Neemrana Music Foundation set to bring century-old French Opera back to life with a world-first AI production

It noted that the Neemrana Music Foundation will present AI Meets Opera: Monsieur Beaucaire, a pioneering production that brings a century-old work into the contemporary era through AI-powered technology, live performance with immersive visuals on September 9 at the Kamani Auditorium and at the Lotus Temple on September 12-13.

The special event is presented under the India-France Year of Innovation 2026, and in collaboration with the Embassy of France in New Delhi and a host of sponsors from both India and Europe.

As per the release, the production brings together a 20-member French orchestra, Indian opera singers, a French AI technology start-up, and students from IIT Delhi in an ambitious attempt to use technology not to replace live performance, but to bring the past back to life on stage.

With AI Meets Opera: Monsieur Beaucaire, we wanted to explore what becomes possible when a work from more than a century ago is brought into conversation with the technology of today. For us, AI is not about replacing the human voice or the live performer, but about creating new ways to tell a story and draw audiences into the world of opera. The show will appeal to all audiences, young and old, and requires no prior knowledge of opera, said Aude Priya Wacziarg, Franco-Indian opera singer, businesswoman, and the managing trustee of The Neemrana Music Foundation.

The release noted that at the heart of the production is Monsieur Beaucaire, a story first written by Pulitzer-winning American author Booth Tarkington in 1900 and adapted into an English opera by French composer Andr Messager in 1919, triumphing in both London and Broadway. The work subsequently travelled to Hollywood, with film adaptations in 1924 featuring Rudolph Valentino and Stan Laurel, and in 1946 featuring Bob Hope.

Now, almost a century later, three figures from that cinematic history, Stan Laurel, Rudolph Valentino and Bob Hope, return to the stage in an entirely new AI avatar.

The production is developed through an Indo-French collaboration: French engineer Philippe Engel built the facial-capture and avatar-projection software, with IIT Delhi students coordinating implementation as part of their Computer Graphics work. A large screen will feature AI-powered avatars of the legendary actors alongside live singers. Cameras capture the movements of performers on stage in real time, with AI-powered software translating those movements into the avatars projected on the screens.

Every element carries the same fusion: erascostumes by designer Rajesh Pratap Singh incorporate E-ink technology developed by NIFT Technical Department, while makeup by senior L'Oral Paris artists carries performers between 18th-century aesthetics and the production's futuristic visual language, the release said.

It noted that Air France is one of the lead sponsors of the project. Talking about the exclusive participation, Laure Daynie, Country Manager India, Air France KLM, said, "Air France's support of AI Meets Opera is a natural continuation of the airline's long-standing relationship with culture and artistic creation. More than an airline connecting destinations, Air France has always sought to connect people, ideas and cultures. Supporting this production in India is a natural expression of that heritage. Bringing together the timeless beauty of opera with the possibilities of artificial intelligence, the concert creates a dialogue between tradition and innovation, human artistry and technology," said Daynie.

Set in Bath in the early 18th century, Monsieur Beaucaire follows a mysterious barber who is secretly the Duc d'Orlans, heir to the French crown, whose love for Lady Mary Carlisle unfolds through a tale of romance, deception and hidden identity.

About The Neemrana Music Foundation: The Neemrana Music Foundation is a recognised Charitable Trust founded in 2002 by Francis Wacziarg, with the aim of promoting Western classical music and cultural exchange between East and West through music. Aude Priya Wacziarg took over as Managing Trustee in 2014 and, in 2018, launched the Neemrana Music Academy, currently the only institution in India teaching professional opera singing.

Its trustees include Aude Priya Wacziarg (Managing Trustee), Prem Shankar Jha (Senior Journalist, Economist), Ila Lumba (President, Laksh Foundation Education Society). (ANI)