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DTSTAMP:20260914T232520Z
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DESCRIPTION:Aug 4-23\, 2026\nSaint François d’Assise (Saint Francis of A
 ssisi\, but you figured that out) is Olivier Messiaen’s only opera and h
 is summa theologica (you’ll have to tease that one out yourself). He acc
 epted the commission under duress\, slaved on it to the exclusion of all e
 lse for eight years\, fretted that it would kill him (it didn’t)\, and t
 hought he would write nothing more once it was completed (but he did). He 
 hovered over the original production\, which took place at the Opéra in P
 aris in 1983\, when he was 74\, and the flat-footed\, literal-minded stage
  pictures were just what he liked. The five-hour score had its champions\,
  and a sprinkling of concert performances followed. But it was the second\
 , thoroughly abstract\, stage premiere—directed by Peter Sellars at the 
 Salzburg Festival in 1992—that established the master’s Scènes franci
 scaines en 3 actes et 8 tableaux as a very occasionally viable theatrical 
 proposition. This year\, it’s the wizardly Romeo Castellucci (director a
 s well as designer of sets\, costumes\, and lights) who gives Salzburg a n
 ew Saint François for our time. Spoiler alert: Francis kisses a leper\, p
 reaches to the birds\, receives the stigmata\, and dies\; an angel plays t
 he vihuela (or viol)\, and that’s about it. But when has Castellucci’s
  imagination been bound by givens? Expect pageantry of spellbinding glory\
 , anchored by Philippe Sly’s ascetic otherworldly radiance in the title 
 role\, and an orchestral tapestry of rare splendor unfurling under the han
 ds of Maxime Pascal\, a conductor capable of liberating the soul of melody
  where others never suspected it exists.
LOCATION:Salzburg Festival\, Hofstallgasse 1\, 5020 Salzburg\, Austria
SUMMARY:Saint François d'Assise\, by Olivier Messiaen
URL;VALUE=TEXT:https://airmail.news/arts-intel/events/saint-francois-dassis
 e-by-olivier-messiaen
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