BOOKING DEADLINE 1st May 2026
We have secured tickets & accommodation in Paris for the Opera de Paris’ long-awaited Ring Cycle directed by Calixto Bieito which will take place at the Opera Bastille in November. This tour will be lead by long-time Parisophile Charlie Taylor. The cycle will be conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado with a superb cast including Andreas Schager, Tamara Wilson, Iain Paterson, Brian Mulligan, Elza van den Heever & Stanislas de Barbeyrac.
We have an allocation of 1st category seats for each performance – see second image above of the seat plan indicated in red. There is a higher ‘Optima’ category, but this is currently sold out on subscription.
We will stay 9 nights at the 4* Hotel Marceau Bastille, a favourite with Maestro clients over the years and a 10 minute walk to the Opera Bastille. Sole use doubles are ‘Parisienne’ in size at 16 sqm (172 sq ft) but are well appointed and quiet, Privilege rooms for double/twin occupancy 21 sqm (226 sq ft). The hotel has a relaxed lounge area and ‘honour bar’ and a friendly and helpful team. A good breakfast buffet is also included. The hotel is in a quiet side street that runs between Rue de Lyon and the Bassin de l'Arsenal. It’s a 10-to-12 minute walk into the Marais and less than 10 minutes to the Coulée Verte René-Dumont (the Parisienne answer to NY’s High Line) and just over 10 minutes’ walk crossing the Bassin via the wonderfully named Passerelle Jim Morrison to Ille Saint Louis and 10 minutes more to Notre Dame. All in all, a great walking location and also served with multiple metro lines if you want to travel further afield.
Travel will be available via Eurostar, BA, Air France and Easyjet from various airports. If you prefer to make your own way to the hotel you can deduct £250.
The season plans for the other great theatres and concert halls of Paris will be anounced shortly and you will have the option to add (at additional cost) performances at the Opera Garnier, Philharmonie, Théâtre des Champs-élysées, Châtelet, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Salle Gaveau etc.
The draft schedule is as follows:
Thursday 5th November arrive Paris – Welcome Dinner this evening
Friday 6th November visit & lunch at Musée d'Orsay - evening Das Rheingold
Saturday 7th November Musée Jacquemart-André - evening Die Walküre
Sunday 8th November a day with Chopin, musée de la Vie romantique & Père Lachaise performance options to be confirmed
Monday 9th November free day in Paris performance options to be confirmed
Tuesday 10th November Musée Marmottan Monet Siegfried
Wednesday 11th November a day with Ravel & Debussy in Montfort-l'Amaury & Saint-Germain-en-Laye performance options to be confirmed
Thursday 12th November free day in Paris performance details to be confirmed
Friday 13th November Villa Windsor (we hope!) late lunch Götterdämmerung
Saturday 14th November depart
The order of visits my change but we hope to be able to include a visit to Villa Windsor, home of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor from 1953 to 1986, set in the Bois de Boulogne.
Calixto Bieito’s Paris Ring
Bieto was commissioned for the Paris Ring in 2015 and was in rehearsals for an April 2020 opening when the coronavirus pandemic closed the house (and Paris!). Bieito changed many of his ideas by the time a new cast gathered last December, influenced by James Bridle’s book New Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future. The AI machines developed in Rheingold will cause war in Die Walküre, nature will rebel in Siegfried and characters will gather in a Wagner -period living room as consciousness disappears into a black hole in Götterdämmerung……
He visited moors near Haworth, home of the Brontë family, to find his mood for the Ring!
“We are living in a moment where the gods, they don't exist anymore — I'm talking about Western society. The human beings, they believe they are gods,” he said. “We are creating a machine ourselves. We are creating god.”
Bieito, who was born in Miranda de Ebro, near Burgos & Rioja, on the border of the Basque region, was influenced by a Jesuit education and lives in Basel, where he was artist in residence at Theater Basel from 2013-15. Stéphane Lissner, Neef's predecessor, hired Bieito for the Ring after seeing him direct Shakespeare's “King Lear.”
At the moment the Pound has diminished to €1.13/£1 and we hope for some recovery later this year!
Deposit inc. ticket subscriptions £1600
Balance payment due 15th August 2026
