Opera Lafayette kicked off their second annual Baroque Music Festival this past week here in New York City.
The gala, chaired by Barbara Tober, was two-fold, beginning with a captivating performance at El Museo Del Barrio followed by an elegant dinner at the Museum of the City of New York.
The program, billed as The Era of Madame de Pompadour, in honor of the radical royal mistress to King Louis XV, consisted of two Opéra-ballets: Rameau’s Io and Pierre de La Garde’s Léandre et Héro. Both performances were historic in their own right—Rameau’s work was left unfinished in his lifetime until Sylvie Bouissou, editor of the Rameau Opera Omnia, completed the piece with music from Rameau’s Platée, making this premiere all the rarer. As for Léandre et Héro, this piece of work mysteriously disappeared until it randomly turned up for auction in 2021. Opera Lafayette partnered with the Bibliothèque Nationale de France to acquire the manuscript and revive this opera that had been performed by Madame de Pompadour in the salons of Versailles herself.
The costumes for the night were created by none other than the esteemed maximalist costume designer, Machine Dazzle whose work, last exhibited at the Museum of Art and Design this past winter, is characterized by its tinsel and glitter decadence.
The party continued across the street at the Museum of the City of New York. Mannequins draped in pink chiffon and rich red floral bouquets served as centerpieces, also designed by Machine, and elevated the opulence of an already spectacular event. The dinner also served as an honoring to Lincoln Center CEO and President, Henry Timms.
Other guests included H.R.H. Princess Chantal de France and The Baron François-Xavier de Sambucy de Sorgue, as well as Machine Dazzle, Afsaneh Akhtari, Suzi Cordish, Layla Diba, Cornelius Escaravage, Christopher “Kip” Forbes, Michele Gerber Klein, Susan Gutfreund, Maria Eugenia Maury and Bill Haseltine, Joan Hardy Clark, Margaret and Gregory Hedberg, Sylvia Hemingway, Helen Little, Andrew Martin-Weber, Ann Van Ness, Barbara de Portago, Sana Sabbagh, Daisy Soros, and Prince Dmitri of Yugoslavia.
To learn more about Opera Lafayette visit https://operalafayette.org/.
