I made my debut at the Theatre du Chatelet last year conducting the Paris premiere of John Adams' first, and extremely complicated, opera Nixon in China. That, along with the Canadian Opera Company's production of Janacek's From the House of the Dead, was the most pleasurable new production I have conducted. It may have been a risk to programme this work but it paid off in spades as the French went literally wild for it and it received rave reviews in every paper and magazine worldwide.

It led to the Director of the Chatelet, Jean-Luc Choplin, who is very daring in his programming, wanting to stretch the boundaries further by mounting Adams' third opera I Was Looking At The Ceiling And Then I Saw The Sky, in which he asked me to return and conduct and premieres here on June 11.

"Ceiling" is not your average "opera". It was written by Adams in 1995 and centres around the LA earthquake of 1994. Adams wanted to make a departure from the true operatic world of his first two operas and try his hand at the musicals from Gershwin, Bernstein etc. that he had grown up with. The result is a mix of typical Adams minimalism, contemporary jazz, rock, gospel and Motown, all with Adams' stamp on each number. I also grew up listening to all this sort of music and so it lies in my heart as much as say Mozart, Beethoven or Wagner! It's fantastic stuff!

It also requires an orchestra that understands how to improvise, read charts, play in a rock and contemporary jazz style, as well as read the extremely complicated rhythms so inherent in Adams' music. A so-called mix of jazz, rock and classical musicians. Not easy to find! The same can be said of the cast, made up mainly of young caucasian and black American singers, who require classical training but need to be able to sing "in style".

This is where the Chatelet excels. This theatre is not in the same mould as your standard opera company where there is an ensemble cast, orchestra and chorus. Everyone is specifically invited for each different production. They spend a long time making sure they have the perfect cast and orchestra for each different opera they mount and will search all over the earth to make sure the cast is perfect. The same could be said of the productions, which continually astound me in their brilliance!

So, for example, the cast in our Nixon had a perfect mix of American and Asian singers (chorus as well) suited to each character, including the likes of Sumi Jo (Madame Mao), June Anderson (Pat Nixon), Franco Pomponi (Nixon) and Alfred Kim (Mao), who will surely soon become a superstar in the operatic world. The power of this cast meant that we also did it without microphones, almost unheard of for this opera, and I remember Monsieur Choplin being very proud of this! The orchestra was the wonderful Chamber Orchestra of Paris and the director was the incomparable Chen Shi Zheng, who lost his family during the Cultural Revolution and so really understood its underlining message. It would be wonderful for Australia to experience this production.

The same can be said of Ceiling, where the orchestra is made up of individual members who specialise in this sort of music, the cast are young (as required by Adams) and mostly from New York and LA, some who were even in LA during that horrific earthquake! And the production team, led by Georgio Barberio Corsetti, are all Italian (so we are dealing with 3 languages – English for the singers, French for the music team and Italian for the production, which I love!) and have come up with an exceptional and technical show, using images more seen in the multi-million dollar movie industry than on the opera stage. It's sure to be an incredible spectacle!

There are a few other points that make working at the Chatelet such a pleasurable experience. Firstly, the atmosphere is continually warm and friendly. The mere set up of the theatre means that one constantly feels welcomed and relaxed and I adore this. Loyalty is another facet with this theatre that is also SO important to me. The same can be said of their audiences, who really appreciate their programming and turn out in their droves.

Last year I attended their extraordinary production of Haydn's long and complex opera Orlando Paladino produced by Kamel Ouali. It was one of the most elaborate and thrilling productions I have ever seen. But perhaps most inspiring at that performance was to see the theatre packed with children and their parents, even though this was not a children's matinee. These kids were literally glued to the stage for over 3 hours and afterwards gave the performers such a reception that they had to give countless encores which lasted for over an hour! I almost felt like I was back in Haydn's day! These children are the future of arts in France and they really "get it".

Finally, on a lighter point, I always thought the view from the conductor's room at the SOH was unbeatable. Then I walked into the conductor's room at the Chatelet, went out onto the 5th floor Juliette balcony above the Seine and saw the Notre Dame to the left, the Eiffel Tower to the right and the Palais de Justice straight ahead. Perhaps Sydney is the most beautiful modern city on earth, Paris the most beautiful old city??!!!

Alexander Briger is the artistic director of the Australian World Orchestra.

The next AWO concerts, conducted by one of the world’s greatest conductors, Zubin Mehta, will be held in Melbourne on October 2 and 4 and in Sydney on Thursday October 3.