{{Short description|Baroque opera company based in Washington, D.C.}} {{coord|38.882958|-76.993067|display=title|dim:2km}} {{Infobox organization | name = Opera Lafayette | named_after = Marquis de Lafayette | image = | image_size = 300px | image_alt = Scene from a 2015 performance of ''Les Fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour, ou Les Dieux d'Égypte'' by Opera Lafayette | caption = Scene from a 2015 performance of Rameau's ''Les Fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour, ou Les Dieux d'Égypte'' by Opera Lafayette | logo = Opera_Lafayette_logo.png | logo_size = 180px | logo_alt = Opera Lafayette logo | logo_caption = | map = | map_size = | map_alt = | map_caption = | map2 = | map2_size = | map2_alt = | map2_caption = | abbreviation = | predecessor = | merged_into = | successor = | formation = {{start date|1994}} | founder = Ryan Brown | founding_location = Washington, D.C., United States | extinction = <!-- use {{end date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | merger = | type = | tax_id = <!-- or | vat_id = (for European organizations) --> | registration_id = <!-- for non-profit org --> | status = | purpose = | headquarters = Old Naval Hospital | location = | coordinates = | region_served = | services = | products = | methods = | fields = | num_members = | num_members_year = | language = | owner = <!-- or | owners = --> | secretary_general = | leader_title = Conductor and Artistic Director | leader_name = Patrick Quigley | leader_title2 = Executive Director | leader_name2 = Lisa Mion | leader_title4 = Board Chair | leader_name4 = Nizam P. Kettaneh | board_of_directors = | key_people = | main_organ = | parent_organization = | subsidiaries = | secessions = | affiliations = | budget = | budget_year = | revenue = | revenue_year = | disbursements = | expenses = | expenses_year = | endowment = | num_staff = | num_staff_year = | num_volunteers = | num_volunteers_year = | slogan = | mission = | website = {{URL|http://operalafayette.org/}} | remarks = | former_name = Violins of Lafayette | footnotes = }}
'''Opera Lafayette''' is a baroque opera company based in Washington, D.C., that produces French operas from the 17th and 18th centuries. It was founded in 1995 by Ryan Brown and is the only opera company to produce its full season in both Washington and New York City.
==History== Specializing in French Baroque opera, Opera Lafayette was founded in Washington's Capitol Hill neighborhood in 1994 by Ryan Brown as the Violins of Lafayette, named after the Marquis de Lafayette. It adopted its current name during 2001 and, in 2005, released its first recording on the Naxos label, Christoph Willibald Gluck's ''Orphée et Euridice''. In 2012, Opera Lafayette staged its first international performance, Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny's ''Le roi et le fermier'' (''The King and the Farmer''); this "forgotten" Monsigny work was performed at the Royal Opera of Versailles using recently discovered backdrops from a 1780 staging of the opera.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Banno|first1=Joe|title=Opera Lafayette presents ''Le Roi et le Fermier''|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/opera-lafayette-presents-le-roi-et-le-fermier/2012/01/22/gIQAhftNJQ_story.html|accessdate=21 August 2016|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=22 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Midgette|first1=Anne|authorlink=Anne Midgette|title=D.C.'s early-music company Opera Lafayette repeats the history that's been forgotten|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/dcs-early-music-company-opera-lafayette-repeats-the-history-thats-been-forgotten/2014/01/09/f385299c-77e1-11e3-8963-b4b654bcc9b2_story.html|accessdate=21 August 2016|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=10 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Opera Lafayette|url=http://www.operaamerica.org/applications/cga/search/prodOrgsDetail.aspx?cgaid=418|publisher=Opera America|accessdate=21 August 2016|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828013451/http://www.operaamerica.org/applications/cga/search/prodOrgsDetail.aspx?cgaid=418|archivedate=28 August 2016}}</ref> An ensemble from the company performed aboard the French frigate ''Hermione'', a replica of the 32-gun ''Concorde'' class frigate that once ferried the Marquis de Lafayette to the United States, during its 2015 visit to Alexandria, Virginia.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bulova|first1=Gretchen|title=Lafayette in Alexandria: L'Hermione to Be in Port June 10–12|url=https://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2015/jun/03/lafayette-alexandria-lhermione-be-port-june-10-12/|accessdate=21 August 2016|work=Connection Newspapers|date=3 June 2015}}</ref>
According to the ''New York Times'', Opera Lafayette has "won consistent praise and loyal audiences for its historically informed productions of French Baroque operas using period instruments, appropriate costumes and elegant dancing".<ref>{{cite news|title=Classical Music Listings for Nov. 27 – Dec. 3|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/27/arts/music/classical-music-listings-for-nov-27-dec-3.html|accessdate=21 August 2016|work=The New York Times|date=27 November 2015}}</ref> The paper has further described it as "a skillful purveyor of French Baroque operas", while ''DC Theatre Scene'' has said the company "should be considered a national treasure".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Galbraith|first1=Susan|title=Opera in Washington – The 2016–2017 Season|url=https://dctheatrescene.com/2016/08/19/opera-washington-2016-2017-season/|accessdate=21 August 2016|work=DC Theatre Scene|date=19 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Classical Music Listings for Feb. 5–11|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/05/arts/music/classical-music-listings-for-feb-5-11.html|accessdate=21 August 2016|work=The New York Times|date=4 February 2016}}</ref>
{{Listen|type=music|filename=SanchoPancaPhilidor2011.ogg|title=Opera Lafayette's 2011 recording of ''Sancho Panca'' (sample)}}
==Organization== As of 2019, the opera's conductor and artistic director is Ryan Brown, Lisa Mion is the managing director, and Nizam Kettaneh and Dorsey C. Dunn are the co-chairs of the company's board of directors. The concertmaster of Opera Lafayette's orchestra is Jacob Ashworth.<ref>{{cite web |title=Our Team |url=https://operalafayette.org/our-team |archive-url= |archive-date= |accessdate=7 September 2023 |publisher=Opera Lafayette}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Our Orchestra |url=http://operalafayette.org/opera-lafayette-orchestra |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916072554/http://operalafayette.org/opera-lafayette-orchestra |archive-date=16 September 2016 |accessdate=7 September 2023 |publisher=Opera Lafayette |url-status=dead }}</ref>
On July 20, 2023, Opera Lafayette announced the appointment of Patrick Dupré Quigley as Artistic Director Designate, effective immediately. Quigley formally assumed the Artistic Director role in 2025.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://operalafayette.org/blog-archive/new-ad | title=Founder and Artistic Director Ryan Brown to Pass the Reins in 2025 | date=20 July 2023 }}</ref>
The company performs a split season with performances in Washington at the Kennedy Center, and in New York at Frederick P. Rose Hall.<ref>{{cite web|title=Opera Lafayette|url=http://www.nyoperaalliance.org/nyoa/member.aspx?id=53|publisher=New York Opera Alliance|accessdate=21 August 2016|archive-date=17 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917170831/http://www.nyoperaalliance.org/nyoa/member.aspx?id=53|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In 2025, a collaboration between Opera Lafayette and OperaCréole plans to premiere Edmond Dédé's opera ''Morgiane'', nearly 130 years after it was completed by the composer in 1887.<ref>{{Cite news |last=O’Brien |first=Keith |date=2025-01-28 |title=Found: A Manuscript That Unlocks a Forgotten Black Composer’s World |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/28/arts/music/edmond-dede-morgiane-opera.html |access-date=2025-01-31 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
==Discography== Opera Lafayette has released a few recordings, all on the Naxos label:<ref name="naxos">{{cite web|title=Opera Lafayette Orchestra|url=https://www.naxos.com/person/Opera_Lafayette_Orchestra/34594.htm#disco|publisher=Naxos Records|accessdate=21 August 2016}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=30em}} # ''Orphée et Euridice'' by Christoph Willibald Gluck (2005) # ''Oedipe à Colone'' by Antonio Sacchini (2006) # ''Rameau Operatic Arias'' sung by Jean-Paul Fouchécourt (2007) # ''Armide'' by Jean-Baptiste Lully (2008) # ''Zélindor, roi des Sylphes'' by François Rebel and ''Le Trophée'' by François Francoeur (2009) # ''Le déserteur'' by Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny (2010) # ''Sancho Pança'' by François-André Danican Philidor (2011) # ''Le magnifique'' by André Grétry (2012) # ''Le roi et le fermier'' by Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny (2013) # ''Lalla-Roukh'' by Félicien David (2014) # ''Les femmes vengées'' by François-André Danican Philidor (2015) {{div col end}} # ''L'épreuve villageoise'', by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry, 2016 # ''Les fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour'', by Rameau # ''Léonore, ou L'amour conjugal'', by Pierre Gaveaux, 2018.
Selections from the above recordings are included in the two CDs accompanying a Naxos book, ''A–Z of Opera, 2nd Edition''.<ref name="naxos" />
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{official website|url=https://operalafayette.org/}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Musical groups established in 1994 Lafayette Category:1994 establishments in Washington, D.C.