Organization

Glimmerglass Festival

Conductor

Joseph Colaneri

Stage director

Jay Lesenger

Choreographer

Eric Sean Fogel

Set designer

James Noone

Costume designer

Nancy Leary

Lighting designer

Robert Wierzel

Singer

Soprano

Teresa Perrotta

Marie Antoinette

Baritone

Jonathan Bryan

Beaumarchais

Mezzo-soprano

Kayla Siembieda

Susanna

Ben Schaefer

Figaro

Tenor

Brian Wallin

Almaviva

Joanna Latini

Rosina

Bass

Peter Morgan

King Louis XVI

Christian Sanders

Begearss

Emily Misch

Florestine

Spencer Britten

Leon

Opéra Royal de Versailles

Others

English

The Ghosts of Versailles

Versailles

France

Opéra Royal

Celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Royal Opera of Versailles in this historical journey, with hints of Mozart and Rossini! Trapped in limbo, the victims of the French Revolution—still traumatized by their executions on Earth—await their ultimate fate with apprehension. To come to the aid of the unfortunate souls, the playwright Beaumarchais enlists his most famous creations to restage the revolution and offer a happier ending.

Rediscover some of your favorite opera characters—Count Almaviva, Figaro and Susanna, as well as Rosine and Chérubin—in this delightful and suspenseful adventure that skillfully blends comic opera with historical narrative. Originally commissioned for the centenary of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, with music by John Corigliano and a libretto by William M. Hoffman, The Ghosts of Versailles makes its striking debut in the city where it all started…

The Ghosts of Versailles Corigliano

Public

Private

French

Approved

What if Beaumarchais could change the Revolution victims’ past? Gathered in purgatory, the Versailles ghosts, with Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI on the first row, impatiently wait for his new play that will do them justice. The objective is clear: by preventing the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, Beaumarchais is confident he will save Marie-Antoinette! Enter Count Almaviva, the famous Figaro, and also Rosina and Cherubino, all carried off in an eventful plot centred on the elimination of the splendid and fated necklace, with many twists and turns, as the revolutionary spies try to get it back! However, the situation spins out of its creator’s control and Beaumarchais himself must step on stage and get involved in the Queen’s trial to try to save the Queen – with whom he has fallen in love …

With assumed brilliance, the music travels between Mozart and Rossini, dramma giocoso and historical subject, carrying spectators away into an unexpected opera, whose characters are all familiar to us! The Versailles ghosts are there and will accomplish their destiny again… This one of a king opera was a highlight of the New York Metropolitan Opera in 1991; it was commissioned to celebrate its centenary from the composer John Corigliano and the librettist William Hoffman. A major success when it was created, Les Fantômes de Versailles were then performed in several operas in the United States, with consistent success and was due to finally arrive on the stage of the Versailles Royal Opera, for whom Beaumarchais certainly wrote this story that takes us back in time…For this premiere in France, Château de Versailles Spectacles has joined forces with the Glimmerglass Festival, directed by Francesca Zambella, for a coproduction presented this summer in Glimmerglass and this autumn in Versailles. The occasion to inaugurate the Royal Opera Orchestra, which will be playing for this landmark performance of the 250th anniversary season. Will Marie-Antoinette escape her tragic fate? Come and meet her ghost in Versailles!

The Ghosts of Versailles by Corigliano, From (2019/2019), Directed by Jay Lesenger,, Conductor Joseph Colaneri, Opéra Royal, Versailles, France

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