A Foretaste of Aix-en-Provence…
The 78th annual Aix-en-Provence opera festival runs July 2-20 under new artistic director Ted Huffman, featuring Mozart's Magic Flute and Strauss's Die Frau Ohne Schatten.
According to Causeur, the festival drew 30,000 spectators from across Europe last year alone, confirming the city’s status as a major destination for classical music and opera devotees. The 2026 edition marks a transition year following the sudden death of artistic director Pierre Audi on May 3, with American Ted Huffman now taking the helm.
Aix-en-Provence has long since evolved into what Causeur describes as a heritage and tourism showcase. The city’s iconic Cours Mirabeau, originally laid out on the line of former ramparts by Archbishop Michel Mazarin, brother to Louis XIV’s Prime Minister, remains its urban centerpiece. Renamed in 1874 after Honoré-Gabriel Riquetti de Mirabeau, the representative of Aix elected to the Third Estate in 1789, the avenue is now almost entirely pedestrianized and lined with luxury shops, restaurants, banks, and historic buildings.
Opening with Mozart, Strauss, and Contemporary Works
The festival opens with Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), scheduled for nine performances through July 21 at the Théâtre de l’Archevêché. The production features a highly anticipated staging by young director Clément Cogitore, working again with conductor Leonardo Garcia-Alarcon, the duo behind the triumph of Rameau’s Les Indes galantes at the Opéra-Bastille.
One day later, on July 3, the modern Grand Théâtre de Provence will host Richard Strauss’s Die Frau Ohne Schatten (The Woman Without a Shadow) for five performances through July 12. The 1919 masterpiece, based on a libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, will be staged by Australian director Barrie Kosky, with the Orchestra de Paris conducted by Klaus Mäkelä. The stellar cast includes tenor Michael Spryte, sopranos Vida Mikneviciute and Tamara Wilson, and baritone Brian Mulligan.
Mozart returns with a revival of a 2019 staging of the Requiem, performed at the Archevêché starting July 4 for five evening performances by the Chœur et Orchestre Pygmalion, which uses period instruments.
Modern and Contemporary Opera Featured
The festival has not overlooked modern and contemporary creation, Causeur reports. El Cimarron by Hans Werner Henze and Accabadora by Francesco Filidei will both be performed at the Théâtre du Jeu de Paume. The same venue will also host concert versions of Verdi’s Les Vêpres siciliennes and Béla Bartók’s Le Château de Barbe bleue. A wealth of concerts and recitals will be hosted at the Conservatoire Darius Milhaud.
Before the festival proper begins, the Cours Mirabeau will host Parados, a free outdoor program of excerpts from the grand operatic repertoire conducted by Garcia-Alarcon, as a prelude to the ticketed events.
A Tourist City Facing Urban Changes
The city’s transformation into a tourist destination has not been without controversy. The Cours Mirabeau, once accessible by car, is now blocked by what Causeur describes as hideous metal bollards. The avenue has been entirely repaved with a type of grained granite that prevents even grains of sand from blowing on windy days.
The legendary café Les Deux Garçons, a classified monument, remains shuttered behind unsightly barriers following a probable criminal arson attack in 2019. The restoration work continues to drag on without completion.
As elsewhere in France, pseudo-Italian gastronomy is steadily annexing the restaurant sector, according to the report. The city now boasts nearly a hundred hotels of all categories, mostly managed by investors or integrated into global chains.
Transition Year Under New Leadership
The 2026 edition has been openly placed under the banner of empathy, compassion, and humanity, Causeur notes. This transitional year will preview the intentions of new director Ted Huffman as the festival moves forward after Audi’s unexpected passing.
The prestigious Mazarin quarter, located in the southern part of the city just off the Cours Mirabeau, concentrates a number of high-end establishments and boutique hotels. Rich with ancient fountains and aristocratic residences from the 17th and 18th centuries built according to the cardinal’s grid plan, the area remains a prime location for visitors attending the festival.
With information from Causeur
