Rameau’s "Les Surprises de l’Amour"
A Modern World Premiere
About the Production
Artistic lightning flashed in the private theater of Versailles’ Petits Appartements, where Madame de Pompadour conceived love as both strategy and spectacle—and enlisted Rameau, at the height of his genius, to give it sound. In Les Surprises de l’Amour, Cupid delights in rearranging the emotional furniture: the cool Uranie finds her reason softened, the beautiful Adonis discovers that Venus always wins. Feelings bloom, certainties wobble, and the dances glitter to Rameau’s incandescent score. The result is irresistible: an evening where elegance sparkles, emotions shift in an instant, and every entrance carries the thrill of the unexpected.
This modern world premiere restores the formidable alliance of Pompadour and Rameau to the stage for the first time since 1748—flirtatious, refined, and delightfully witty.
SUBSCRIPTIONS OPEN JUNE 30
SINGLE TICKETS GO ON SALE JULY 27
Language: French with English supertitles
Running Time: 2 hours with 15-minute intermission
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Artists
Opera Lafayette Orchestra led by Patrick Quigley
* Opera Lafayette debut
Folger Shakespeare Library Partnership
This season, Opera Lafayette is proud to partner with Folger Shakespeare Library, our host venue for Les Surprises de L’Amour. This partnership unites two organizations dedicated to preserving, expanding, and producing works that celebrate the artistic traditions of the early modern world. We are pleased to offer audiences an unparalleled experience that brings baroque opera into the home of the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare and renowned materials from the same period.
