Paris Opera’s bold season
L’Opéra de Paris announced a 2026–27 season of 19 productions that includes seven world premieres and a major new Wagner cycle — a big, programming‑heavy year for the house. (lemonde.fr) The season also features a new work honoring Josephine Baker and marks the farewell season for star Dorothée Gilbert. (opera-now.com)
The Paris Opera set priority subscription for existing 25/26 subscribers and Ring Festival ticketholders on March 28, 2026, with general subscriptions opening April 13, 2026. The season opens at the Palais Garnier with Perle noire: méditations pour Joséphine, composed by Tyshawn Sorey, directed by Peter Sellars and featuring soprano Julia Bullock in performances scheduled for 9–19 September 2026. A new operatic setting of Pierre Lemaitre’s Miroir de nos peines has been commissioned from Héctor Parra and will be staged by Mariame Clément with Vannina Santoni among the announced cast. The Ring Festival will present two complete cycles of Wagner’s tetralogy at the Opéra Bastille in November 2026 — 6–13 November and 15–22 November — in a production by Calixto Bieito under the musical direction of Pablo Heras‑Casado. Casting for the Ring run lists Tamara Wilson as Brünnhilde, Andreas Schager as Siegfried, Mika Kares as Hagen and Brian Mulligan as Alberich among the principal names. The institution has scheduled 359 total performances for the 2026/27 season, broken down into 164 opera performances and 195 ballet shows. Dorothée Gilbert is slated to take her final bow in Kenneth MacMillan’s L’Histoire de Manon on 15 October 2026, in a run at the Palais Garnier listed from 28 September to 30 October 2026.
