Opéra national de Paris: Notre-Dame de Paris

Dir: Roland Petit

Cast: Amandine Albisson, Antonio Conforti, Pablo Legasa, Hugo Marchand

1 hr 28 min · 1965 · France · French

For his first choreography at the Paris Opera in 1965, Roland Petit created a colourful fresco, as theatrical as it is intense, from Victor Hugo’s lavish novel. Between the four central characters – Esmeralda in love with Captain Phoebus; Frollo tormented by desire; and the hunchback Quasimodo – the tale unfolds against a medieval backdrop populated by a fickle crowd, shifting from elation to cruelty. Combining neoclassical language with the spirit of music hall, Petit (who starred as the original Quasimodo) surrounded himself with leading creative artists of his time: Maurice Jarre for the music, René Allio for the sets and Yves Saint Laurent for the costumes, which he wanted to be “as colourful as the stained-glass windows of a cathedral”.