Located in the heart of the city, the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices (BFM) is a former hydroelectric power station on the Rhône that has been transformed into a versatile venue. It hosts a wide range of cultural events, including theatrical performances, dance shows, and concerts. Its entirely wooden interior enhances acoustic qualities, allowing it to accommodate up to 1,000 spectators.
Thomas Wiesel returns with a sharp, observational stand-up that examines our relationship with screens. Through quick riffs, personal anecdotes and crisp timing, he exposes how devices sap attention, warp habits and fragment social life. The show mixes self-mockery and social critique to provoke laughter and reflection, inviting the audience to experiment with fewer notifications and mindful presence. Intimate and kinetic, the evening balances humour and insight for a shared, phone-free respite.
In French.
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Dimokratía examines the contradictions at the heart of democracy through a visceral dance-theatre language. The Ballet du Grand Théâtre collaborates with sculptor Antony Gormley, whose movable scenography is built and dismantled by performers into agoral stones, barricades and articulations of a communal body. Composer Dimitris Skyllas’s new score for voices and orchestra, led by conductor Margaryta Grynyvetska, weaves ancient texts with contemporary reflections on power, belief and belonging, yielding a tense, intimate ritual.
John Osborn is a celebrated tenor whose long association with Geneva’s opera scene has established him as a charismatic and elegant recitalist. In this programme he surveys a rich vocal repertoire, from Beethoven and Schubert to de Falla, alongside rarer mélodies by Chausson, Fauré and the American song composer Ernest Charles. His refined phrasing and luminous timbre promise poetic intensity and intimate musical storytelling.
Featuring pianist Kirill Gerstein and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, this evening places three of Beethoven’s piano concertos in a single continuum: Piano Concerto No. 2, No. 3 and the majestic No. 5 “Emperor”. The program explores contrasts between intimacy and grandeur, highlighting Gerstein’s clarity and the orchestra’s chamber-like warmth. The performance navigates Beethoven’s evolving harmonic language and heroic gestures, offering a concentrated portrait of his pianistic drama and orchestral colour.
Kaija Saariaho’s opera unfolds a luminous encounter between the human and the supernatural, inspired by Japanese nō plays Tsunemasa and Hagoromo and set to an Ezra Pound libretto. Peter Sellars’s staging is framed by Julie Mehretu’s pictorial designs, where sound and image conjure a ritualised atmosphere. The production highlights soloists Philippe Jaroussky and Davóne Tines within a delicate, otherworldly score that blends chant, orchestral colour and spectral textures. A poetic, meditative evening of music and theatre.
In English.
Conductor Nikolay Khozyainov leads the Peace Philharmonic Orchestra in Gustav Mahler’s monumental Symphony No. 5, a journey from funeral march to luminous finale. The programme juxtaposes dramatic brass and timpani with the intimate Adagietto, allowing Khozyainov’s expressive direction to shape dynamics and pacing. Rooted in the orchestra’s Geneva-based mission of artistic collaboration and peace, the performance emphasizes communal resonance, contrasting storms and serenity to create a sweeping, emotionally charged soundworld that gradually illuminates hope and renewal.
Culture, curated weekly.
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