From SCORE to Modern Premiere
Hosted by Ryan Brown with guests Charles Brink, Will Crutchfield, and Nizam Kettaneh
Ryan Brown, Artistic Director and Founder of Opera Lafayette
In its 25-year history, Opera Lafayette has built a reputation for returning to the stage operatic works lost to the passage of time. Each discussion introduces works that were popular in their day, influenced the composers of today’s musical canon, and maintain contemporary relevance. There are many steps Opera Lafayette must take when preparing a modern premiere beyond the planning required for the performance of a work in the current repertoire. This series looks at the process of recreating and preserving works not yet heard by contemporary ears, including several of Opera Lafayette's twelve modern premieres.
From Library to Stage | Week 1
Thursday, May 6, 2021 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
For our first session Ryan Brown and musicologist Nizam Kettaneh will review their long-standing collaboration bringing modern premieres of French opera to the stage. They will walk us through how they work together to secure scores and orchestral parts from libraries across Europe, and the origins of many of Opera Lafayette’s modern premieres including Sacchini’s Œdipe à Colone, Monsigny's Le Roi et le fermier, and David's Lalla Roukh.
Behind the Scenes of Jommelli’s Cerere Placata | Week 2
Thursday, May 13, 2021, 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
In our second session we will focus on an Italian work, Jommelli’s Cerere Placata, which Opera Lafayette premiered in 2019. Ryan Brown interviews guest conductor Charles Brink, who will take us on his journey of discovering and editing the work and bringing it to the stage.
The Reconstruction of Donizetti's Élisabeth, ou la fille de l'exilé | Week 3
Thursday, May 20, 2021, 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
For our final session Ryan is joined by Will Crutchfield, who recently reconstructed Florestan’s aria for Opera Lafayette’s 2020 premiere of Beethoven’s Leonore (1805). Mr. Crutchfield will discuss how he discovered the music of Donizetti’s Élisabeth, ou la fille de l'exilé at Covent Garden in 1984, and then reconstructed the work and organized and conducted its premiere in subsequent decades.
Three Part Series: May 6, 13, and 20, 2021
Time: 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. ET
Tickets: $10/discussion or $25/all discussions
EXPLORE MORE SALONS
The pricing for the Salon Series is $10/discussion, $25 for a complete 3-discussion series, $40 for a complete 6-discussion series, or $100 for access to all discussions in the entire Salon Series.
OVERTURES: HOSTED BY PRINCIPAL PLAYERS OF OPERA LAFAYETTE’S
ACCLAIMED ORCHESTRA
JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2021
Before Opera Lafayette there was The Violins of Lafayette, a chamber ensemble of strings dedicated to exploring 17th and 18th century French musical culture. Over a quarter-century later, The Opera Lafayette Orchestra remains the musical foundation of the company. Opera Lafayette musicians play on period instruments - old instruments or modern replicas which would have been familiar to the composers whose music the company performs.
At each session you will meet principal players who will introduce you to his/her instrument and the role the section plays in the scores of early opera. In addition to hearing the individual instruments, the sessions will feature overtures recorded by the orchestra. Artists will include Andrew Appel, Charles Brink, John Feeney, June Huang, Anna Marsh, Loretta O'Sullivan, Margaret Owens, Christof Richter, Nina Stern, John Theissen, and Todd Williams.
OPERA AND DANCE: HOSTED BY SEÁN CURRAN WITH GUESTS ANURADHA NEHRU & CATHERINE TUROCY
MARCH 2021
Dance was an intrinsic element of French baroque opera and has been an essential component to Opera Lafayette's performances. This series will engage with the artistic leadership of three frequent Opera Lafayette partners: Kalanidhi Dance, The New York Baroque Dance Company, and Seán Curran Company.
Each session will reveal the unique dance style of the company and share insights into the collaboration of projects such as Lully's Acis et Galatée, Handel’s Radamisto, and Geminiani's La forêt enchantée. The series will culminate with Ryan Brown hosting a discussion with all three artistic directors discussing the making of Rameau's Les Fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour, ou Les Dieux d'Égypte, which featured all three dance companies.
A Musical and HistoricaL JourneY THROUGH Opéra comique: HOSTED BY julia doe
NOVEMBER 2020
In this series of three lecture-discussions, Julia Doe will draw on Opera Lafayette’s extensive discography to present a historical and musical tour through the lyric theater of Old-Regime France. At each stage, we will blend analysis of the musical features of these lyric works with a broader consideration of the ways that they resonated with the political and social changes of the turbulent prerevolutionary years.