june 7-9, 2022
Opera Lafayette’s inaugural New York Festival celebrated The Era of Marie Antoinette, Rediscovered. This theme was the first in a course of three years that Opera Lafayette will offer programming designed to highlight the relation of historical women in 18th century France to the musical life of their time.
Explore the three-day event featuring baroque music performed by international musicians, a roundtable discussion, private gala dinner, and reception.
Silvain
Tuesday, June 7, 2022, 7 Pm
el museo del barrio
1230 FIFTH AVENUE AT 104TH STREET
NEW YORK CITY
ANDRÉ GRÉTRY, COMPOSER
FRANÇOIS MARMONTEL, LIBRETTIST
RYAN BROWN, CONDUCTOR
In French with dialogue in English, and with English supertitles
In the early 19th century, French entrepreneurs moved to the American southwest and acquired vast tracts of land from the Mexican government. They guaranteed the peasants who settled these lands the same privileges as those at the center of the drama in Grétry and Marmontel’s opera. Conflicts around these rights in the United States have continued to the present day, and this story’s resonance in the New World has inspired Opera Lafayette’s setting of this modern premiere of Silvain. Learn more about the production here.
Artistic Team
Ryan Brown, conductor
Tania Hernández Velasco, stage direction and scenic images
Patricia Michaels, costume design
Josh Higgason, projection design
Linn Cary Mehta, translation and adaptation
Cast (in order of appearance)
Camille Ortiz, Hélène
Victor Sicard , Dolmon, Fils ainé, sous le nom de Silvain
Samantha Louis-Jean, Pauline
Teresa Castillo, Lucette
Jehú Otero, Bazile
Nathan Berg, Dolmon père
The Opera Lafayette Orchestra
Chorus
Juan Hernandez
Gilbert Chavez
Jose M. Pietri-Coimbre
Le Salon de Musique de Marie Antoinette
(The Musical Salon of Marie Antoinette)
Wednesday, June 8, 2022, 7 PM
el museo del barrio
1230 FIFTH AVENUE AT 104TH STREET
NEW YORK CITY
Evening sung in French with English surtitles
As the daughter of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, Marie Antoinette had an extraordinary education in music and dance. After marrying the French Dauphin in 1770 and becoming Queen of France in 1774, she became a patron of contemporary composers and performed frequently in her own salon as a harpist. This program brings the listener into her salon at Versailles to hear airs and chamber works of Gluck, the Caribbean-born Chevalier de Saint Georges, and Phillip Hinner, a survivor of the ill-fated colony Kourou in Guinea, among others.
Cast
Sophia Burgos, soprano
Nicholas Phan, tenor
Jacob Ashworth, violin
Charles Brink, flute
Sandrine Chatron, harp
Concert & Gala Dinner
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 7:00 PM - 11:00 PM
EL MUSEO DEL BARRIO
1230 Fifth AVEnue AT 104TH STREET
NEW YORK CITY
A celebration of Opera Lafayette's inaugural New York Festival, celebrating The Era of Marie Antoinette, Rediscovered occurred June 8. The evening commenced at El Museo del Barrio with Opera Lafayette’s presentation of Le Salon de Musique de Marie Antoinette (The Musical Salon of Marie Antoinette) - more about the concert presentation above. A gala dinner immediately followed the concert at a private club.
The gala honored Emily K. Rafferty, President Emerita of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and featured a post-dinner performance by internationally-renowned bass Nathan Berg.
Read coverage of event on Medium.
Concert Spirituel aux Caraïbes
Thursday, June 9, 2022, 7:00 pm
EL Museo del Barrio
1230 fifth avenue AT 104TH STREET
NEW YORK CITY
PEDRO MEMELSDORFF, GUEST CONDUCTOR
JOSH HIGGASON, PROJECTION DESIGN
In French with English surtitles
Pedro Memelsdorff, a musician scholar whose recent research has focused on music in the French colonies in the Caribbean during the 18th century, conceives and leads a program highlighting French music performed there between 1760 and 1790. The musical life of the colonies involved enslaved, formerly enslaved, and free peoples, and Memelsdorff’s program addresses the extraordinarily complicated dynamics between the musical culture of imperial France and the people of the Caribbean. Well-known French composers from the 18th century and newly rediscovered works are represented in this orchestral concert with vocal soloists and ensemble.
Artistic Team
Pedro Memelsdorff, guest conductor
Josh Higgason, projection design
Cast
Samantha Louis-Jean, soprano
Sophia Burgos, soprano
Sishel Claverie, mezzo-soprano
Jehú Otero, tenor
Victor Sicard, baritone
Jonathan Woody, bass-baritone
Théotime Langlois de Swarte, violin
Sandrine Chatron, Harp
The Opera Lafayette Orchestra