The musical comedy 'No No Nanette' in Paris

At the Salzburg Easter Festival, the Berlin Philharmonic makes a grand return, after the years (2013-2025) in which it took part in the Baden Baden Festival. Karajan had founded the Easter Festival in 1967, with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, of which he was the permanent conductor, at its centre. With his conductor Petrenko and a director like Serebrennikov, he staged a new 'Ring of the Nibelung', which promises to be one of the great performances of the year. Total change of atmosphere in Paris, with the Années Folles, the 1920s, and a musical comedy like 'No No Nanette'.

From 27 March to 5 April at the Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet the musical 'No No Nanette', staged on Broadway in 1925 with music by 27-year-old Vincent Youmans. A production, in French, of Les Frivolités Parisiennes; directed by Benjamin Pras, directed by Emily Wilson and Jos Houben. Famous songs, from 'Tea For Two' to 'I Want To Be Happy', transport us to the atmosphere of the Roaring Twenties.

On 27 March and 1 and 6 April, Wagner's 'The Rhine Gold' will be staged at the Felsenreitschule, with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Kirill Petrenko and with stage sets and costumes by Kirill Serebrennikov. It is the first performance of the 'Ring of the Nibelung' cycle, which will be completed in 2030, at the rate of one performance every Easter Festival (with a break in 2028, when Schoenberg's 'Moses and Aaron' will be staged). Serebrennikov, one of the most inventive, original and radically uncompromising directors, envisages a production that will take place in a post-apocalyptic world, after a great disaster.

Humanity is slowly regenerating and looking for ways to continue living, discovering a new form of existence. Petrenko stated that he had never worked as intensively on any other opera as he did on this production of the 'Ring of the Nibelung'. Another highlight is the debut of Christian Gerhaher in the role of Wotan.