Report from Georgia Aussenac, President

What a special evening we had!

After dropping off flowers backstage for our two artists, we met on the front steps with our group of 22 attendees before heading inside.

We were thrilled with our seats, centre of the 3rd-floor balcony, and in one section altogether. Excitement was high as the curtain lifted, not least because for many in attendance, this was their first opera.

The production was modern, with the use of CGI and a screen to create Faust (Pene Pati) and Mephistopheles (John Relyea) flight from the Underworld (with Notre Dame in flames) to the social housing quarter of Paris where Marguerite (Amina Edris), her brother Valentin (Florian Sempey) and her friend Siebel (Marina Viotti) live.  Highlights included the use of live camera to project close-ups on the huge screen,  a scene in the Paris metro where every woman in the audience knew exactly how Marguerite felt, and of course the incredible singing by the whole cast.

Pene and Amina sing in French with a clarity of diction that makes it easy to follow the story, something we don't always get in Opera (even though we were grateful for the surtitles too!). Their storytelling and chemistry on stage had us on the edge of our seats throughout the whole evening, despite the Opera being even longer than a Lord of the Rings film! Their singing was a privilege to hear, and the prolonged applause after their big arias was well deserved.  The only complaint is that we'd like to see them in something a bit more comedic next time!

We enjoyed heading to 'Les Associés' across the road afterwards for a drink, where Pene and Amina graciously joined us and we were able to chat with them about their careers, what it's like to be based in Paris as an Opera singer,  and how on earth Pene managed that horse chase through Paris!

We look forward to seeing them again soon and supporting them as their Franco-New Zealand family in Paris.