Tea at Trianon: The Era of Marie Antoinette, Rediscovered

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, January 7, 2022

The Era of Marie Antoinette, Rediscovered

From Broadway World:

The Era of Marie Antoinette, Rediscovered, the theme of Opera Lafayette's 2022 season, willl feature three programs of French music from the 1760's through 1780's and a unique focus on its resonance in the Americas...Silvain, a fully staged modern premiere of Grétry's 1770 opera, much admired by Marie Antoinette, and the first opera performed in New Orleans (1796)....This one-act opéra-comique from 1770 by André Grétry, with a libretto by Jean-François Marmontel, is restaged in the 19th century American Southwest. The politics of its pastoral theme, centered upon certain rights of French peasants to use land owned by the nobles, resonate with historical conflicts in this hemisphere. Silvain was a favorite of Marie Antoinette and one of the most popular of Grétry's early operas. It was also the first opera to be performed in New Orleans in 1796. The production features the Opera Lafayette Orchestra conducted by Artistic Director Ryan Brown and is directed by the young Mexican filmmaker Tania Hernandez Velasco, with costume design by Missy West and lighting and projection design by Josh Higgason. The cast includes Sophia Burgos (Hélène), Victor Sicard (Dolmon, Fils ainé, sous le nom de Silvain), Samantha Louis-Jean (Pauline), Teresa Castillo (Lucette), Jehú Otero (Bazile), and Nathan Berg (Dolmon père). Sung in French, with dialogue in English, and English supertitles. (Read more.)