Opera Philadelphia presented Il Viaggio a Reims by Gioachino Rossini at the Academy of Music from September 19 to 28, 2025.

The fresh and visually stunning production was a joint venture among Dutch National Opera,  Amsterdam, Royal Danish Opera, and Opera Australia. 

General Director and President Anthony Ross Constanzo welcomed all to the organization’s 50th Season, and reminded us that the Opera celebrated its 200th anniversary, when it was written to celebrate the coronation of Charles X. Director Damiano Michieletto updated the storyline to a trip not to Reims Cathedral,  but to an art gallery which provided numerous sight gags and stagecraft.

Dr. Lily Kass provided a detailed Synopsis which was invaluable in outlining the complex plot, and the many characters involved. 

Audience favorites were many. Included were Don Prudenzio (finely sung by Anthony Reed), Don Profondo (Ben Brady), the duet with a lovers’ spat between Melibea and Libenskopf (Katherine Beck and Alasdair Kent), and a show-stopping and erotically charged scene where Lord Sidney (Scott Connor), an art restorer, falls in love with Madame X, a subject of a John Singer Sargent portrait. He at several points caresses her arms in the painting, and, magically, brings her to life. She then proceeds to undress the Lord, and begins to paint his body with blue paint. She leaves him at the climax of her smearing the paint across his enviably muscular body once Don Profondo blunders upon the scene. Awakened from his reverie, Lord Sidney gathers his clothes about his nudity, and scampers offstage.

Among the many theatrical coups, was a variety of paintings with live characters moving about the stage. So we saw Frida Kahlo, with her “Self-portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird,” Vincent Van Gough, and a spectacular Keith Haring canvas (Pyramid Heart) with a Haring character from the painting moving about. We then had a framed tableau vivant with several characters frozen in action. Later, the entire coronation was one large experience occurring within a frame as large as the stage. Witty and inventive visuals guaranteed our attention. For reference, here is a complete list of artworks referenced in the production design:

1. Van Gogh/Self-portrait
2. Frida Kahlo/Self-portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird
3. Magritte/Son of Man
4. Goya/Duchessa D’Alba
5. Canova/The Three Graces
6. Haring/Pyramid Heart
7. Gérard/Coronation of Charles X of France
8. Velasquez/Infanta Margarita Teresa in Blue Dress
9. Sargent/Madame Gautreau

11. Botero/Melancholy Man
12. Modigliani/Portrait of Lunia Czsechowska
13. Vecellio/Self-portrait
14. De Zurbarab/Still-Life with plate of Apples and Orange Blossom
15. The Women of Amphissa by Lawrence Alma-Tadema.

Among the many celebrated designers creating this magic were Alessandro Carletti, Lighting; Paolo Fantin, Sets; and Carla Teti, Costumes. 

Corrado Rovaris conducted the orchestra stylishly. 

Kudos to the Supertitle Operator, Tony Solitro, and the hundreds of yards of fabric covering the final set were draped by Kara Morasco, Althea Unrath, and Julie Watson.

Opera Philadelphia is just beginning a splendid 50th Season, so be sure to see the productions soon.

Future productions at Opera Philadelphia will be Vivaldi in December, and Complications in Sue in February. 

For details, visit www.operaphila.org .

Opera Philadelphia will have programs at the historic Wannamaker building in Philadelphia.  Look for programming updates throughout the Fall at www.operaphila.org/pipeup .