Regine Crespin Gala

To mark the centenary of Régine Crespin’s birth, the Paris Opera is paying tribute with a gala in support of the House’s activities. Born in Marseille in 1927, this sumptuous soprano joined the Paris Opera company, where she made her debut as Elsa in Lohengrin in 1951. Her most memorable roles at the Palais Garnier include the First Prioress, created for her by Francis Poulenc in Dialogues des carmélites in 1957, Kundry in Richard Wagner’s Parsifal and Giulietta in Jacques Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann , directed by Patrice Chéreau in 1974. Exceptional in the French and Wagnerian repertoire, capable of vocal power as well as pianissimo high notes, she remains a model of diction, purity of line and musicality. For this exceptional gala staged by Yves Lenoir and conducted by Nathalie Stutzmann, singers Lea Desandre, Ekaterina Gubanova, Sondra Radvanosky, Marina Rebeka, Stanislas de Barbeyrac and Ludovic Tézier perform a selection of works emblematic of Régine Crespin’s art, such as Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été .