2019/2020 Season
Reawakening Masterpieces for 25 Years
Venus and Adonis (1683)
JOHN BLOW, composer
ANNE KINGSMILL FINCH, librettist
Opera Lafayette opens its 25th-anniversary season featuring the 21st-century’s next generation of leadership in early music and dance. These brilliant young artists present Venus and Adonis, the French-inspired chamber opera which prefigured Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. In librettist Anne Kingsmill Finch’s version of this pastoral myth, Venus, the goddess of Love, encourages her lover Adonis to heed the call of the hunt, which he does only reluctantly. Created for the English court, where Venus was played by the king’s mistress and Cupid by their daughter, this ultimately tragic tale is interspersed with humorous scenes that poke fun of courtiers while extolling the virtues of shepherds and true love.
Performances sung in English
presenting
Artistic Team
Thomas Dunford, Guest Music Director
Julia Bengtsson*, Choreographer / Stage Director
Anna Kjellsdotter*, Costumes
Cast
Lea Desandre, Venus
Douglas Williams, Adonis
Sarah Shafer*, Cupid
Cupids, Hunters: Véronique Filloux, Daniel Moody*, Patrick Kilbride, and Jonathan Woody
Dancers
Julia Bengtsson
Matthew Ting*
Musicians
Thomas Dunford, lute and continuo
Loretta O’Sullivan, cello and continuo
Violaine Cochard*, harpsichord, continuo
Ryan Brown and Jacob Ashworth, violins
Kyle Miller, viola
Anthony Manzo, bass
Nina Stern, recorder
Meg Owens, oboe and recorder
*Debut Artist
Upcoming Performances
Our performances in Washington, DC are produced in collaboration with The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, Music Program of The George Washington University, Washington, DC and are supported in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. To learn more about our Partners, click here.
Leonore (1805)
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN, composer
JOSEPH SONNLEITHNER, librettist
Opera Lafayette presents the modern premiere of Philidor’s Le Maréchal ferrant (The Blacksmith) (1761), bridging city and country and celebrating rural themes and audience participation. The company will rehearse and present the debut performance in the Mancos Opera House in southwestern Colorado before bringing the performances to Washington DC and New York.
For the first time Opera Lafayette translates an 18th-century French opéra-comique to be sung and spoken in English, recapturing the humor and immediacy of the original by adapting the story to the late 19th-century American west and integrating American folk songs into the plot where French folk songs were originally sung. The folk songs include familiar tunes like “Buffalo Gals” which invite audience participation as well as ones with insightful social commentary like “When I was Single” and “Darlin’ Corey”. Prepare to sing along with our cast!
This season’s production of the Beethoven Leonore follows the company’s 2017 modern premiere of Gaveaux and Bouilly’s Léonore (1798), which was released earlier this year on DVD on the Naxos label. Drawing from memories of Opera Lafayette’s acclaimed performance or after watching the DVD, audiences will have a unique opportunity to hear the close relationship between these two works.
Performances sung in English
presenting
Ryan Brown, Conductor
Opera Lafayette Orchestra and Chorus
Artistic Team
Oriol Tomas, Stage Director
Laurence Mongeau, Set and Costume Designer
Rob Siler, Lighting Designer
Cast
Natalie Paulin, Leonore
Jean-Michel Richer, Florestan
Stephen Hegedus*, Rocco
Pascale Beaudin, Marcelline
Norman Patzke#, Pizarro
Keven Geddes, Jaquino
Alexandre Sylvestre, Don Fernando
*Debut Artist; #US Debut
Upcoming Performances
Le Maréchal ferrant (The Blacksmith) (1761)
FRANÇOIS ANDRÉ DANICAN PHILIDOR, composer
English translation by NICK OLCOTT
Adaptation by nick olcott and ryan brown
from the French libretto by FRANÇOIS-ANTOINE QUÉTANT
Opera Lafayette presents the modern premiere of Philidor’s Le Maréchal ferrant (The Blacksmith) (1761), bridging city and country and celebrating rural themes and audience participation. The company will rehearse and present the debut performance in the Mancos Opera House in southwestern Colorado before bringing the performances to Washington DC and New York.
For the first time Opera Lafayette translates an 18th-century French opéra-comique to be sung and spoken in English, recapturing the humor and immediacy of the original by adapting the story to the late 19th-century American west and integrating American folk songs into the plot where French folk songs were originally sung. The folk songs include familiar tunes like “Buffalo Gals” which invite audience participation as well as ones with insightful social commentary like “When I was Single” and “Darlin’ Corey”. Prepare to sing along with our cast!
Arias will be sung in French, but text and American songs will be performed in English
Presenting
Artistic Team
Nick Olcott, Direction and Translation
Nick Olcott and Ryan Brown, Adaption
Lisa Schlenker*, Scenic Design
Marsha LaBoeuf*, Costume Design
Keri Thibodeau*, Lighting Design
Cast
Laurent Deleuil*, Marcel
Pascale Beaudin, Claudine
Véronique Filloux, Jeannie
Jack Swanson*, Cody
Jean-Michel Richer, Slim MacBride / Banjo
Jonathan Woody, Eustis
Musicians
Ryan Brown, violin
Gary Cook*, guitar/banjo
Doug Baillet, contrabass
* Debut artist