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The Girl from Arles

London, Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall

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Music

BIZET
L’Arlésienne

A staged performance with
Bizet’s complete incidental music
and a new translation of Daudet’s
original play by Jeremy Sams.
Guest Artists

Kerill Kelly Frédéri
Helena Lymbery Rose
Mercedes Assad Vivette
Richard Riddell Mitifio
Finbar Lynch Balthazar
Gay Soper Mother Renaud
Otto Lenssen The Kid

Choir of the Age of Enlightenment
Sir Mark Elder conductor
Jeremy Sams director

Price

£18 – £71 (Premium £92)*

Unrequited love and melodrama collide. Daudet’s play L’Arlésienne is propelled by Bizet’s intensely passionate music. Performed in a new translation and directed by Jeremy Sams, with Sir Mark Elder conducting.

L’Arlésienne’s evocative soundworld paved the way for Bizet’s greatest work, the opera Carmen. This performance will restore the composer’s original orchestration, with the 26 musicians and 24 singers becoming part of the drama on stage with the actors.

Bizet’s music achieves his trademark colour by weaving in traditional Provençal tunes. Although best known through the concert suites for full orchestra, his score demonstrates his flare for colourful orchestration, imitating local instruments such as the tambourin and galoubet, and includes one of the earliest appearances of the recently invented saxophone in an orchestra.

Premiered in 1872, the original production of L’Arlésienne was initially unsuccessful as melodrama was falling out of fashion. It survived thanks to the popularity of Bizet’s music. Reappraisal in the following decades led to a revival in Paris in 1885 which ran for over 400 performances.

Sir Mark Elder is a Principal Artist of the OAE having first appeared with the Orchestra in 1992. Our collaborations in rarely heard operas have received critical acclaim, including Offenbach’s Fantasio, Les Martyrs by Donizetti, Rossini’s Semiramide and Der Freischütz by Weber. He was Music Director of the Hallé from 2000 – 2024 and appears regularly at the BBC Proms.

Please note: There are two repeat performances of The Girl from Arles. You are, of course, welcome to come twice but this is not essential!

Part of Music Speaks: Southbank Centre Season 2026/27

*Our ticket price includes a £2 restoration levy from the Southbank Centre. This goes towards maintenance and improvements works on the Southbank Centre’s historic buildings, in particular Royal Festival Hall, and is not subject to any discounts.

The OAE’s 40^th anniversary seasons in 2025/26 and 2026/27 are made possible with the support of The Forty Circle.

A young man, Frédéri, is torn between two lovers – Vivette, a wholesome young woman from his village, and a tantalising woman from Arles. The consequences of his indecision draw his whole family into a story of obsession, loyalty and escape.

Episode 2 "You are saying terrible things"

Episode 3 "Among the leaves of the trees, I trembled all over"

Episode 6 "An honest life as an honest man"

Episode 2 "You are saying terrible things"

Episode 3 "Among the leaves of the trees, I trembled all over"

Episode 6 "An honest life as an honest man"

Download the programme

The Girl from Arles programme

PDF, 41.83mb

Violinist Julia Kuhn and bass player Cecelia Bryggemyer playing in the playground at Acland burghley School

Japanese conductor Masaaki Suzuki conducts the OAE with singer Florian Stortz

OAE musicians run a workshop in a school classroom

Did you know you can support the OAE?

We are redefining what it means to be an orchestra in the 2020s. Support the OAE today.

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The Girl from Arles

London, Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall

Event detail

Unrequited love and melodrama collide. Daudet’s play L’Arlésienne is propelled by Bizet’s intensely passionate music. Performed in a new translation and directed by Jeremy Sams, with Sir Mark Elder conducting.

Guest Artist

The Cast

Watch our microdrama series

Download the programme

The Girl from Arles programme

Did you know you can support the OAE?

View dates and book

Hear it first

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