Opéra-Comique, from 18th-Century France to Post-Revolutionary America: A Seminar with Music January 24, 2009

This provocative seminar explores the milieu of 18th-century opéra-comique as the background to Opera Lafayette’s modern American premiere presentation of Le Déserteur (1769) on Thursday, January 29 at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Through its graceful sentiment, romantic parody, intellectual radicalism, and powerful humanitarian ideals, late 18th-century opéra-comique transferred the spirit of the French Revolution to American shores and with it the first waves of European Romanticism. Popular on both continents, the works of Monsigny, Grétry, and others created the “rescue opera” and set the stage for works such as Beethoven’s Fidelio.

Opera Lafayette Conductor and Artistic Director Ryan Brown and noted musicologists and authors Professor Raphaëlle Legrand from Paris, Dr. Nizam Kettaneh, and Dr. Elise Kirk discuss examples of this popular genre, in particular composer Monsigny and librettist Sedaine’s Le Déserteur. The New York Baroque Dance Company Artistic Director and Choreographer Catherine Turocy speaks to the role of dance and the style of stage action. Musical excerpts are performed by members of the Opera Lafayette Young Artists Program and instrumentalists of Opera Lafayette.

Tickets: $10 each for general seating. Student tickets (50% off). Available from Opera Lafayette at (202) 546-9332 or www.operalafayette.org.

Official Website: http://www.operalafayette.org/opera_comique.html