For the last installment of our Opéra-ballet Salon Series (more below), this session will discuss how Dance was an essential part of all French operas of the 18th century. Rebecca Harris-Warrick and Hedy Law will discuss what the inclusion of dancing meant to these operas, the multiple ways in which it functioned within a primarily vocal environment, and how the emergence of pantomime offered a new paradigm, both aesthetic and intellectual, to French conceptions of choreographed movement.

ABOUT THE FULL SALON SERIES

In preparation for our performance of Opéra-ballet: Rameau’s Io and de La Garde’s Léandre et Héro (coming to Washington, DC May 2 & 3, 2023 and NY on May 9, 2023), Opera Lafayette and guest scholars will be hosting a Salon Series for three weeks in March, on Wednesdays the 1st, 15th, and 29th at 6 PM EST.  Join us as we delve further into the Rococo influences of Madame de Pompadour, who is the inspiration for our 2023 musical season (get tickets). Each session of this Salon Series will feature a unique look into our upcoming production.

Part of our Opéra-ballet Salon Series (more below), this session focuses on a discussion of the Rococo and its afterlives in the twenty-first century, including work by contemporary artists who have engaged directly with this artistic mode in a variety of media. It will also feature a conversation with Rameau’s costume designer, Machine Dazzle, hailed as a “theatrical genius” (The New Yorker), and “renowned, multifaceted artist” (Vogue).

ABOUT THE FULL SALON SERIES

In preparation for our performance of Opéra-ballet: Rameau’s Io and de La Garde’s Léandre et Héro (coming to Washington, DC May 2 & 3, 2023 and NY on May 9, 2023), Opera Lafayette and guest scholars will be hosting a Salon Series for three weeks in March, on Wednesdays the 1st, 15th, and 29th at 6 PM EST.  Join us as we delve further into the Rococo influences of Madame de Pompadour, who is the inspiration for our 2023 musical season (get tickets). Each session of this Salon Series will feature a unique look into our upcoming production.

Part of our Opéra-ballet Salon Series (more below), this session features a discussion about the Rococo as an eighteenth-century mode that encompassed the visual arts, material culture, fashion and music, providing context for Rameau’s Opéra-ballets, and include some discussion of the culture of the opera-comique, the ballet, and its generative qualities.

ABOUT THE FULL SALON SERIES

In preparation for our performance of Opéra-ballet: Rameau’s Io and de La Garde’s Léandre et Héro (coming to Washington, DC May 2 & 3, 2023 and NY on May 9, 2023), Opera Lafayette and guest scholars will be hosting a Salon Series for three weeks in March, on Wednesdays the 1st, 15th, and 29th at 6 PM EST.  Join us as we delve further into the Rococo influences of Madame de Pompadour, who is the inspiration for our 2023 musical season (get tickets). Each session of this Salon Series will feature a unique look into our upcoming production.

Photo in Header: Fabiola Jean-Louis, Marie Antoinette Is Dead, From the Rewriting History series, Archival pigment print, unframed, 24in x 31in, © image: Artist Website.

SILVAIN IN 18TH CENTURY FRANCE 
GUEST SCHOLARS JUDITH MILLER & SYLVIA RODRIGUEZ 

Wednesday, May 11, 6 p.m. EDT / 4 p.m MT
VIRTUAL

Judith Miller (Emory University) joins Sylvia Rodriguez (Taos, UNM) to introduce land rights issues involving common lands first in late 18th century France (the original setting of the opera) and then during the European colonization of the southwest (the context of our updated setting of the opera).

Join Opera Lafayette and host Julia Doe, for this three-part online Salon Series about Marie Antoinette, an incredible woman in history who shaped much of French musical tastes in the 18th century and inspired our 2022 musical season (get tickets). Each session will feature a unique look into her life, led by different guest scholars weekly.

MARIE ANTOINETTE'S MUSICAL LEGACIES - WITH GUEST SCHOLAR REBECCA GEOFFROY-SCHWINDEN

Wednesday, April 20, 2022, 6 PM EST

This presentation will explore the political repercussions of Marie Antoinette's musical practices during her lifetime and beyond. We will begin with a discussion of how the Parisian public interpreted her musical choices on the eve of the French Revolution. Then, we will meet her first lady-in-waiting, Madame Campan, who, after narrowly escaping the guillotine, dared to carry on Marie Antoinette's musical legacy in an elite school for girls. Finally, we will delve into the personal and practical significance of music-making for women in the wake of Marie Antoinette's death, as Napoleon tried to silence them legally and literally. In this context, Marie Antoinette became an icon as well as a cautionary tale, and we shall learn how music was implicated in both.

Join Opera Lafayette and host Julia Doe, for this three-part online Salon Series about Marie Antoinette, an incredible woman in history who shaped much of French musical tastes in the 18th century and inspired our 2022 musical season (get tickets). Each session will feature a unique look into her life, led by different guest scholars weekly.

MUSIC AT MARIE ANTOINETTE’S VERSAILLES – WITH GUEST HOST JULIA DOE

Wednesday, April 13, 2022, 6 PM EST

This presentation will offer a deeper dive into Marie Antoinette’s activities as a musical performer and patron. We’ll first detail how music infused Marie Antoinette’s private life at Versailles, addressing the queen’s vocal and instrumental training, her salon concerts, and her participation in amateur theatricals at the Petit Trianon. We’ll then consider how Marie Antoinette’s artistic preferences influenced the broader evolution of French musical style, examining her relationships with key composers of the Enlightenment, and her impact on the ceremonial repertory of the Bourbon court.

About the Full Series: Making a Cowboy Opera : The Blacksmith Salon Series 

Join us for this three-part online salon series as we take you behind-the-scenes of Opera Lafayette’s critically acclaimed, modern premiere of Philidor’s The Blacksmith (2020, Mancos, CO). Set in front of a historic Blacksmith shop and barn, Artistic Director Ryan Brown’s family ranch was the perfect first venue for this one-of-a-kind production. Hear from experts and the artists themselves about how this 18th-century French opéra comique was conceptualized, adapted and translated into a 19th-century American West. 

Unable to attend the opera in person? We have an On Demand version available for streaming half off with the purchase of this series. You can also look at our documentary with Rocky Mountain PBS. 

About the Full Series: Making a Cowboy Opera : The Blacksmith Salon Series 

Join us for this three-part online salon series as we take you behind-the-scenes of Opera Lafayette’s critically acclaimed, modern premiere of Philidor’s The Blacksmith (2020, Mancos, CO). Set in front of a historic Blacksmith shop and barn, Artistic Director Ryan Brown’s family ranch was the perfect first venue for this one-of-a-kind production. Hear from experts and the artists themselves about how this 18th-century French opéra comique was conceptualized, adapted and translated into a 19th-century American West. 

Unable to attend the opera in person? We have an On Demand version available for streaming half off with the purchase of this series. You can also look at our documentary with Rocky Mountain PBS. 

About the Full Series: Making a Cowboy Opera : The Blacksmith Salon Series 

Join us for this three-part online salon series as we take you behind-the-scenes of Opera Lafayette’s critically acclaimed, modern premiere of Philidor’s The Blacksmith (2020, Mancos, CO). Set in front of a historic Blacksmith shop and barn, Artistic Director Ryan Brown’s family ranch was the perfect first venue for this one-of-a-kind production. Hear from experts and the artists themselves about how this 18th-century French opéra comique was conceptualized, adapted and translated into a 19th-century American West. 

Unable to attend the opera in person? We have an On Demand version available for streaming half off with the purchase of this series. You can also look at our documentary with Rocky Mountain PBS.