With 'L'Etoile?, Chabrier composed a light-hearted opera which has increasingly enjoyed revivals in recent years.The plot is introduced by King Ouf I who offers his subjects an execution every year on his birthday. Unfortunately the problem now arises that no crime has recently been committed which might serve as a reason for an execution. Finally, he finds a would-be victim in the young Lazuli. However, according to predictions by the astrologer Siroco, Lazuli's fate is closely linked to the king's own life. The comic opera is further bolstered by a story of mistaken identities which involves a great deal of diplomacy, a love story and a large number of refined, yet catchy melodies.Chabrier was a master of the sensitive and complicated art of musical comedy, a field where he can be compared in equal measure to Offenbach, Rossini and Mozart. / Opéra

Taking Thomas Hardy's short story as its starting point, we are transported to the present for a contemporary take on the novella which explores the power the mind can have over that person's actions. A closed door sparks an obsession so strong that the boundaries between reality and fantasy begin to blur.Ella and her high-finance husband Stephen rent a room in a holiday home on the coast, owned by Susan. Ella discovers that a locked room in the house is rented by a poet - Ben Pascoe - whose work holds a deep fascination for her. The room is held for Pascoe, though he visits rarely.Ella's obsession with Pascoe grows in parallel with the progress of Stephen's biggest City deal. She begins by imagining the poet's voice as she reads his work, but this quickly grows to fantasised encounters with Pascoe in his locked room. Stephen returns from the City and makes love to Ella, but it is not him she wishes for. We see the real Pascoe only once, with Susan.As Stephen's financial dreams are realised and Ella's fantasy consumes her, she learns of Pascoe's death. Despite her changed circumstances, Ella chooses to stay in her new world. / Opéra