A list of operas I saw. 17
2026 1
Date Location Name Credits Rating
2026-06-21
 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Rigoletto

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi

Director: Richard Brunel

Vocals: Davide Tuscano, Lionel Lhote, Marie Lys, Vartan Gabrielian, Sophie Kidwell, Sulkhan Jaiani, Vincent Casagrande, Matthieu Justine, Kyu Choi, Anouk Molendijk, Léa Sirera, Solène Nancy

Dance: Agnès Letestu

Orchestra: Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne

Conductor: Giulio Cilona

Choir: Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne

Choir director: Anass Ismat
(4.0)
A truly excellent French production, with impressive sets and an inventive staging.
2025 4
Date Location Name Credits Rating
2025-12-21
 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Barbe-Bleue

Composer: Jacques Offenbach

Director: Laurent Pelly

Vocals: Florian Laconi, Jérémy Duffau, Jennifer Courcier, Héloïse Mas, Christophe Gay, Thibault de Damas, Christophe Mortagne, Julie Pasturaud, Naïma Wanshe, Léa Sirera, Lauriane Paillet, Eudoxie Mottironi, Solène Nancy, Aurélien Reymond-Moret

Orchestra: Sinfonietta de Lausanne

Conductor: Alexandra Cravero

Choir: Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne

Choir director: Guillaume Rault
(4.0)
A comic opera we didn't know but enjoyed very much.
2025-05-18
 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Carmen

Composer: Georges Bizet

Director: Jean-François Sivadier

Vocals: Antoinette Dennefeld, Adriana González, Judith Fa, Séraphine Cotrez, Edgaras Montvidas, Philippe Sly, Olivier Gourdy, Rémi Ortega, Loïc Félix, Raphaël Brémard, Yanis Skouta, Roman Conrad, Vincent Kohler, Antonio Lourenco

Orchestra: Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne

Conductor: Jean-Marie Zeitouni

Choir: Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne, Les Chœurs de l’Ecole de Musique de Lausanne

Choir director: Alessandro Zuppardo, Catherine Fender
(4.0)
One of the most well-known operas of all time. I first saw it in Avenches in 1996. The sets were simple, but everything else was excellent.
2025-04-13
 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Don Pasquale

Composer: Gaetano Donizetti

Director: Tim Sheader

Vocals: Omar Montanari, Angelica Disanto, Joel Prieto, Dario Solari, Julia Deit-Ferrand

Orchestra: Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne

Conductor: Giuseppe Grazioli

Choir: Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne

Choir director: Jacopo Facchini
(4.25)
Very impressive sets and costumes. Good acting. A success.
2025-01-24
 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Petite balade aux enfers

Composer: Christoph Willibald Gluck

Director: Valérie Lesort

Piano: Marine Thoreau La Salle

Vocals: Herlinde Van de Straete, Caroline Guentensperger, Sophia Ianni

Puppeteer: Florimond Plantier, Sami Adjali, Bertil Cazaumayou
(4.0)
Lyrical show with puppets, after Orpheus and Eurydice by Christoph Willibald Gluck. My wife, my 6-year-old son and I loved it. The puppets were hilarious. The audience as a whole loved it as well.
2024 2
Date Location Name Credits Rating
2024-10-06
 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Guillaume Tell

Composer: Gioachino Rossini

Director: Bruno Ravella

Vocals: Jean-Sébastien Bou, Olga Kulchynska, Julien Dran, Elisabeth Boudreault, Géraldine Chauvet, Frédéric Caton, Luigi De Donato, Sahy Ratia, Jean Miannay, Warren Kempf, Marc Scoffoni

Orchestra: Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne

Conductor: Francesco Lanzillotta

Choir: Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne

Choir director: Alessandro Zuppardo
(3.75)
Apart from the overture, which is very famous, I didn't know anything about this long opera. All the singers were excellent. I was not particularly touched/moved by some of the themes (patriotism, freedom/tyranny).
2024-02-04
 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Così fan tutte

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Director: Jean Liermier

Vocals: Arianna Vendittelli, Wallis Giunta, Pavel Petrov, Robert Gleadow, Rubén Amoretti, Marie Lys

Orchestra: Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne

Conductor: Diego Fasolis

Choir: Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne

Choir director: Diego Fasolis
(4.0)
A convincing and entertaining reality TV version of this opera, which completely makes sense, when you think about it. It was already played in 2018, with a different set of musicians (except for Robert Gleadow).
2023 1
Date Location Name Credits Rating
2023-11-12
 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Cendrillon

Composer: Pauline Viardot

Director: Gilles Rico

Vocals: Nuada Le Drève, Rémi Ortega, Maxence Billiemaz, Emma Delannoy, Jean Miannay, Aurélie Brémond, Ludmila Schwartzwalder

Orchestra: Orchestre de la Haute école de Musique de Lausanne

Conductor: Marc Leroy-Calatayud
(3.75)
Our 5-and-a-half-year-old son's first opera. He loved it.
2018 2
Date Location Name Credits Rating
2018-04-22
 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland La donna del lago

Composer: Gioachino Rossini

Director: Max Emanuel Cencic

Vocals: Lena Belkina, Max Emanuel Cencic, Daniel Behle, Juan Francisco Gatell, Daniel Golossov, Delphine Gillot, Tristan Blanchet, Aurélien Reymond-Moret

Orchestra: Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne

Conductor: George Petrou

Choir: Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne

Choir director: Antonio Greco
(3.75)
This was the last opera we will be able to attend for a while. It was an incredible experience as usual, but I was maybe a little bit underwhelmed by the production and the adaptation. Also, I'm not against nudity and eroticism, but it was probably a bit overused here.
2018-03-25
 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland La clemenza di Tito

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Director: Fabio Ceresa

Vocals: Paolo Fanale, Salome Jicia, Sylvia Schwartz, Yuriy Mynenko, Lamia Beuque, Daniel Golossov

Orchestra: Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne

Conductor: Diego Fasolis

Choir: Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne

Choir director: Pascal Mayer
(4.0)
Another very good production from the Opéra de Lausanne. The set was impressive, as often (monumental statues, scale model of Rome, etc.). Several "monologues" got well-deserved applause from the audience.
2017 2
Date Location Name Credits Rating
2017-06-11
 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Don Giovanni

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Director: Éric Vigié

Vocals: Kostas Smoriginas, Riccardo Novaro, Anne-Catherine Gillet, Lucia Cirillo, Catherine Trottmann, Anicio Zorzi Giustiniani, Ruben Amoretti, Leon Košavić

Orchestra: Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne

Conductor: Michael Güttler

Choir: Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne

Choir director: Pascal Mayer
(4.0)
Yet another famous opera that I didn't know. A lot of excellent singers. The sets in the second part were particularly impressive (the scenes with the Statue), yet quite simple. Some of the colors/lights effects were also simple but effective. After seeing Molière's Dom Juan at Théâtre de Vidy last year, it was intriguing to see Mozart / Lorenzo da Ponte's take on the Don Juan character.
2017-03-26
 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland La Bohème

Composer: Giacomo Puccini

Director: Claude Stratz

Vocals: Emily Dorn, Giorgio Berrugi, Anne-Sophie Petit, Vittorio Prato, Luigi De Donato, Benoît Capt, Mario Marchisio, Marin Yonchev

Orchestra: Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne

Conductor: Jean-Yves Ossonce

Choir: Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne

Choir director: Jacques Blanc

Maîtrise Opéra du Conservatoire de Lausanne
(4.0)
This was my fourth opera at the Opéra de Lausanne. As usual, I didn't know anything about the work (let's say I wanted to have a fresh, neophyte perspective - but I'm a bit lazy as well...). The first two acts (before the intermission) are very happy. Almost mushy. The last two acts are a bit more dramatic. The very end of the fourth act is really designed to make you cry. The main themes are quite common, a bit clichés: the poor artist, love at first sight, happiness in poverty, etc. The music is easy to follow. Overall, I really liked the simple (but not pared-down) set and the singers were very good. Some of the longer "monologues" got a lot of applause from the audience.
2016 1
Date Location Name Credits Rating
2016-06-12
 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Faust

Composer: Charles Gounod

Director: Stefano Poda

Vocals: Paolo Fanale, Kenneth Kellog, Maria Katzarava, Régis Mengus, Benoît Capt, Carine Séchaye, Marina Viotti

Orchestra: Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne

Conductor: Jean-Yves Ossonce

Choir: Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne

Choir director: Marcel Seminara
(4.0)
2015 2
Date Location Name Credits Rating
2015-10-09
 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland La Cenerentola

Composer: Gioachino Rossini

Director: Adriano Sinivia

Vocals: Serena Malfi, Edgardo Rocha, Alexandre Diakoff, Giorgio Caoduro, Laure Barras, Catherine Trottmann, Luigi De Donato

Orchestra: Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne

Conductor: Stefano Ranzani

Choir: Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne

Choir director: Pascal Mayer

Maîtrise Horizons du Conservatoire de Lausanne
(4.0)
2015-06-10
 Opéra de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Die Zauberflöte

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Director: Pet Halmen

Vocals: Catalina Bertucci, Shawn Mathey, Anna Siminska, Benoît Capt, Kenneth Kellogg, Céline Mellon, Marion Grange, Inès Berlet, Marina Viotti, Johan Girardin, Maria Mitterfellner, Maud Niklas, André Gass, Stuart Patterson, Jérémie Brocard

Orchestra: Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne

Conductor: Diego Fasolis

Choir: Chœur de l’Opéra de Lausanne

Choir director: Pascal Mayer

Maîtrise Horizons du Conservatoire de Lausanne
(4.0)
1999 1
Date Location Name Credits Rating
1999-07-24
 Arènes d'Avenches, Avenches, Switzerland Nabucco

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi

Director: Renzo Giacchieri

Orchestra: Sinfonietta de Lausanne

Conductor: Rico Saccani

Choir director: Pascal Mayer
Unknown singers, choir, etc.
1996 1
Date Location Name Credits Rating
1996-07-13
 Arènes d'Avenches, Avenches, Switzerland Carmen

Composer: Georges Bizet

Director: Serafin Guiscafre

Orchestra: Orchestre des Rencontres musicales

Conductor: John Neschling