Friday Musical Moment: Running Toward Freedom!

Welcome to your Friday Musical Moment! Today we feature Félicien David’s, Lalla Roukh, Act II Scene 2: Duettino. ‘Loin du bruit, loin du monde’ (Lalla Roukh, Mirza) by Marianne Fiset, Nathalie Paulin and Opera Lafayette Orchestra.

In this duet, Lalla Roukh, while in route to meet her betrothed, sings to her confidante Mirza. She fantasizes about running away so she can be with the minstrel she has fallen in love with. Mirza, however, reminds her of her obligations to her betrothed (who is in fact disguised as the minstrel).

Friday Musical Moment: Gnomes, Nymphs & Spirits!

Welcome to your Friday Musical Moment! Today we feature three orchestral tracks from our production of Zélindor where dancers imitate gnomes, nymphs, spirits, and salamanders.

Enjoy selections from Rebel and Francœur, including, Zélindor, roi des Sylphes 'Dance with Gnomes, Ondins, Sylphes, and Salamandres!'

Catherine Turocy, founder and Artistic Director, New York Baroque Dance Company

Friday Musical Moment: A Song of Longing

Welcome to your Friday Musical Moment! Today’s piece is Monsigny’s, Le Deserteur, ' ‘Il m’eut été si doux de t'embrasser' with William Sharp and Opera Lafayette orchestra

The heart of the third act of Monsigny’s Le Deserteur is Alexis’s aria ‘Il m’eut été si doux, where he sings of his longing to see his beloved Louise before he is executed for deserting his regiment.

Friday Musical Moment: Memorable Melodies, Magical Orchestration

Welcome to your Friday Musical Moment! Today’s piece is Félicien David’s, Lalla Roukh, Act 1 Scene 5: Melodie “Sous le feuillage sombre.” It is sung by Marianne Fiset and the Opera Lafayette Orchestra.

David’s evocative and magical orchestration is harnessed to memorable melodies in Lalla Roukh’s deftly harmonized aria ‘Sous le feuillage sombre’ (Under the dark foliage), in our world premiere recording.

Friday Musical Moment: What Could Go Wrong?

Welcome to your Friday Musical Moment! Today’s piece is from Grétry’s, Le Magnifique (Act I, Scene 7) sung by a trio consisting of Emiliano Ganzalez Toro, Jeffrey Thompson, and Karim Sulayman.

Three tenors singing together, what could go wrong?

Aldobrandin wants to marry Clémentine who has been in his charge since her father disappeared in a shipwreck. Fabio, his helper informs him that Le Magnifique, Octave, is willing to give his best horse in order to have 15 minutes to talk with Clémentine. Aldobrandin, unable to believe his luck, accepts the deal with Octave and all three men leave singing the trio we hear in this week’s musical moment.  

Friday Musical Moment: A Pact of Love and Power

Welcome to your Friday Musical Moment! Today’s piece is from Antonio Sacchini’s Oedipe A Colone, Act 1, Scene 3, “Je ne vous quitte point”. The part of Eriphile is performed by Kirsten Blaise and the music is of course performed by the Opera Lafayette Orchestra.

In this piece, Eriphile is destined to marry Polynices who formed a pact with Theseus (Eriphile’s father) in a bid to retake the throne of Thebes. She sings “I am not leaving you.” to Polynices.

Friday Musical Moment: Nature is Magic!

Welcome to your Friday Musical Moment! This one act opera-ballet, Zélindor, roi des Sylphes by François Rebel and  François Francoeur features a magician (Jean-Paul Fouchécourt) who has fallen in love with a mortal (Heidi Grant Murphy). In this aria, Fouchécourt enchants the rocks and trees in her honor:

In the air may your harmonious songs,
May fire and earth and water,
May everything pay homage to eyes
Which are the charm and the glory of the world.

Jean-Paul Fouchécourt

Friday Musical Moment: Time for Some Fun!

Act 1 Scene 2 of L’epreuve villageoise

In this Friday’s musical moment, we bring you Act 1 Scene 2 of L’épreuve villageoise. “Bonjour Monsieur.” In this scene, Madame Hubert (Talise Trevigne) decides to have some fun with M.. de la France’s (Thomas Dolie) after learning that his pursuit of her for the past five years was only done in the hopes of marrying her daughter. In this fun duet Madame Hubert feigns love for M. de la France, pushing him to admit his true intentions.

Friday Musical Moment: Power and Vulnerability

Act 2, Scene 5, “Enfin, il est en ma puissance

Lully Armide, CD 1, Track 13 (Act 2, Scene 5, “Enfin, il est en ma puissance”) in which the sorceress Armide (Stephanie Houtzeel) intends to kill the  warrior Renaud, but is moved by his sleeping gaze and cannot bring herself to do so. 

Friday Musical Moment: Two Generations of French Baroque Music

It is Friday which means we are honored to share a Musical Moment with you all. Today, we focus on two generations of French baroque music and performers of that music. French tenor Jean-Paul Fouchécourt made his debut with Opera Lafayette in 1997 and recorded this album of Rameau Operatic Arias for Haute-Contre with us a few years later.

Rameau’s Dardanus Act IV, Lieux funestes

From the 1744 version of Rameau’s Dardanus opera

After being taken captive by the Phrygians during a battle, a despairing Dardanus sings the aria Lieux funestes.

Jean Rondeau and Thomas Dunford

Debut lute and harpsichord album

Jean and Thomas made their debut with Opera Lafayette in 2017 for our Monteverdi program. Thomas Dunford was the music director for our November 2019 production of John Blow’s Venus and Adonis.

A Message About Our World

Dear Friends,

At this time of deep social unrest, we stand with protesters - those who advocate for justice, the right to be seen, heard and treated as equal. We are mourning with George Floyd’s family and the families of all the black men and women whose lives have been cut short because of how they look.

Education and research are extremely important in everything we do at Opera Lafayette. We encourage you to join us in this time of self-reflection and learning. The arts are for everyone and our greatest hope is that we are able to join together again after the pandemic and the protesting with a better understanding of our fellow Americans, their struggles and their paths.

If you find yourself conflicted about what is happening or how you may help in your own way, our Community Engagement Manager Ersian Francois has linked a set of resources from which you can learn on your own terms what some of our fellow countrymen are feeling right now.

• Talking About Race | National Museum of African American History and Culture

With the recent culmination of Opera Lafayette’s online Leonore Series, we offer two fitting quotes from the respective productions that still resonate today.

• Gaveaux's Léonore ends with the words 'Let us see the return of Justice and Truth.' 

• Beethoven's Leonore ends with 'God, you try us, but do not forsake us.'  Listen now.

 We will continue to work to ensure we hold these values true.

 With Love,

Opera Lafayette

Ticketholder Update: The Blacksmith

Dear Ticketholders for The Blacksmith,

We trust this message finds you staying healthy and well. While we had hoped to be in Colorado these past few weeks rehearsing, performing and, working with community around our production of The Blacksmith, the world has of course changed.

However, we love and are deeply invested in this project and so are making plans to reschedule our residency in Colorado for this fall and our performances in Washington, DC and New York City for the spring of 2021.  

You are receiving this email because you purchased ticket(s) to The Blacksmith. Thank you for your purchase. We are more than happy to give you a credit for tickets to next year's season, or we are able to refund the price of your ticket.

If you are able, we would be grateful if you consider donating the value of your tickets to Opera Lafayette as a tax-deductible donation. Your contribution would help Opera Lafayette cover the following costs:

• Paying artists who were scheduled to sing with us this spring.

• Producing the DVD of Beethoven's Leonore to be released world-wide on Naxos.

• Planning our 2020/2021 season.

Plus, there is the added incentive that new money will be matched dollar for dollar up to $100,000 thanks to the generosity of David C. Frederick and Sophia Lynn. Contributions of new patrons or increased portion of donations from long-standing patrons are all eligible.

Please click here to make your request regarding your tickets and we will be in touch accordingly. Or, if you prefer to speak to us more directly, please feel free to email our Executive Director, Diana Hossack at DianaHossack@OperaLafayette.org or call her at (202) 546-9332, ext. 602.

In the meantime, we hope you will enjoy this special video message and performance by Maestro Ryan Brown below.

Stay Well,

The Opera Lafayette Team

LISTEN: Enjoy a Playlist Curated by Artistic Director, Ryan Brown!

Listen to a playlist curated by Artistic Director, Ryan Brown!
Opera Lafayette 18th Century Comfort

Enjoy a 6 song, 30 minute mix by Ryan Brown of music that speaks to our current moment (track listing and description below).

1. Louise comforts Alexis in prison (Monsigny, "Le Deserteur")
2. Neptune orders the winds to cease ravaging the earth (Rameau, "Cessez de ravager la terre")
3. Oedipe leans on Antigone (Sacchini, "Oedipe a Colone")
4. Alix sees her lost love! (Gretry, "Le Magnifique")
5. Sancho wallows in self-pity (Philidor, "Sancho Panca")
6. And finally, hope springs forth in Orpheus's breast (Gluck, "Orphee et Eurydice")

No Spotify Account? No Problem
Check out this easy tutorial to set yours up today so you can listen to Opera Lafayette whenever, wherever! 

A Message from Leadership

A Gift, Information, and a Request

Dear Friends,

We hope this note continues to find each of you healthy and finding creative ways to pass the time inside. Below is a link to the first video excerpt of Opera Lafayette's recent production of Beethoven's Leonore to help lift your spirits during this uncertain period.  

We have made the difficult decision to postpone our May performances of Le Maréchal ferrant (The Blacksmith). Opera Lafayette's board and staff are busy with online meetings, and we are reaching out to artists, halls, and partners to re-schedule this production and the New York Benefit during the 2020/2021 season. Exact dates and ticket information will follow shortly.  

Though we have completed our live performances for this season, we are committed to sending you musical gifts. Today’s video is from our recent performance of the wonderful overture to Beethoven's Leonore. The orchestral music of the overture itself foreshadows the opera's story of a noble and heroic woman's efforts to save her husband from imprisonment. This is an inspiring opera at any moment, but perhaps especially now.

CASE SENSITIVE PASSWORD: OpLaf

As you enjoy this gift, we ask that you consider making a donation to Opera Lafayette. We believe that music brings people together and has the ability to raise our spirits; your support helps sustain us all.

With Best Wishes & Much Appreciation,

Diana Hossack
Executive Director

Ryan Brown
Artistic Director

A Letter from Maestro Brown

Dear Friends of Opera Lafayette,

I hope this finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy.  As I think about what it means to face threats like the one we are experiencing, I wonder how we might give each other comfort even as we sequester ourselves in our homes.

Opera Lafayette was extremely lucky to have been able to complete and film the centerpiece of our 25th season, Beethoven's Leonore, and the memories of being with musicians and audience are still fresh and exciting. Now however, lives are being disrupted, and of course, like our fellow arts organizations, we are trying to assess how and when we may be able to present our next production. In the coming weeks, Opera Lafayette will update you on how we will proceed with our season and programming.

Ironically, our next production, The Blacksmith, is based on a story from Boccaccio's Decameron, which was originally written in the 14th century as a series of stories shared by friends to pass the time away as they sequestered themselves in the countryside to escape the plague in Florence. Though Opera Lafayette always tries to connect us to our cultural history, it was not our intent to make this particular connection!

Like all of us, Opera Lafayette will try to make the best of this extraordinary situation, planning for the future, and sharing our music, theater, and dance with you as we can. In that spirit we invite you to listen to this beautiful excerpt, "O Gott, ...du prufest, du verlasst uns nicht" (Oh God,....you try us but you do not forsake us), from our recent performance of Beethoven's Leonore.

With warmest wishes, and fervent hopes for a return to life as we would all like to imagine it,
 

Ryan Brown

Artistic Director & Founder
Opera Lafayette

Ryan Interviewed on WETA's Classical Conversations

Ryan Brown chats with WETA's James Jacobs about our upcoming Leonore

Classical WETA 90.9 presents Classical Conversations, intimate conversations with world-renowned musicians.vIn this episode, our Founder and Artistic Director, Ryan Brown, discusses the upcoming production of Beethoven's Leonore, the culmination of Opera Lafayette's Leonore Project, and much more with WETA's James Jacobs.

Our "Leonore" Production Featured in The New York Times

Conductor and Musicologist, Will Crutchfield, describes his process of restoring Beethoven's aria for our upcoming production of Leonore in The New York Times.

Opera Starts with Oh "Designed to Empower - Leonore"

Opera Starts with Oh “Designed to Empower - Leonore”

Last month Opera Lafayette presented our second Opera starts with Oh! family program of the season in DC and NY respectively titled “Designed to Empower: Leonore.”

The two sold-out events focused on the story of Beethoven’s Leonore through music and a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to bring an opera production to life. The families created dioramas guided by our guest set designer, Kate Noll; learned about spotlights and gobos from our guest lighting expert, Debra Harrison; and sang a few lines from Leonore’s aria “Komm, Hoffnung, lass den letzten Stern” in German, guided by our singer Manna Jones and violinist, Jude Ziliak.

Learn more about our community programming here. And, save the date for our next upcoming Opera Starts with Oh program for The Blacksmith here.

VIDEO: A Special Message from Opera America's Marc Scorca

Ryan and Friends Take Season Preview on Neighborhood Tour

Ryan and Friends Take Season Preview on Neighborhood Tour

During the week of October 21, Artistic Director Ryan Brown, soprano Sarah Shafer, who will sing Cupid in our upcoming production of Venus and Adonis, and pianist Jeffery Watson performed a 60-minute program, featuring commentary, excerpt performances, and a couple sing-alongs. Stanford in Washington hosted a performance for members of the Villages of Cleveland Park, Dupont Circle, and Woodley Park; the Bowie Center for the Performing Arts presented us for the Bowie, MD community and families involved in BCPA’s arts production group. In New York, Opera Lafayette performed in Brooklyn in the Great Room at LuEsther T. Mertz South Oxford Space, A.R.T./New York and in the Marc A. Scorca Hall at Opera America’s National Opera Center.