Opéra de Paris: Don Quichotte

Massenet’s charming, resonant final opera returns to the Paris stage for the first time in over two decades, with brilliant bass Christian Van Horn in the title role. Massenet and his librettist Henri Cain retained only a few of the main emblematic episodes of Cervantes’ lavish novel: the legendary knight-errant's love for the beautiful Dulcinée (Gaëlle Arquez), his chivalrous spirit that leads him to pursue brigands to recover her necklace, his famous battle with the windmills and his death as he lies beside his servant Sancho Panza (Étienne Dupuis). Inspired by this atmospheric and moving music, acclaimed director Damiano Michieletto’s new production seeks to reveal not just the poetry of the protagonist, but also his suffering: that of a deeply lonely man, haunted by his memories. Mikhail Tatarnikov conducts.