Paris Opera

In 1992, when Gerard Mortier arrived in Austria as new director of the Salzburg Festival, he turned for inspiration to Los Angeles, enticing Esa-Pekka Salonen and Peter Sellars into the lair of the late Herbert von Karajan for a new production of Messiaen's "Saint Francois d'Assise" with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the pit.

With his appointment as the new director of the Paris Opera Ballet, Benjamin Millepied has landed one of the most prestigious jobs in dance, overseeing a corps of 150 performers at the legendary institution. But his new post, which was announced Thursday and begins in October 2014, creates uncertainty for L.A. Dance Project, the downtown collective that the French choreographer launched to much fanfare with the Music Center in 2011. Speaking on the phone from Paris, Millepied said he remains committed to the future of L.A. Dance Project even if it means he will have to step back from the daily operations of the company.

The new Paris Opera is rising where the Bastille fell, but its future is at the mercy of French politics, which are far more complex now than when a mob stormed the infamous prison in 1789. The previous Socialist government started the project at the Place de la Bastille, a shrine of the French Revolution, to symbolize bringing opera to the people and to spur development in the neglected east side of Paris.

'Phantom' sequel cheered in London A star-studded audience -- including actors Michael Caine, Rowan Atkinson and musical singer Elaine Paige -- rose to their feet and cheered at the conclusion of the premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel to "Phantom of the Opera" in London on Tuesday night. The composer bowed and blew a kiss to the audience. "Phantom" is a tale of gothic romance set in the Paris Opera that has been seen by 100 million people around the world since it opened in 1986.

Who should be in charge of one of the most prestigious opera houses in the world? An artist with a multimillion-dollar budget who wants to showcase the greatest musical names of the age? Or a businessman appointed by a Socialist government committed to presenting opera to the masses?

The facade of the Palais Garnier, familiarly known as the Paris Opera, was returned to its 19th century splendor last week after more than a year of work to remove grime accumulated since 1867, when Charles Garnier's landmark made its debut. Air pollution and acid rain had taken a toll on the chiseled limestone, rooftop sculpture and mosaics and marble floors of the elegant balcony. The building is home to ballet and dance; most opera performances are at the Opera-Bastille in eastern Paris.

Leonor Fini, 87, an artist who created paintings, posters and sets for the Paris Opera and costumes for the Comedie Francaise. Born in Buenos Aires of Italian parents, Fini worked primarily in Paris and had several one-woman exhibitions in Paris, Rome, London and New York. In addition to her work for the Parisian stage, she also designed sets and costumes for La Scala opera house in Milan, Italy, a city where she lived as a child.

Serge Lifar, the Diaghilev protege who was the unchallenged premier danseur at the Paris Opera during what is considered by many to be its most creative period, has died in Switzerland, it was reported Tuesday. His death was announced in Paris and confirmed by a spokeswoman for the luxurious Beau Rivage Hotel in lakeside Lausanne, where Lifar had moved with his wife several months ago. He was 81 and reportedly had been suffering from cancer.

Dampened Dancing: Because of security problems, Martha Graham has called off performances of her dance company at the Paris Opera that were to start today. The American Guild of Musical Artists--the dancers' labor union--informed the dance troupe that because of the Middle East crisis it will not allow the dancers to travel to Paris for the weeklong engagement. The cancellation will leave the company with $140,000 in expenses that would have been covered by the Paris Opera production. . . .

Choreographer Maurice Bejart has accused Rudolf Nureyev, dance director of the Paris Opera, of lying, blaming him for the decline of France's dance tradition and demanding that he give up his job. Bejart, currently presenting an evening of three new ballets as guest choreographer at the Paris Opera, made the accusations on French television. "I am asking that an intruder get out. Au revoir , Mr. Nureyev," said Bejart at the end of a long statement.

Bodies in motion tend to remain in motion, but almost never with the heart-stirring beauty and grace on view in Frederick Wiseman's exceptional portrait of the Paris Opera Ballet, "La Danse." Wiseman has been making his kind of quiet but potent documentaries for decades. "La Danse" is his 36th, following looks at institutions as varied as the Idaho state legislature, a Chicago public housing development and the Neiman Marcus department store. As a director, Wiseman's approach is unvarying.

Spain's Teatro Real opera house said Wednesday that Belgian musician Gerard Mortier would take over as its artistic director in just over a year. Mortier, 65, who currently runs the Paris Opera, will assume his new post in Madrid in January 2010, Teatro Real said. Mortier had been due to take over as general manager and artistic director of the New York City Opera next season. But he pulled out early this month because the company failed to raise enough money to pay for his plans.

Swiss conductor Philippe Jordan has been named music director at the Opera National de Paris, filling a position that's been vacant since American James Conlon left in 2004 to join L.A. Opera. Jordan, 33, principal guest conductor at the Berlin Staatsoper, will join the Paris institution starting with the 2009-2010 season, the company said. The son of the late conductor Armin Jordan, Philippe Jordan has studied piano and violin as well as theory and composition.

From the moment Kaija Saariaho's "L'Amour de Loin" (Love From Afar) premiered at the Salzburg Festival six years ago, the wondrous medieval romance has seemed a charmed opera. But not so her second opera, "Adriana Mater," in which love is now up close and nasty. This time, Saariaho did not set out to charm, nor could much about this month's belated "Adriana" premiere by the Paris Opera be called charmed.

AS a ballet composer, Sergei Prokofiev is best known for "Romeo and Juliet," "Cinderella" and "The Prodigal Son." But three recent releases on DVD feature three of the world's greatest companies performing lesser-known full-evening works by him.

Nobody writes songs about January in Paris. It's cold and bleak, and the impenetrable rain clouds make 8 a.m. as dark as midnight. It's perfect weather for going to the movies, which is what I do. But I also go to the movies in Paris in April, May and June, when the weather is as seductive and beguiling as Bardot in her prime. I've gone right from the airport to this city's theaters after sampling half a hundred films in 10 days at the exhausting Cannes Film Festival.

A handwritten original score of Jacques Offenbach's last opera, "The Tales of Hoffmann," has been discovered in the archives of the Paris National Opera, the music organization said Thursday. The manuscript was found during a recent reorganization of the Paris Opera library. Thought to have been lost in a fire in 1887, it provides essential and complete information on the piece as it was first seen and heard by the Parisian public in 1881.

Striking technicians at the Paris Opera house forced the cancellation of a production of "Faust" this week, but on Wednesday they agreed to let a planned cancer benefit gala starring Frank Sinatra, Liza Minelli and Sammy Davis Jr. go ahead on Tuesday. The technicians are protesting plans to transfer staff to a new People's Opera at Place de la Bastille, which is still under construction. Performances of Tchaikovsky's ballet, "Sleeping Beauty," which is playing on alternate nights with "Faust," are being disrupted by a separate pay strike by the opera's dancers.

A handwritten original score of Jacques Offenbach's last opera, "The Tales of Hoffmann," has been discovered in the archives of the Paris National Opera, the music organization said Thursday. The manuscript was found during a recent reorganization of the Paris Opera library. Thought to have been lost in a fire in 1887, it provides essential and complete information on the piece as it was first seen and heard by the Parisian public in 1881.

Once popular, and a particular favorite of tenor Enrico Caruso, Jacques Fromental Halevy's 1835 opera "La Juive" (The Jewess) vanished from the repertory in the mid-1930s. One reason was that the Nazis banned it outright. But the work's great length -- some five hours -- and elaborate production values and style also began to seem old-fashioned to opera-goers in this country.