The Fondation des États-Unis is pleased to welcome Really Spicy Opera company for an exceptional performance of Émilie, ou La belle Esclave, on Thursday, January 16 at 7:30pm.
“Émilie, ou La Belle Esclave (1781) is a unique, 1-act comédie lyrique written by André-Modeste Grétry and Nicolas-François Guillard. Created to raise French morale during the American Revolutionary War, the opera extols the virtues of French culture and identity. It was produced just once – victim, among other things, of the burning of the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, which destroyed the opera’s lavish sets and costumes. Grétry wrote Émilie under the patronage of Marie Antoinette, to whom he taught its music so that the queen could perform it at a private salon. Really Spicy Opera brings this thrilling opera back to life in a concert performance at the Fondation des États-Unis.” – Basil Considine, Artistic Director of Really Spicy Opera
The concert will be followed by a discussion in English. The audience will be able to ask questions in French.
Free admission upon reservation:
Synopsis
Émilie and her family are captured by pirates. Bainval offers to free Émilie and her mother – but only if she marries him and forsakes her lover Dorville forever. Which will win in this impossible situation – love or freedom?
About the Company
Really Spicy Opera is an award-winning chamber opera company located in Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA). Founded in 2005, the company has given the world premieres of more than thirty plays, musicals, and operas, and launched the careers of more than 150 professional musicians. RSO toured across the United States and Canada in 2017 and 2018, earning “Best of Festival” and other awards, and performances from its Women in Opera Project have been featured at several academic conferences.
About the Artists
Basil Considine (artistic director) is an award-winning musicologist and interpreter of new and historic operas. He is a recipient of the American Musicological Society’s Janet Levy Award, the Society for American Music’s Digital Lectures in American Music Award, and was a fellow at the Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library in 2019.
Elissa Edwards (stage director) is a lauded singer and expert on 17th- and 18th-century singing and gesture. She is director of the Élan Ensemble, the ensemble–in–residence at the Hammond–Harwood House Museum in Annapolis, Maryland. She received the Maryland State Individual Artist’s Award in 2017 and was a fellow at the Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library in 2019.
Rodolfo Nieto (Bainval) is one of the most celebrated bass-baritone singers in Minnesota. He has performed numerous times with Minnesota Opera, as well as companies such as Des Moines Metro Opera, Mixed Blood Theatre, Theatre Latté Da, and more. He was in the original Off-Broadway cast of All is Calm.
Victoria Erickson (Émilie) is a soprano based in Greensboro, North Carolina. Her singing has been lauded by the Metropolitan Opera Guild; recent performances include roles with Greensboro Opera and Saltworks Opera.
Shelley Marie Mihm (Oprhise) is a New York City-based soprano. She is the recipient of several awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and was the second-place winner in Minnesota’s prestigious Schubert Club Vocal Competition. Recent appearances include performances with Taconic Opera and the Seagle Music Colony of New York.
Thore Dosdall (Dorville) est un ténor de Madison, au Wisconsin. Il était Vocal Apprentice de Donald Wilkinson en 2019, et il a récemment joué au Nahant Music Festival. Il a joué avec des ensembles tels que Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company et Mill City Summer Opera.