Presentation

A guided tour of La Monnaie alongside Sappho, the Queen of the Night, Medusa, Carmen, Romeo and even Tintin's Bianca Castafiore...

Opera singer, guide and drag queen Élysée Moon takes you on a surprising journey of discovery through La Monnaie. From baroque arias to disco hits, from harp to glitter — this sung tour resonates with four centuries of music history within the most emblematic halls of our theatre.

Along the way, you will meet numerous opera heroines and take a closer look at the role of cross-dressing and the layered representation of homosexuality within the art form, the gender-specific nature of instrumental practices and the fate of female composers. All this to the sounds of Monteverdi, Hahn, Mozart, Lully, Wagner and Holmès, as well as excerpts from musicals and popular music, performed by Élysée Moon herself. Discover with humour the many links between opera and queerness, and how ideas about gender, norms and conventions have shaped the history of opera.