A list of operas I saw. 2026-06-21 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Rigoletto Giuseppe Verdi Richard Brunel Davide Tuscano Lionel Lhote Marie Lys Vartan Gabrielian Sophie Kidwell Sulkhan Jaiani Vincent Casagrande Matthieu Justine Kyu Choi Anouk Molendijk Léa Sirera Solène Nancy Agnès Letestu Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne Giulio Cilona Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne Anass Ismat 5.0 A truly excellent French production, with impressive sets and an inventive staging. Rigoletto.jpg 2025-12-21 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Barbe-Bleue Jacques Offenbach Laurent Pelly Florian Laconi Jérémy Duffau Jennifer Courcier Héloïse Mas Christophe Gay Thibault de Damas Christophe Mortagne Julie Pasturaud Naïma Wanshe Léa Sirera Lauriane Paillet Eudoxie Mottironi Solène Nancy Aurélien Reymond-Moret Sinfonietta de Lausanne Alexandra Cravero Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne Guillaume Rault 5.0 A comic opera we didn't know but enjoyed very much. Barbe-Bleue.jpg 2025-05-18 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Carmen Georges Bizet Jean-François Sivadier Antoinette Dennefeld Adriana González Judith Fa Séraphine Cotrez Edgaras Montvidas Philippe Sly Olivier Gourdy Rémi Ortega Loïc Félix Raphaël Brémard Yanis Skouta Roman Conrad Vincent Kohler Antonio Lourenco Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne Jean-Marie Zeitouni Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne Alessandro Zuppardo Les Chœurs de l’Ecole de Musique de Lausanne Catherine Fender 5.0 One of the most well-known operas of all time. I first saw it in Avenches in 1996. The sets were simple, but everything else was excellent. Carmen 2025.jpg 2025-04-13 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Don Pasquale Gaetano Donizetti Tim Sheader Omar Montanari Angelica Disanto Joel Prieto Dario Solari Julia Deit-Ferrand Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne Giuseppe Grazioli Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne Jacopo Facchini 5.25 Very impressive sets and costumes. Good acting. A success. Don Pasquale.png 2025-01-24 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Petite balade aux enfers Christoph Willibald Gluck Valérie Lesort Marine Thoreau La Salle Herlinde Van de Straete Caroline Guentensperger Sophia Ianni Florimond Plantier Sami Adjali Bertil Cazaumayou 5.0 Lyrical show with puppets, after Orpheus and Eurydice by Christoph Willibald Gluck. My wife, my 6-year-old son and I loved it. The puppets were hilarious. The audience as a whole loved it as well. Petite balade aux enfers.jpg 2024-10-06 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Guillaume Tell Gioachino Rossini Bruno Ravella Jean-Sébastien Bou Olga Kulchynska Julien Dran Elisabeth Boudreault Géraldine Chauvet Frédéric Caton Luigi De Donato Sahy Ratia Jean Miannay Warren Kempf Marc Scoffoni Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne Francesco Lanzillotta Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne Alessandro Zuppardo 4.75 Apart from the overture, which is very famous, I didn't know anything about this long opera. All the singers were excellent. I was not particularly touched/moved by some of the themes (patriotism, freedom/tyranny). Guillaume Tell.png 2024-02-04 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Così fan tutte Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Jean Liermier Arianna Vendittelli Wallis Giunta Pavel Petrov Robert Gleadow Rubén Amoretti Marie Lys Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne Diego Fasolis Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne Diego Fasolis 5.0 A convincing and entertaining reality TV version of this opera, which completely makes sense, when you think about it. It was already played in 2018, with a different set of musicians (except for Robert Gleadow). Così fan tutte.jpg 2023-11-12 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Cendrillon Pauline Viardot Gilles Rico Nuada Le Drève Rémi Ortega Maxence Billiemaz Emma Delannoy Jean Miannay Aurélie Brémond Ludmila Schwartzwalder Orchestre de la Haute école de Musique de Lausanne Marc Leroy-Calatayud 4.75 Our 5-and-a-half-year-old son's first opera. He loved it. Cendrillon.png 2018-04-22 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland La donna del lago Gioachino Rossini Max Emanuel Cencic Lena Belkina Max Emanuel Cencic Daniel Behle Juan Francisco Gatell Daniel Golossov Delphine Gillot Tristan Blanchet Aurélien Reymond-Moret Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne George Petrou Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne Antonio Greco 4.75 This was the last opera we will be able to attend for a while. It was an incredible experience as usual, but I was maybe a little bit underwhelmed by the production and the adaptation. Also, I'm not against nudity and eroticism, but it was probably a bit overused here. La donna del lago.jpg 2018-03-25 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland La clemenza di Tito Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Fabio Ceresa Paolo Fanale Salome Jicia Sylvia Schwartz Yuriy Mynenko Lamia Beuque Daniel Golossov Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne Diego Fasolis Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne Pascal Mayer 5.0 Another very good production from the Opéra de Lausanne. The set was impressive, as often (monumental statues, scale model of Rome, etc.). Several "monologues" got well-deserved applause from the audience. La clemenza di Tito.jpg 2017-06-11 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Don Giovanni Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Éric Vigié Kostas Smoriginas Riccardo Novaro Anne-Catherine Gillet Lucia Cirillo Catherine Trottmann Anicio Zorzi Giustiniani Ruben Amoretti Leon Košavić Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne Michael Güttler Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne Pascal Mayer 5.0 Yet another famous opera that I didn't know. A lot of excellent singers. The sets in the second part were particularly impressive (the scenes with the Statue), yet quite simple. Some of the colors/lights effects were also simple but effective. After seeing Molière's Dom Juan at Théâtre de Vidy last year, it was intriguing to see Mozart / Lorenzo da Ponte's take on the Don Juan character. Don Giovanni.jpg 2017-03-26 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland La Bohème Giacomo Puccini Claude Stratz Emily Dorn Giorgio Berrugi Anne-Sophie Petit Vittorio Prato Luigi De Donato Benoît Capt Mario Marchisio Marin Yonchev Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne Jean-Yves Ossonce Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne Jacques Blanc Maîtrise Opéra du Conservatoire de Lausanne 5.0 This was my fourth opera at the Opéra de Lausanne. As usual, I didn't know anything about the work (let's say I wanted to have a fresh, neophyte perspective - but I'm a bit lazy as well...). The first two acts (before the intermission) are very happy. Almost mushy. The last two acts are a bit more dramatic. The very end of the fourth act is really designed to make you cry. The main themes are quite common, a bit clichés: the poor artist, love at first sight, happiness in poverty, etc. The music is easy to follow. Overall, I really liked the simple (but not pared-down) set and the singers were very good. Some of the longer "monologues" got a lot of applause from the audience. La Bohème.jpg 2016-06-12 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Faust Charles Gounod Stefano Poda Paolo Fanale Kenneth Kellog Maria Katzarava Régis Mengus Benoît Capt Carine Séchaye Marina Viotti Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne Jean-Yves Ossonce Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne Marcel Seminara 5.0 Faust.jpg 2015-10-09 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland La Cenerentola Gioachino Rossini Adriano Sinivia Serena Malfi Edgardo Rocha Alexandre Diakoff Giorgio Caoduro Laure Barras Catherine Trottmann Luigi De Donato Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne Stefano Ranzani Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne Pascal Mayer Maîtrise Horizons du Conservatoire de Lausanne 5.0 La Cenerentola.jpg 2015-06-10 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Die Zauberflöte Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Pet Halmen Catalina Bertucci Shawn Mathey Anna Siminska Benoît Capt Kenneth Kellogg Céline Mellon Marion Grange Inès Berlet Marina Viotti Johan Girardin Maria Mitterfellner Maud Niklas André Gass Stuart Patterson Jérémie Brocard Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne Diego Fasolis Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne Pascal Mayer Maîtrise Horizons du Conservatoire de Lausanne 5.0 Die Zauberflöte.jpg 1999-07-24 Arènes d'Avenches, Avenches, Switzerland Nabucco Giuseppe Verdi Renzo Giacchieri Sinfonietta de Lausanne Rico Saccani Pascal Mayer Unknown singers, choir, etc. Nabucco.jpg 1996-07-13 Arènes d'Avenches, Avenches, Switzerland Carmen Georges Bizet Serafin Guiscafre Orchestre des Rencontres musicales John Neschling