Under the auspices 

A new cross-genre spectacle that creates a dialogue between opera and cinema will be presented by the Greek National Opera at 13 locations across Greece, from 16 July to 19 September 2026. The cine-opera pastiche À Paris tous les deux is an invitation to explore the art of opera and, at the same time, a homage to popular operas set in Paris. Five stories about love and death from La traviata, La bohème, Manon, Louise, and Il tabarro form a modular silent film intended to always be presented with live musical accompaniment. Excerpts from these operas by Verdi, Puccini, Massenet, Charpentier as well as by Offenbach will be performed by sopranos Chrissa Maliamani and Anna Stylianaki, and by tenor Manos Kokkonis. Accompanying them on the piano will be Marilena Souri and Christos Sakellaridis. Admission to the performance will be free, as part of the tour programme ‘The Greek National Opera tours Greece’, which is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation to enhance the GNO’s artistic outreach. À Paris tous les deux is a co-production between the GNO and the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

What is À Paris tous les deux?

Drawing inspiration from pastiche—an artistic genre present in music since the 18th century that involves creating a new musical work composed of excerpts from various pieces by one or more composers—Vasilis Louras has crafted a new work that weaves together tales of love and death set in Paris. Excerpts from Puccini’s La bohème and Il tabarro, Verdi’s La traviata, Massenet’s Manon, Charpentier’s Louise, and Offenbach’s La Vie parisienne form a modular silent film directed by Michalis Asthenidis and Vasilis Louras, and produced by Stella Angeletou. This film is designed to be presented with live piano accompaniment at all times, featuring three opera singers who perform arias and duets from the aforementioned operas.

À Paris tous les deux seeks out operatic stories about love and death that form perpetual cycles beneath the layers of time in the streets of Paris. The characters of these works, written centuries ago, live their stories in contemporary Paris. On a boat on the Seine River, Giorgetta, along with her illicit lover Luigi, reminisces about their past life in Belleville. Manon and Des Grieux leave the French countryside, dreaming of their new life in Paris. A great romance begins in a freezing attic at Cartier Latin, when Mimì knocks on Rodolfo’s door. Violetta is frightened by her love for Alfredo, likely foreseeing the dramatic end of her life. Julien tells Louise that ‘Paris without you won’t be Paris’. Musetta’s nighttime trip to Île Saint-Louis leads to the party of La Vie parisienne at Café Anglais.

Fanny Ardant, the prominent French actress closely associated with cinematic Paris and opera, both as a director and as the actress who portrayed Maria Callas in Zeffirelli’s movie Callas Forever and in Terrence McNally’s play Master Class, makes a pro bono cameo in the film in a surprise role. The film stars emerging Greek and French actors and dancers, including Konstantina Messini, Louis Raymundie, Lio Long, Luca Manin, Patra Christodoulou, George Dereskos, Catalina Puebla Coenen, Gaudéric Maléjac, Léna Allibert–My, Séléna Bijlenga–Kelmachter, and Julien Spitéri.

À Paris tous les deux invites us to discover the operatic soundtrack of Paris, the musical mark of a city adored by these renowned composers, the city that became part of major operatic romances. Three distinguished opera singers—sopranos Chrissa Maliamani and Anna Stylianaki, and tenor Manos Kokkonis—will perform live in front of the cinematic screen, presenting excerpts from the operas forming this modular feature film. They will be accompanied on the piano by pianists Marilena Souri and Christos Sakellaridis from the GNO.

The project À Paris tous les deux brings opera across Greece, even to venues with limited technical capabilities, without losing the magic of a grand spectacle. Through a cinematic format, the stories come to life on the big screen in a striking way, remaining true to the libretto and featuring stunning footage from natural settings in both Paris and Athens. À Paris tous les deux is designed for both opera enthusiasts and those who will be introduced to opera for the first time. In this context, this cine-opera pastiche aims to ignite the audience’s imagination and convey the magnificence of opera by presenting operatic stories on the big screen with cinematic narratives, coherent storytelling, and Greek subtitles, all complemented by live musical performances.