and players from the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra--an educational arm of the Festival that brings together instrumentalists from several countries--joining young professional soloists from its Académie Européenne de Musique and the London Symphony Orchestra.

The Monster in the Maze is conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, staged by French director Marie-Eve Signeyrole, and will have two performances in the Grand Théâtre de Provence.

Festival d'Aix-en-Provence on Tour

Festival d'Aix-en-Provence will take a number of its celebrated productions on tour this season, beginning with director Katie Mitchell's production of George Benjamin's Written on Skin at Lincoln Center in August 2015. Premiered to rave reviews at the Festival in 2012, the opera is based on a 13th century tale of jealousy and violence involving a wealthy landowner, the artist he hires to create a book of illuminations, and his formerly humble wife. Other Festival operas scheduled for tour in 2015 include II Turco in Italia at Teatro Regio Torino in March; Trauernacht, a staged version of Bach's cantatas at the Dutch National Opera, La Comédie de Valence, and the Paris Philharmonie in February and April; andDon Giovanni at Toronto's Canadian Opera Company in January/February.

Subscriptions, Tickets and info

Subscriptions and single tickets go on sale online February 2nd at www.festival-aix.com, by phone on February 4th at +33(0)4 34 08 02, and at the Festival's box office on February 7th, 2015.

Festival d'Aix-en-Provence's opera performances will take place at Théâtre de l'Archevêché, Grand Théâtre de Provence, Théâtre du Jeu de Paume, and Conservatoire Darius Milhaud. Ticket prices for operas range from 10€ to 250€.

For more information, the box office can be reached by phone at +33(0)4 34 08 02 17 and by fax at + 33(0)4 42 63 13 74.

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