Tour sponsored by
Confident of the interest in his Knights of the Round Table, in 1872 he offered a revised version, which did not focus on Lancelot’s adventures. For Hervé, the Middle Ages were a pretext and backdrop which he used in the same way as Offenbach used antiquity: derision, ridicule, parody, energy and popular melodies all feature in this musical pastiche, where we enjoy following the adventures of ladies Mélusine, Totoche and Angélique. The knights Rodomont and Roland, as well as Merlin, contribute to this hilarious and spirited comedy.
Libretto by Henri Chivot and Alfred Duru
First performance of the original version at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, Paris, November 17, 1866
Final version performed at the Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques, Paris, March 2, 1872
New Production from the Opéra de Lausanne
Jacques Blanc studied the piano at the Conservatoire National de Marseille, and orchestra conducting with Jésus Etcheverry. He began as a singing master then became choir master at the Nantes and Strasbourg Operas. He supported Jeffrey Tate and George Prêtre, before becoming a conductor himself in Bordeaux, Montpellier, Limoges, Nice and Nantes. Between 1986 and 1988 he was director of vocal studies at the CNIPAL national opera centre in Marseille. From 1999 to 2010, he became the permanent chorus master and director of vocal studies of the Opéra National de Bordeaux, and contributed to performances such as Turandot, Carmen and La Bohème. He now devotes himself to conducting and the study of repertoire with young singers to guide them in their careers. He recently conducted La Traviata while on tour with the Opéra en Plein Air. At the Opéra de Lausanne: Die Zauberflöte (1991) assisting Armin Jordan; Phi-Phi (2014) and La belle de Cadix (2016) as conductor; Manon (2014), Die lustige Witwe (2014), My Fair Lady (2015), Les mamelles de Tirésias (2016), La vie parisienne (2016), La Bohème, Hamlet and Lucia di Lammermoor (2017), Die Fledermaus (2018) as chorus master.
Jean-François Vinciguerra studied drama at ENSATT, lyric art at the Conservatoire de Paris with Michel Roux and at the Opéra de Paris school of lyric art with Michel Sénéchal. He perfected his technique with Denise Dupleix and Lionel Sarrazin. At the Opéra Bastille, he interpreted Wagner in Faust; at the Opéra Comique, Bartolo in Barbiere di Siviglia and Baron Popoff in Die lustige Witwe. He has also performed in Salome, Lucrezia Borgia, L’elisir d’amore, La damnation de Faust, Les contes d’Hoffmann, in particular, and on many stages throughout Europe and at major festivals. As an actor and director, he was a huge success at the Théâtre du Petit Montparnasse with his show dedicated to Jean Yanne, On n’arrête pas la connerie. At the Opéra de Lausanne: Pickering in My Fair Lady (2015), and Frank in Die Fledermaus (2018).
After a bachelor’s degree in Italian, Laurène Paternò entered the Haute école de musique de Lausanne and obtained a master’s degree as a soloist in 2019. In this context, she participates in a Swiss musical creation given in Rio de Janeiro on the occasion of the 2016 Olympic Games. She also performed the roles of Blanche de la Force (Dialogues des Carmélites) and Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro). She then made her debut as Serpina (La serva padrona) in an Opéra de Lausanne production given in Bhutan in 2018. She performed at the Nouvel Opéra de Fribourg as Sofiya, Yelena and a KGB agent in Russell Hepplewhite’s Laika, the Dog in Space. In 2020, she is part of the program of the Opéra Comique de Paris for a revival of Laika, the Dog in Space. She is also Fille-Fleur in Parsifal at the Grand Théâtre de Genève in 2021, and Mélusine in a revival of Les Chevaliers de la Table ronde at the Opéra Grand Avignon. She made her debut in 2022 at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and at the Théâtre de Caen in the role of Despina (Così fan tutte), a new production by Laurent Pelly and Emmanuelle Haïn, as well as at the Glyndebourne Festival to double the role of Thérèse in Les mamelles de Tirésias by Poulenc (directed by Laurent Pelly). She won the 1st prize in the Kattenburg competition at the Opéra de Lausanne in 2019 and the 2nd prize in the Corsica Lirica competition in 2021.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: La serva padrona (Bouthan 2018), Les chevaliers de la Table ronde (Route Lyrique 2019), La belle Hélène (2020) and Dédé (Route Lyrique 2021).
After studying the piano at length, Anne-Sophie Petit discovered singing at the Maîtrise de Sainte-Anne d’Auray in Brittany. At the same time as obtaining her Master’s degree in anglophone language and civilization, she obtained her Diploma in Music Studies (Singing) at the Paris regional conservatory before joining Stephan MacLeod’s class at Lausanne’s University of Music, where she is currently studying a Master’s degree course in solo performance. She has interpreted roles such as the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte, Sister Constance in Dialogues of the Carmelites and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro. She regularly performs with the group Gli Angeli Genève, singing the solo soprano part in Mass in C minor as well as some of Mozart’s concert arias. More recently, she sang non-religious cantatas by Rameau at the Utrecht Early Music Festival. At the Opéra de Lausanne: Musetta in La Bohème (2017), and La Fée in Cendrillon (2018).
Jean-François Vinciguerra studied drama at ENSATT, lyric art at the Conservatoire de Paris with Michel Roux and at the Opéra de Paris school of lyric art with Michel Sénéchal. He perfected his technique with Denise Dupleix and Lionel Sarrazin. At the Opéra Bastille, he interpreted Wagner in Faust; at the Opéra Comique, Bartolo in Barbiere di Siviglia and Baron Popoff in Die lustige Witwe. He has also performed in Salome, Lucrezia Borgia, L’elisir d’amore, La damnation de Faust, Les contes d’Hoffmann, in particular, and on many stages throughout Europe and at major festivals. As an actor and director, he was a huge success at the Théâtre du Petit Montparnasse with his show dedicated to Jean Yanne, On n’arrête pas la connerie. At the Opéra de Lausanne: Pickering in My Fair Lady (2015), and Frank in Die Fledermaus (2018).
For the first time at the Opéra de Lausanne.
Born in Valais, Pierre Héritier began singing at a very young age with the Petits Chanteurs at the Schola de Sion. After university, he joined the Geneva HEM in Gilles Cachemaille’s class. During his studies, he benefitted from having teachers such as Isabelle Henriquez and David Jones. From 2014 to 2017, he was a member of the Studio of the Opéra de Lyon where he worked with Jean-Paul Fouchécourt. At the Opéra de Lyon, he sang the Clock/the Cat (L’enfant et les sortilèges), Madame Madou (Mesdames de la Halle), Tom (Le Petit Poucet, Aboulker), Liberto/Littore (L’incoronazione di Poppea), conducted by Martyn Brabbins, Philippe Forget, Nicholas Jenkins and Sébastien d’Hérin. In October 2017, he won 1st Prize in the men’s category of the Concours International de Vivonne. In 2011, he became a member of the Ambronay European Baroque Academy, conducted by Sigiswald Kuijken. In 2013, he participated in the creation of 4.48 Psychosis by Blaise Ubaldini, conducted by Pierre Bleuse. On stage, he has sung in roles such as Don Giovanni, Papageno, Guglielmo, Junius (The Rape of Lucretia), and Harasta (The Cunning Little Vixen). He was recently a resounding success in the role of Lord Cockburn in Fra Diavolo by Auber in Zurich.
A French-Italian mezzo-soprano born in Milan, Beatrice Nani entered the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne in 2014 in Brigitte Balleys’ class and obtained her master’s degree in voice in 2019. She perfected her skills with Marie-Ange Todorovitch and Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet. Passionate about theater, she trained with Gaëlle Bourgeois and Fiona Chauvin in Paris, and received valuable advice from Thierry Pillon, Jean-Yves Ruf and Shin Iglesias. She is a laureate of the Georges Enesco and Léopold Bellan competitions in Paris, and in 2022 won 3rd prize at the international singing competition of the city of Béziers. On stage, she has been heard in Bouche à bouche by Maurice Yvain at the Théâtre Déjazet in Paris and in Bottesini’s Requiem at the Victoria Hall in Geneva. She created the role of Ella Maillart in Le ruisseau noir by Guy-François Leuenberger at the Théâtre du Grütli in Geneva and played Lois in Kiss me, Kate by Cole Porter at the Théâtre du Galpon in Geneva. In 2022, she made her debut at the Opéra de Tours as the Mother in Le petit chaperon rouge by Guy-François Leuenberger. In the 2022 / 23 season, she will make her debut in the title role of Carmen.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: La vie parisienne (2016), Le chanteur de Mexico (2017), Cendrillon (2018), Les chevaliers de la Table ronde (Route Lyrique 2019) and Dédé (Route Lyrique 2021).
Trained by Blandine de Saint-Sauveur and Leontina Vaduva, Hoël Troadec recently completed his training at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne. He has already taken on numerous roles such as Nathanaël (Les contes d’Hoffmann), Beppe (Rita), Silvio (Le Docteur Miracle), Benedict (Béatrice et Bénédict), Gardefeu (La vie parisienne), the Chevalier de la Force (Dialogues des Carmélites), Pâris (La belle Hélène), Roland (Les chevaliers de la Table ronde), Schmidt (Werther), Tonio (La fille du régiment) and Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore). His roles have led him to perform on prestigious stages such as the Bregenzer Festspiele, the Opéra de Massy, the Opéra de Clermont-Ferrand, the Opéra de Vichy, the Opéra de Lausanne and, recently, the Opéra de Lyon.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Les chevaliers de la Table ronde (2019), La belle Hélène (2019), Le petit chaperon rouge (2021).
French tenor Jean Miannay studied singing with Brigitte Balleys at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne and with Scot Weier at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin. He continues to train in various academies such as the Exzellenz Oper Labor. He was awarded several distinctions, such as the Grand Prix of the 4th Raymond Duffaut Competition, the 26th Clermont-Ferrand International Singing Competition, the Mosetti Foundation Scholarship in Lausanne, the third prize of the Kattenburg Competition and a golden medal at the 2nd Vienna International Music Competition in the Virtuoso category. He saw his first roles at the Lausanne Opera. In September 2021, he is Ferrando in Così fan tutte in Lausanne and Fribourg, produced by the Fribourg Opera. He made his French stage debut in 2020 as Beppe in I Pagliacci at the Opéra du Grand Avignon – a production that he followed with performances at the Opéra de Vichy, Clermont-Ferrand and the Festival de Saint-Céré. It is also in 2020 that we see him for the first time at the Chorégies d’Orange, in the framework of the “Magic Night”. He was invited back the following year for an “Emerging Scene” recital and in 2022 he played Isepo in Ponchielli’s La Gioconda.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon (2018), Les contes d’Hoffmann (2019), Rinaldo (2020), L’auberge du Cheval Blanc (2021), Semiramide (2022) and Eugene Onegin (2022).
Trained for acting at the E.N.S.A.T.T and the Ecole Florent, Richard Lahady also studied singing. He made his debut at the Saint-Etienne Opera and, in the same city, participated in the Massenet Festival. In recent years, the Opéra de Lausanne has offered him numerous roles. He was heard as Langlois in Les Mousquetaires au couvent at the Opéra Comique. He also regularly participates in productions of the Opéra de Paris and the Opéra de Lyon, as well as in numerous French and Swiss festivals.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Die lustige Wittwe (2014), My fair Lady (2015), La vie parisienne (2016), Le chanteur de Mexico (2017), Les chevaliers de la Table ronde (Route Lyrique 2019), La belle Hélène (2019) and Dédé (Route Lyrique 2021).
The Swiss baritone studied at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne in the class of Frédéric Gindraux, before moving to London to work with Prof. Rudolf Piernay at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he obtained an Artist Diploma with distinction. He also worked with Dame Felicity Lott, François Le Roux, Eugene Asti and Graham Johnson, whom he assisted in his latest book on the life of Francis Poulenc, “Poulenc: The Life in the Songs”, published by Liveright. He sings several roles for the Opéra de Lausanne, including the title role in Christiné’s operetta Dédé, Melchior in Menotti’s Amahl et les Visiteurs du Soir, Maximilian in Bernstein’s Candide, and Urbain in Offenbach’s La Vie Parisienne. He also creates recitals for children and a workshop during the Lausanne Youth Olympic Games in 2020. He is also heard singing Weill’s Berliner Requiem during the exceptional concert of the Opera Choir. He has worked for the LSO (London Symphony Orchestra) on several occasions (Discovery Day on the music of Michael Tippett, soloist for Haydn’s Nelson Mass or curator of a recital in the series “Future: the musical voices of our time”), the BBC (“Immersion in the music of Detlev Glanert”) or the Wigmore Hall (study groups on the vocal music of Schumann, Ravel, a recital of contemporary music and a recital of French melodies). He is part of the French Song Exchange between the Wigmore Hall and the Salle Cortot in Paris, where he has the chance to make his debut in 2019 and return regularly to perform. The singer, a Samling Foundation Artist, is awarded the title of Ambassador of Melody by the Oxford Lieder Festival for the year 2020. He enters the concert placement of the Migros Culture Percentage, of which he is also a scholarship holder, as well as the Friedl-Wald and Colette Mosetti foundations. He participated in the final of the prestigious Kathleen Ferrier Competition in London and was also a finalist of the Young Classical Artist Trust in 2022. He won the English Song Prize in 2020, Second Prize and Audience Prize at the Kattenburg Competition in 2019, Third Prize and all Special Prizes in 2022, and Second Prize at the Somerset Song Prize. Future engagements include SongStudio 2023 at Carnegie Hall in New York with Renée Fleming, a recital series in England and Canada with pianist Cole Knutson for the Oxford Lieder Festival, the role of Maximilian in Bernstein’s Candide at the Opéra de Lausanne, and a revival of My Fair Lady.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: My fair Lady (2015), La Belle de Cadix (Route Lyrique 2016), L’Orfeo (2016), La vie parisienne (2016), Amahl et les visiteurs du soir (2017), Les chevaliers de la table ronde (Route Lyrique 2019), Dédé (Route Lyrique 2021) and Candide (2022).
Bastien Combe studied trumpet and voice in Grenoble before continuing his vocal training in Neuchâtel with Marcin Habela. He was a finalist in the Mahler Lieder Competition in Geneva. In concert, he sang the Evangelist in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. On stage, he sang the roles of D’Estourville (Ascanio by Saint-Saëns) in Geneva and Tamino (Die Zauberflöte) in Bern, Hortensio (Kiss me, Kate) and Herr Schulz (Cabaret) at the Théâtre du Galpon in Geneva. In December 2021, under the baton of Paul Agnew, Bastien will sing as a soloist with the baroque orchestra of the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève in a concert of cantatas by Bach and Buxtehude.
At the Opéra de Lausanne : Les chevaliers de la table ronde (2019)
Born in France, Maxence Billiemaz began singing in Paris with the Manécanterie des Petits Chanteurs à la Croix de Bois. He continued his musical studies at the Haute École de Musique de Genève in the class of Stuart Patterson. The tenor appeared on stage in the roles of Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), Bastien (Bastien und Bastienne) and Demo (Il Giasone). He also participated in the recording of Ascanio by Camille Saint-Saëns at the Grand Théâtre de Genève and performed in musicals, playing Bill Calhoun in Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate and Clifford Bradshaw in John Kander’s Cabaret. He sings as a soloist in ensembles such as La Cappella Mediterranea, the Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne, the Chamber Choir of Namur and Les Talens Lyriques.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Les chevaliers de la Table ronde (Route Lyrique 2019), Dédé (Route Lyrique 2021) and Werther (2022).
Jean-Philippe Guilois entered the National School of the Paris Opera in 1997 and then joined the Rudra Béjart School, with which he participated in several shows and international tours. He made his first professional experience with the Compagnie Buissonnière in Parce que je t’aime, presented at the Théâtre de Vidy-Lausanne. While multiplying his contracts as a dancer, he was introduced to the world of opera as a stage manager, and then became assistant director for La bohème, Nabucco, Carmen and Madame Butterfly at the Avenches Opera Festival, L’Aiglon and La Traviata at the Opéra de Marseille, Armide and Cendrillon at the Opéra de Nancy, Falstaff at the Opéra de Montpellier. Recently, he created the choreographies of My fair Lady at the Opéra de Marseille, Un ballo in maschera at the Opéra de Nancy and Tannhäuser at the Opéra national de Lyon. He currently devotes himself to the creation of choreographies, plays and stage productions.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Alcina (2011), My fair Lady (2015), La vie parisienne (2016), Don Giovanni (2017), Così fan tutte (2018), Les chevaliers de la Table ronde (Route Lyrique 2019), L’auberge du Cheval Blanc (2019) and Dédé (Route Lyrique 2021).
Jacques Blanc studied the piano at the Conservatoire National de Marseille, and orchestra conducting with Jésus Etcheverry. He began as a singing master then became choir master at the Nantes and Strasbourg Operas. He supported Jeffrey Tate and George Prêtre, before becoming a conductor himself in Bordeaux, Montpellier, Limoges, Nice and Nantes. Between 1986 and 1988 he was director of vocal studies at the CNIPAL national opera centre in Marseille. From 1999 to 2010, he became the permanent chorus master and director of vocal studies of the Opéra National de Bordeaux, and contributed to performances such as Turandot, Carmen and La Bohème. He now devotes himself to conducting and the study of repertoire with young singers to guide them in their careers. He recently conducted La Traviata while on tour with the Opéra en Plein Air. At the Opéra de Lausanne: Die Zauberflöte (1991) assisting Armin Jordan; Phi-Phi (2014) and La belle de Cadix (2016) as conductor; Manon (2014), Die lustige Witwe (2014), My Fair Lady (2015), Les mamelles de Tirésias (2016), La vie parisienne (2016), La Bohème, Hamlet and Lucia di Lammermoor (2017), Die Fledermaus (2018) as chorus master.
After training as an electrician, Denis Foucart ventured into the world of events and designed the lighting for many events around the world, including Jean Michel Jarre’s concert, produced in Egpyt to usher in the year 2000. From 2000 to 2003, he was hired as the lighting director for the international tours of musicals Notre dame de Paris and Roméo et Juliette. At the end of 2003, he became the lighting director of the Béjart Ballet Lausanne, and designed his first lighting for ballets with Zarathoustra, La vie du danseur and Le tour du monde en 80 minutes.
For the Festival Avenches Opéra, he designed the lighting for La bohème and Nabucco. Head electrician at the Opéra de Lausanne since 2008, he took over the lighting on Pierre et le loup, Die Zauberflöte, La veuve joyeuse, L’enfant et les sortilèges and designed the lighting for Phi-Phi (Route Lyrique 2014), La Belle de Cadix (Route Lyrique 2016), and for the all-age opera, Amahl et les visiteurs du soir, in 2017, Cendrillon in 2018. His lastest creation Les chevaliers de la Table ronde (Route Lyrique 2019).
After her formation as a theatre costume designer, Amélie Reymond was hired at the Lausanne Opera as a seamstress and stylist from 2002 to 2009. She is involved in the costume production for various opera productions. Early in her career she was also entrusted with the complete production of the costumes for Les moutons bleus, in 2008, and for L’enfant et les sortilèges, in 2010. She opened her own studio in 2007, where she creates and directs costumes for various theatres, musicals, dances and exhibitions. She was appointed Assistant Manager of the Costumes Department at the Opéra de Lausanne in 2009, then Head of the Costumes Department in 2016. From 2012 to 2016, she was also directing the costumes for Avenches Opéra; she worked as costume assistant for Carmen, in 2014, and signed her first opera costume creation in 2015 for Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Opéra de Lausanne: she created the costumes for La Belle de Cadix (Route Lyrique 2016), Les Zoocrates (2017) and Les chevaliers de la Table ronde (Route Lyrique 2019).
Jean-Philippe Guilois entered the National School of the Paris Opera in 1997 and then joined the Rudra Béjart School, with which he participated in several shows and international tours. He made his first professional experience with the Compagnie Buissonnière in Parce que je t’aime, presented at the Théâtre de Vidy-Lausanne. While multiplying his contracts as a dancer, he was introduced to the world of opera as a stage manager, and then became assistant director for La bohème, Nabucco, Carmen and Madame Butterfly at the Avenches Opera Festival, L’Aiglon and La Traviata at the Opéra de Marseille, Armide and Cendrillon at the Opéra de Nancy, Falstaff at the Opéra de Montpellier. Recently, he created the choreographies of My fair Lady at the Opéra de Marseille, Un ballo in maschera at the Opéra de Nancy and Tannhäuser at the Opéra national de Lyon. He currently devotes himself to the creation of choreographies, plays and stage productions.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Alcina (2011), My fair Lady (2015), La vie parisienne (2016), Don Giovanni (2017), Così fan tutte (2018), Les chevaliers de la Table ronde (Route Lyrique 2019), L’auberge du Cheval Blanc (2019) and Dédé (Route Lyrique 2021).