Opera Lafayette

The Genesis of Don Giovanni

A Long Line of 'Don Giovanni's'

'Mozart's "Don Giovanni" is one of the great original operas of all time. "Original", however is relative. There were scores of plays, operas and ballets about the seducer Don Juan written before Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte got their hands on the material. On Sunday afternoon at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Northwest Washington, Opera Lafayette offered an intriguing high-speed tour of some of the earlier versions, including one by Giuseppe Gazzaniga and the librettist Giovanni Bertati, written in the same year as Mozart's from which Da Ponte drew not only influence but the structure of entire scenes....Opera Lafayette ran straight from one into the other without a break. This meant that the tenor Jean-Paul Fouchécourt shifted from the role of Giovanni in the first piece to Don Ottavio in the second --- a historically accurate move, since tenor Antonio Baglioni created both roles in 1787....Opera Lafayette's survey, which was like an iTunes playlist of past "Giovanni" highlights, began with Gluck's 1761 ballet, which was clearly known to Mozart....The other versions were an early, classicized setting from 1669 by Alessandro Melani (gracefully put across by two of Opera Lafayette's trainee sopranos, Meghan McCall and the ardent Adria McCulloch), and an opera by Albertini that was popular in Poland after its 1780 premiere.....Ryan Brown, the group's founder, spoke, conducted and played the violin (in the Melani) with a palpable and contagious engagement.'

- Anne Midgette, The Washington Post, March 11, 2008

Rebel and Francoeur's Zélindor, roi des Sylphes

After 262 Years a Sylph King's Debut

'The opera-ballet "Zélindor". . .by François Rebel and François Francoeur, merits a hearing. So does the orchestra of Opera Lafayette, a Washington ensemble devoted to the music of the 17th and 18th centuries, which made its New York debut with this work at the Rose Theater on Wednesday night. The group’s conductor, Ryan Brown, created a performing edition of a piece that appears, before its premiere in Washington this month, not to have been played since the 18th century, and he conducted it with such spirit that it seemed he might join in the dancing.

The actual dancing, however, was left to the New York Baroque Dance Company, gracefully if soberly vivacious, and ornate in bright period costumes that included two magnificent Tenniel-esque lizard masks. . . .In contrast, the singing was presented in concert style, by soberly black-clad soloists. Heidi Grant Murphy was Zirphé, a mere mortal who loves Zélindor, the king of the sylphs; she sang with a light, sweet voice. . . .Zélindor — who loves Zirphé back, doubts her love, tests her love, proves her love and weds her — was Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, who has created a considerable career in the early-music world . . . .William Sharp had the fleeting part of Zulim, and Ah Young Hong showed a lovely voice with round, soft low notes and a sugar-sweet top as a nymph and a sylphide.

The evening’s strength, however, was the crisp, resilient playing of the period orchestra, bringing the lilting dance music to colorful life. Opera Lafayette has just recorded the work for release in 2009. Fans of early music should seek it out.'

- Anne Midgette, The New York Times, October 20, 2007

Rebel and Francoeur's Zélindor, roi des Sylphes

Washington Post Review of Strathmore Performance

'Ryan Brown led Opera Lafayette at Strathmore on Wednesday in the first modern performance - a brilliant one- of "Zélindor," a French tale of romance gone right. . . .The vocal soloists captured the essence of baroque style - melodies couched in endless trills and embroidered cadences. Fouchécourt's voice resonated with concentrated energy; Murphy sang with vibrancy and nuanced phrasing; and baritone William Sharp gave depth to the role of Zulim, Zélindor's sagacious fellow sylph. As the Nymph and Sylphide, Ah Young Hong's soprano was glistening and resilient. Issuing words of wisdom, the chamber chorus sang with a gusto matched by the orchestra's rhythmic pungency. . .'

- Cecilia Porter, The Washington Post, October 6, 2007

Lully's Armide

'Every now and then, it is both humbling and salutary to be reminded of how much great music there is that remains to be discovered…To this roster, we may add the operas of the French baroque, especially the numerous works of Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau. Opera Lafayette’s production of Rameau’s "Hippolyte et Aricie" at the University of Maryland was one of the musical highlights of 2003. And, while it I still early in the year to make sweeping predictions, the same group’s concert performance of Lully’s "Armide" on Saturday afternoon…seems likely to attain similar ranking when we look back upon 2007....it was lovingly set forth by Opera Lafayette and the New York Baroque Dance Company, under the direction of Ryan Brown and Catherine Turocy, respectively. Brown led his small, supple orchestra and sweetly blended chorus with authority, dramatic intensity and welling musicanship....the outstanding performance of the afternoon was that of mezzo-soprano Stephanie Houtzeel in the role of Armide. It would be a cliche to say she was "larger than life" and, in fact, she seemed something even more elemental. At its best, her Armide seemed life itself, with its messy joys, sorrows, hungers and contradictions, and the role was sung with all the ardor, intelligence and vocal luster at Houtzeel's command, which was plenty. This was the sort of daring, impassioned performance that can make a career....'

- Tim Page, The Washington Post, February 5, 2007

The Artistry of François Loup

François Loup and Opera Lafayette

"The distinguished bass-baritone François Loup joined with Opera Lafayette and young singers from the University of Maryland's Opera Studio on Sunday for a dazzling sweep through three centuries of comic opera. The French Embassy presentation ranged widely -- from a Renaissance madrigal and scenes from operas of Lully, Gluck, Pergolesi and Haydn to those of Beethoven, Bizet and Rossini....Loup's voice radiates warmth, zest and an amazingly precise characterization of many comic styles....Brown has made an extraordinary name for himself in reviving operatic jewels of the 17th and 18th centuries, displaying astute sensitivity to historic style while also winning over today's audiences."

- Cecilia Porter, The Washington Post, October 17, 2006

Mozart's Idomeneo

A Grand Idomeneo From Ambitious Little Lafayette

"Brown's energized period-instrument orchestra, cast and chorus, in collaboration with the New York Baroque Dance Company, proved that one of Mozart's most lengthy and least understood operas could be as sparkling and musically rewarding as The Marriage of Figaro or Don Giovanni....this Idomeneo came alive with more drama and intensity than you're likely to find in any formal opera house."

- Tom Huizenga, The Washington Post, June 5, 2006

Concert of Airs from Operas by Rameau

Fouchécourt's Valentine to Rameau

'What makes tenor Jean-Paul Fouchécourt a supreme artist is the way he gets to the heart of French music....Ryan Brown, the ensemble’s founder, conducted an intriguing program of airs, recitatives and instrumental excerpts from the operas and opera-ballets of Jean-Philippe Rameau....Infinitely malleable, focused and delicately intense, Fouchécourt’s voice fully transmits these qualities with coloristic innuendos subtly distinguishing among the emotional intimations of each character – Neptune’s tender moments in “Nais” and Thespis’s comic mockery in “Platee.” In “Castor et Pollux,” the tenor voiced passionate unrest against the strings’ Arcadian calm....Above all, Fouchécourt’s infinitely extended yet controlled roulades of melodic embellishment left every listener in awe. The orchestra captured the sonic essence of Rameau’s exacting imagery....sheer elegance.'

- Cecelia Porter, The Washington Post, February 14, 2006

Sacchini: Oedipe à Colone

Opera Lafayette: Bright and Early

'In the years since its debut, the company has grown to become one of the most intellectually exciting fixtures of the Washington music world....their concerts, which regularly sell out, are events not to be missed by serious opera lovers....with tonight's performance of Antonio Sacchini's "Oedipe a Colone," they are making perhaps their most substantial and lasting contribution to the larger understanding of 18th-century French musical life....After performing and recording the rare Paris version of Gluck's "Orphee" in 2002, Brown was looking for some of the lost links in the history of French opera, a way of connecting the stately, formal, rhetorically sophisticated music of the 17th and early 18th century with the music that would lead, eventually to the wild glories, experimentation and curiosities unleashed by Berlioz and later 19th-century composers. Gluck was one link. Sacchini, who was born a little after Gluck but composed in much the same style, was another. "I think it is a very cogent dramatic work," says Brown. "This whole generation of composers after Gluck is something of a lost generation. It's a period ripe for discovery." '

- Philip Kennicott, The Washington Post, May 14, 2005

Sacchini: Oedipe à Colone

Oedipe: Opera Lafayette's Rare Treasure

'A masterpiece more than two centuries old had its American premiere Saturday evening at the University of Maryland....the concert performance of "Oedipe a Colone," in Dekelboum Concert Hall, was fully worthy of the occasion, and even more fortunately, the performance was recorded for release on the Naxos label....the production was outstanding....It would be hard to over praise the work of music director Ryan Brown....'

- Joseph McLellan, The Washington Post, May 16, 2005

Lully: Acis et Galatée

Opera Lafayette's 'Acis et Galatea': Lush and Lovely

' "Acis et Galatee" (1686)....received a rare performance Sunday afternoon at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at Maryland. It was yet another in a distinguished series of concert versions of baroque and classical-era music theater by the team of Opera Lafayette and the New York Baroque Dance Company....Opera Lafayette emphasizes natural, unforced, almost conversational singing -- straining is a cardinal sin in this music, and there was none of it on Sunday....Brown assembled a crack cast: Howard Crook (who has recorded the opera for the Archiv label) sang the tenor role of Acis with dapper grace....Soprano Gaele Le Roi was a wonderful Galatee -- intensely emotive yet unfailingly sweet-toned, whether pert and pouty or exploring the realms of high tragedy. Bass Bernard Deletre had the largest voice on the stage (as befits the gigantic ogre Polipheme); his singing was toffee-smooth and full of character....Smaller roles were also cast from strength and deserve acknowledgment, whether Francois Loup's refined Neptune, Robert Petillo's Tircis or Jennifer Ellis's Aminte. Tony Boutte sang three different roles over the course of the afternoon, infusing each of them with life and lyricism. Barbara Hollinshead sang the role of Diane and Miriam Dubrow was both Scylla and a dryad. But Hollinshead and Dubrow made their strongest impressions in the gorgeous final chorus, where both were cast as aquatic creatures known as naiads, and both sang out with wise, haunting, full-throated purity....Brown assembled a good, small, eager orchestra; I particularly liked the sense of playful freedom that concertmaster Claire Jolivet brought to her violin solos, which had (no slight intended) just a hint of the barn dance to them. Brown conducted with affection and affinity, taking clear pleasure in bringing this luscious music to life.'

- Tim Page, The Washington Post, February 22, 2005

Haydn: Il Mondo della Luna

"...brilliantly realized...Haydn is recognized as a towering figure in the history of symphonies and string quartets, but his ability as an opera composer (not far below Mozart, but a bit less complex) is less well-known. More performances such as this one would help...the music seemed tailored for him [bass-baritone Francois Loup]...Brown conducted with a finely tuned sense of style...Leon Major's ingenious stage direction did wonders..."

- Joseph McLellan, The Washington Post, May 18, 2004

Rameau: Hippolyte et Aricie

"...the bejeweled radiance of Opera Lafayette's presentation of Jean-Philippe Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie...the sustained, luminous beauty of the performance...time passed all too quickly. Indeed, I never wanted the afternoon to end."

- Tim Page, The Washington Post, February 3, 2003

"...a sensitive and affecting performance that opened up a sunny window into the rarified world of 18^th-century opera. It was only a concert version, but more evocative and atmospheric than some fully staged productions."

- Tim Smith, The Baltimore Sun, February 3, 2003

"Nature, at its most tempestuous, came to life with Brown's often vigorous pace, pungently delineated in shifting metrical pulses and in phrasing etched with diamond-cut precision... The members of Opera Lafayette share generous experience in performing French Baroque music...Robert Getchell's Hippolyte had all the intensity that Hippolyte's passion called for, while Gaële Le Roi artfully conveyed Aricie's devoted, yet troubled adoration of her lover. Jennifer Lane gave Phèdre psychological complexity laced with desire. As Thésée, Bernard Deletré paired monumental force with dignity of presence."

- Cecelia Porter, Opera News, May 2003

Gluck: Orphée et Euridice

Opera Lafayette, Sublime at U-Md's Smith Center...this Orphée was absolutely gorgeous...both delicate and emotionally harrowing."

- Tim Page, The Washington Post, January 14, 2002

Charpentier: Les Arts Florissants/Le Malade Imaginaire

"Opera Lafayette's semi-staged presentation of Le Malade Imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid) Saturday night was a not-to-be-missed revelation...the music was exquisitely presented...deliciously pungent."

- Ronald Broun, The Washington Post, October 29, 2001

Handel: Acis and Galatea

"Artistic director Ryan Brown led his forces in a performance that was lively, supple, and intensely musical...all gave dramatic accounts that never let anyone forget that Handel was first and foremost a composer for the theatre."

- John Pitcher, The Washington Post, May 9, 2000

Lully: Acis et Galatée

"Acis et Galatée was performed brilliantly by The Violins of Lafayette on Sunday evening at the French Embassy,...[The] Violins of Lafayette made Lully's work more real, more convincing, more direct than any opera seen this season."

- Philip Kennicott, The Washington Post, March 14, 2000

Rameau: Pygmalion

"...the stylistically acute semi-staging of Rameau's Pygmalion by The Violins of Lafayette, at the Corcoran Gallery on Sunday, was a particular treat...Brown's Pygmalion was notable for the spirit of dance infusing the violins, the rude humor of the cellos, ethereal playing from paired flutes and the way bursts of percussion were so bracingly launched."

- Joe Banno, The Washington Post, March 9, 1999

Clérambault: La Muse de l'Opéra

"...crackling energy...elegance and purity...enchanting effect...sublime."

- Thomas May, The Washington Post, May 20, 1997

Lafayette Has Arrived

"The ensemble's artistic director, violinist Ryan Brown, has become ringleader and star of Washington's newest baroque music scene. Through his own high standards he has injected a vitality and intellectual focus into performances."

- Pierre Ruhe, The Washington Post, October 10, 1996