Théâtre de l'Archevêché

The courtyard of the former archbishop's palace in Aix, a nearly square space framed by medieval vaults, seventeenth-century wings and a grand staircase, was turned into a theatre in 1948. Gabriel Dussurget, supported by his patron Countess Lily Pastré, founded the Festival d'Aix there that summer with Mozart's Così fan tutte, a work then almost forgotten in France, conducted by Hans Rosbaud before an audience seated on garden chairs. The open-air Théâtre de l'Archevêché has been the festival's emblematic stage ever since, and a 1998 renovation enhanced the facades and drew stage and public closer together.

Mozart is the festival's founding composer, and Die Zauberflöte keeps its place in the courtyard. Simon McBurney's staging, first shown at the festival in 2014, moved to the Archevêché in 2018 for eight performances under the night sky, and the festival returned to the opera with a new production in its 2026 season.

On stage here

Performance dates

Video

[ DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE ] ENTRETIEN AVEC LE DIRECTEUR MUSICAL LEONARDO GARCÍA-ALARCÓN

Data: open sources (opera houses, ticketing platforms, Wikidata). Part of the worldwide Die Zauberflöte map.