the difficult return of Russian artists to the international scene

On this general afternoon, in the darkness of the Palais Garnier, everyone holds their breath. On the austere stage updated by Peter Sellars, Love in military uniform announces the end of the Prologue of Castor and Pollux « Reborn brighter, Peace charming, and be constant », sings the strange Cupid, to whom the young tenor Laurence Kilsby lends his features and his delicate voice. In the pit, the aerial gesture of Teodor Currentzis then suspends his flight. As if he wanted to give this moment, which seemed like a moment of grace, a very particular meaning…

This month of January 2025, the Greek-Russian conductor makes his grand return to the Paris Opera. Fifteen years since this fifty-year-old, who looked like an eternal teenager, last walked his skinny figure through the corridors of the Grande Boutique. The last time was for Macbeth by Verdi, at the Opéra Bastille, in the precise staging of Dmitri Tcherniakov. This Castor and Pollux by Rameau