Sensory lyricism: what's this unique day like at the Nice Opera? We explain everything.

A day at the opera. A lyrical day, certainly, but different from an opera, a concert, or a recital. A day transformed into an immersive and sensory experience.

Full of animated lights, plural sounds, unreal creatures.

It is possible to experience it, until August 31, under the patinated gold of the baroque theater on rue Saint-François-de-Paule ⁽¹⁾ .

This show, where there is nothing to understand, only to sail along the thread of a dream, of an emotion, was imagined by Immersive Opera and BK International, groups born from the know-how of Étienne Guiol, a multidisciplinary artist whose objective is to work on the creation of video content for live performance.

It is with this offbeat perspective that he notably produced, in Nice, the video projections of Philip Glass's opera Akhnaten in 2020. So, this creator, who was also part of the artistic team for the ceremonies of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and Bertrand Rossi, director of the opera, know and appreciate each other.

Hence the dreamlike summer dive into this other feeling of Nice-style opera.

The muse is having fun

The enchantment begins with a muse with a Greek profile, who falls from the ceiling, sits in front of a floating white piano, from which burst forth pictorial musical notes. This is followed by flights of sheet music that swirl around the room, which, little by little, takes on a red hue.

Other acts, other fleeting scenes, other tones follow one another, transforming this Italian-style theater.

The boxes and the monumental chandelier undulate, drowning in a shower of rhinestones, a sun slowly emerges, tableaux spread out, angels blowing their trumpets float in the air, carried by clouds. Pink, gold, blue, purple... The opera sees all the colors. The muse with the straight nose returns. Enjoys herself.

Again and again while familiar arias from Madame Butterfly , Lakmé , Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun , Norma …

By turns gentle, fluid, powerful, evanescent, charged, light, and captivating, this day at the opera soars toward the stars. For 45 minutes, we let go in this whimsical and fantastical universe, seeking to reinvent the codes of opera for the general public.

1. A day at the opera, until August 31, every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Duration: 45 minutes.

Price: 15.40 to 23 euros.