Opera de Monte-Carlo has announced that its latest production La Damnation de Faust, being performed in the Principality this month, will be broadcast live on 19th November to celebrate National Day in Monaco.
The Damnation of Faust, created by French composer Hector Berlioz, was first performed at the Opera-Comique in Paris in 1846. The Opera de Monte-Carlo first perfomed the opera in 1893 under the production of Raoul Gunsbourg, and again in 1969.
Today, it has been recreated by Music Director Kazuki Yamada and Choreographer Eugénie Andrin, with Pene Pati singing the role of Faust and Aude Extrém as Marguerite, together with the Opera de Monte-Carlo led by Gabriel Grinda.
In this opera, demons and damned spirits greet Méphistophélès in a mysterious, infernal language and welcome Faust among them. Hell has fallen silent after Faust’s arrival — the torment he suffers is unspeakable. Marguerite is saved and welcomed into heaven.
“It is this gradual shift from a harmonious aesthetic to a supernatural strangeness that is interesting,” says Choreographer Eugénie Andrin.
The opera was performed in Monte-Carlo on 13th and 16th November 2022, and the invitation-only performance on Saturday 19th November will be broadcast live on Mezzo TV.
Next on the Opera de Monte-Carlo schedule is Lakmé, with music by Léo Delibes, on 9th and 11th December.
Here is a teaser of the Damnation of Faust by the Opera de Monte-Carlo.
To watch Saturday’s performance live, visit the website by clicking here.
Drones will light up the night sky on Friday as festivities kick off for Monaco’s National Day on Saturday 19th November.
Last year’s drone show was such a hit that the Monaco Mairie have decided to bring it back again this year. At 8pm on Friday evening, 200 drones will take to the skies above the Prince’s Palace for a 12 minute show, dedicated entirely to Prince Albert I and marking the centenary of his death.
Music teacher and musician Bruno Abel has created the music specifically for the drone show, which has been choreographed by local company MC-Clic. It will trace Prince Albert I’s explorations to Antarctica but also reflect on a visionary man of science and peace.
A public sound system will be set up at the fair on Port Hercule so the public can enjoy the show.
Photo of Casino Square by Monaco Life
Municipal teams have been hard at work since 2nd November installing Monegasque flags and banners throughout the Principality for 19th November celebrations.
Close to 1,500 flags and banners have been set up across the Principality. All of the decorations will remain in place until 5th December 2022.
This year is set to mark the first “normal” National Day in Monaco for a number of years, with the Covid pandemic and Princess Charlene’s illness reducing festivities since 2020.
The world’s most well-known luxury train service, the famed Orient Express, is making a comeback in 2024, mixing old school glamour with modern conveniences aboard the original carriages. Here’s a taster of what passengers can expect.
The Orient Express conjures up images of another era: opulently dressed ladies, civilised table service meals and perhaps, for Agatha Christie fans, stories of murder, although even that was an extremely high-class one.
The first Orient Express voyage was a trip between Paris and Istanbul in 1883. It was the height of luxury travel, and a wonderful way to make a journey by anyone’s standards. But as a taste for fast and cheap travel grew, long train journeys like the Express fell out of fashion, with the service finally ending in 2007.
Fast forward a decade and the French hospitality group Accor announced they would be taking a 50% stake in the brand and planned to restore the service, previously known as the Nostalgie-Istanbul-Orient-Express, to its former glory.
A luxurious bathroom aboard the restored Orient Express
The first photos, unveiled in late October at the Orient Express Revelation exhibition in Paris, have revealed a décor that is a sublime blend of Art Deco and contemporary, with no detail overlooked.
A legend saved from the scrap heap
Modern art adorns the walls of cabins, which have been optimised to ensure maximum comfort, and there are call buttons for champagne on the bar car’s tables along with Lalique lamps and Morrison & Nelson marquetry. Many of these original features were found almost entirely intact when the train was saved from the scrap heap in 2015 by industrial history researcher Arthur Mettetal, who tracked the carriages down to a station on the Belarus-Poland border.
The old and new combination was no haphazard accident, as Sébastien Bazin, the chairman and CEO of Accor, explained to Condé Nast Traveller.
“The Orient Express is a legend that has lived on through stories, journeys and years,” said Bazin. “The nature of that legacy means that the rebirth of the brand must resonate with both its history and the present day to create something timeless.”
“The definition of luxury”
To take the project from idea to actual concept, French architect Maxime d’Angeac, known for his collaborations with several French fashion houses, was given the job of balancing the two worlds of old and new to make something truly unique.
“I had to respect two key elements in this formidable project,” he said, “extending the spirit of innovation that characterised the original train and reinventing the concept of comfort and luxury for the 21st century.”
To achieve this, d’Angeac is using some of the original elements of the first Orient Express, like the rail motif tapestry that was pioneered by Suzanne Lalique in the 1930s, which he incorporated throughout the train, as well as dark wood panelling and leather partitions. He has merged these with bright colours on the furniture to give a modern twist.
In the YouTube video above, which was put out to give excited future passengers a taste of what it will be like, d’Angeac explains his philosophy: “We are not here to be bling-bling or to be obvious. We are the definition of luxury.”
Passengers will have to wait until the restored Orient Express is fully completed and the route revealed in 2024 to travel on this legendary train.
Photo credits: Maxime d’Angeac
Monaco summit examines the “exploding” explorer yacht market
The third annual Explorer Yacht Summit was held on Thursday at the Yacht Club of Monaco, a world-first international conference dedicated to expanding the explorer yacht market.
On Thursday 10th November, yacht owners, charterers, brokers, designers, builders and suppliers were welcomed at the full-day event to network with experts at the forefront of the field.
Explorer yachts are a growing niche, making up 6% of the global superyacht fleet. The last two decades have seen an explosion in the market, with more new builds in production than previous decades. Since the start of the 2020s, 69 new build projects have been commissioned, bringing the total to 740 globally. Some of the largest vessels reach up to nearly 140 metres in length and can be home to permanent crews of as many as 60 people.
Unlike usual luxury yachts, these vessels are often ice-capable and enjoy long-range facilities and equipment. They can give access to some of the most remote and “off-the-beaten-track” destinations, even in the roughest of conditions — something that has great appeal.
They add a new dimension to the yachting experience, says Zelda Swindell, Senior Charter Manager with brokerage house Northrop & Johnson, who attended the summit: “You can really have it all with these vessels: you can have the luxury, but you’ve also got the adventure, the location. These vessels really are unique and cutting-edge.”
Glacier Bay, Alaska, photo source: Northrop & Johnson
Why explorer yachts?
The Explorer Yacht Summit began in 2019 with Patrick Coote, Managing Director of Northrop & Johnson Monaco, after identifying a gap in the market.
“We could see a rapidly growing interest in yachting off the beaten track,” he explains. “People were starting to get fed up with the typical milk run between the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.”
Monaco has always been a hub for explorers since the days of Prince Albert I, who was also known as the Explorer Prince. The summit brings this global community together each year in the Principality, reinforcing Monaco’s position on the global stage as the world capital of advanced yachting. Indeed, the event has gone from strength to strength in recent years, says Coote, and has quickly established itself as a firm fixture in the superyacht calendar.
Having spent his career in various aspects of the yachting industry from shipyards to brokerage houses, Patrick Coote has seen superyacht trends come and go, but he says explorer yachts are here to stay.
“An explorer yacht offers an array of possibilities. A robust and stable platform is perfect not only for long passages at sea but also for a wide variety of exciting activities, be they under the water, on land, or in the air,” he says. “Whatever appeals to you, be it expeditions, adventure sports, submarines, heli-ops, research or science, everything is possible.”
Future good
In addition to their primary purpose as luxury leisure vehicles, explorer yachts, have incredible potential to contribute to marine science. Approximately 70% of the world is still unmapped, says Victor Voscovo, keynote speaker at the summit and owner of an explorer yacht himself. That includes parts of the Mediterranean, and contributing to this pool of knowledge is something yacht owners and charterers can easily do.
“There is a general appreciation among expedition yacht owners that we need to conserve the marine environment and play an active role in its protection,” explains Coote. “This community of owners is more active than most in the fields of Marine research, science and education.”
Photo above: Antarctica, source Northrop & Johnson
Monaco’s Sun Casino gets new lease of life as the Grand Salon
The former Sun Casino at the Fairmont Hotel has reopened after a massive make-over and transformation of the space into a gleaming events facility with a capacity of 1,500.
The Grand Salon, the new and dedicated events space at the Fairmont Hotel, was inaugurated on Thursday 10th November, hosting a crowd of some 500 guests.
The 1,465m2 space inhabits what was, in another era, the SBM-operated Sun Casino, which shut definitively on 14th March 2020 to make way for the new incarnation. The works needed to transform the space took place from May to early November for an undisclosed sum.
The Fairmont says it intends to use the Grand Salon, which can accommodate up to 1,500 people, for conferences, weddings, exhibits and other events.
“This new room makes the Fairmont the hotel with the largest lounge space in the region,” said Pierre-Louis Renou, General Manager of the Fairmont.
For those looking for remnants of the old casino, there will be only a few. The spectacular chandelier in the room’s centre is still there, as are a few ornate mirrors, but otherwise it is a beige-hued blank slate, allowing those who rent the space to decorate according to their own needs and tastes.
The inauguration of the new Grand Salon at the Fairmont Monte-Carlo
The inauguration of the Grand Salon was also an opportunity to launch a new brand, Grand Events, which offers in-house catering services.
Charlotte Bohler, the director of Grand Events, says, “The objective is to relaunch events and give a new image to the Fairmont.”
But the revamp has not stopped here. Renovations in the luxury establishment’s restaurants, public spaces and 596 rooms are also in the works, with the rooms overlooking the Formula 1 circuit currently being transformed so that they are ready for next year’s Grand Prix.
Completion of the total project is expected by April 2024.
Photo credits: Cedou/Fairmont Monte-Carlo
Russia-Ukraine War: Monaco targets those with undisclosed links to Russia
The names of thousands who have had their assets and funds in Monaco frozen due to their possible links with Russia have been made public.
The Prince’s Government announced on Monday that the Budget and Treasury Department, in collaboration with the Digital Services Department, has launched a new website called Gel des Fonds or “Freezing of Funds”.
The digital platform, published in English and French, lists all the people or entities that are subject to a procedure for freezing funds and economic resources in the Principality, in line with international economic sanctions.
The Minister of State has currently identified 3,675 such persons, entities or bodies. As of 11th November 2022, they must report the funds and economic resources belonging to them or that they own, hold or control within the territory of the Principality, to the government.
They are suspected of “compromising or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine”, according to the government, and have until 1st December to contact the Budget and Treasury Department via the website.
The national list was created by Sovereign Ordinance No. 8.664 of May 26th 2021 and is updated each time entries are added, deleted or modified. It is the first time the list has been made public, and allows professionals to access the information and receive notifications any time the list is updated.
“The new digital platform is in line with recommendations formulated within the framework of the evaluation of the Monegasque system for the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism (MONEYVAL) and attests to the commitment of the Principality of Monaco to maintain the highest level of international standards,” said the Prince’s Government in a statement.
Photo credit: Hani Agha
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