REPERTOIRE / PROGRAM

GLUCK “Se ail senti spirati sul volto” (From La Clamenza di Tito)

HAYDN Symphony No. 63 in C Major, La Roxelane

JC BACH “Ebben si vadda”

WALPURGIS Overture to Talestri, Regina della Amazzoni

WALPURGIS “Vado; ma il core oh Dio!” (from Talestri)

MARTINES Overture in C Major

MARTINES Berenice, a che fai

Featuring soprano Lauren Snouffer with the Opera Lafayette Orchestra
Haute couture by Ralph Rucci

Opera Lafayette presents New Woman, a bold reimagining of the Classical era through music, fashion, and the female voice. This inspired program sets the engineered perfection of castrato repertoire alongside the grounded power of women who defied convention.

Fresh from her Metropolitan Opera debut, soprano Lauren Snouffer brings crystalline agility and dramatic presence to this program, performing in couture creations by Ralph Rucci, the visionary designer celebrated for his sculptural form, precision, and line. This intersection of music, history, and fashion becomes a vivid experience, an exploration of how authority is both worn and heard.

The Engineered Ideal  

The music of Gluck and J.C. Bach springs from a world that prized refinement above truth, demanding singers of dazzling precision. Written for castrati like Caffarelli and Rauzzini, these arias showcased fantastical voices produced by altered bodies with superhuman breath, agility, and tone. Their heroes embody a heightened virtuosity.

Women Who Wrote Their Own Power  

The music of Maria Antonia Walpurgis and Marianna Martines, rooted in their own experience, asserted intelligence, agency, and artistry with their own distinct bravura at a time when female voices were often overlooked. Their heroines speak rather than symbolize and lead rather than plead.

Featuring Opera Lafayette’s acclaimed period orchestra, New Woman brings into sharp focus how artifice and experience shaped the Classical world. Join us in Washington, DC, and New York City to discover how they still shape us today.