Admin

Organization

Singer

Baritone

Ludovic Tézier

Athanaël

Tenor

Jean-François Borras

Nicias

Bass

Philippe Kahn

Palémon

Soprano

Marina Rebeka

Thaïs

Cassandre Berthon

Crobyle

Mezzo-soprano

Valentine Lemercier

Myrtale

Marie Gautrot

Abbess Albine

Jennifer Courcier

La charmeuse

Conductor

Jean-Yves Ossonce

Stage director

Jean-Louis Grinda

Set designer

Laurent Castaingt

Costume designer

Jorge Jara

Video designer

Gabriel Grinda

Lighting designer

Choreographer

Eugénie Andrin

Chorus master

Stefano Visconti

Opéra de Monte-Carlo

Orchestra

Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo

Monaco

"Dare to come, you who defy Venus!" cries Thaïs, the priestess of Venus, to ascetic monk Athanaël, determined to save her soul by converting her to Christianity. This challenge precipitates the action of Thaïs, Massenet's operatic masterpiece, staged here by Jean-Louis Grinda at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo with Jean-Yves Ossonce conducting!

Athanäel's attempts to save Thaïs from eternal damnation lead him to an unexpected fate as the young priestess, bored with her life of pleasures, aspires to something greater. Convinced by Athanaël's entreaties, she ends up devoting herself to God and dying in a convent—to the great sorrow of Athanaël, who realizes too late his love for her, repudiating his vows and asserting that "nothing is true but life and the love of human beings." Massenet's rich emotional landscape opposes two complex characters with divergent motivations who briefly cross paths on their way to opposite destinies… Celebrated soloists Marina Rebeka and Ludovic Tézier more than do justice to this sublime score, a veritable treasure of French opera.

Photo © Alain Hanel - Opéra de Monte-Carlo 2021

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble