Gaetano Donizetti: La Favorite
Champs-Elysées Theatre, Paris
National Orchestra of France, Radio France Chorus
Paolo Arrivabeni, conductor
CAST: Alice Coote (Léonor de Guzman); Judith Gauthier (Inès); Marc Laho (Fernand); Ludovic Tézier (Alphonse XI); Carlo Colombara (Balthazar); Loic Felix (Don Gaspar)
International intrigue is the order of the day when a novice priest turns fearsome warrior, to win the hand of a king's mistress, in a drama that combines the pomp and elegance of French grand opera with the passionate intensity of Donizetti's Italian tragedies.