This fall, spend your Sunday nights at the opera in your own living room with COC General Director Alexander Neef and CinéTFO+'s Sunday opera program! At 8 p.m. each Sunday, from September 22 to October 20, watch as Alexander introduces each of the late 19th-century French operas featured below and shares his insights about the productions, history and cast.

By Alexander Neef, General Director

I was very saddened to learn of Lotfi Mansouri’s death two weeks ago. I knew he had been ill, and the prognosis wasn’t good, but I wasn’t quite prepared for the loss I felt when I heard he’d passed away.

As everyone who came into contact with him knows, Lotfi was full of life. His enthusiasm for life, and especially opera was infectious. A simple recounting of his many accomplishments while at the head of the COC paints a clear picture of how he communicated his love for this company and his community.

By Alexander Neef, General Director

In case you missed it, read Alexander's European Summer Festivals: Part I.

As in Bayreuth, seeing colleagues from the cultural world mixed nicely with wonderful opera at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. When you travel alone, it’s really nice to meet people you know at the theatre in the evenings, so I was very grateful to the people in the festival’s protocol office. They kindly sat three lonely travelers together for three nights: me, Jonathan Friend, the Metropolitan Opera’s artistic administrator, and Catherine Pégard, the President of Versailles (who I knew during my time at the Paris Opera when she was the cultural advisor for the Président de la Republique.)

I was pleased to see Robert Carsen’s new Rigoletto in the Festival’s outdoor Théâtre d’Archevêché, which has been set up in the courtyard of the old archbishop’s palace. Robert has set his new production in a circus, which suited the outdoor setting extremely well.