Leonore

Relive Opera Lafayette’s 2017 modern premiere of Gaveaux’s LÉONORE, OU L’AMOUR CONJUGAL on the big screen on Thu, Feb 6 at 8:00pm at the Avalon. Join us after the film for an exclusive conversation with Ryan Brown and Oriol Tomas as they discuss both Gaveaux and Beethoven’s versions of Leonore (the latter of which Opera Lafayette performs on Feb 26 at the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater). Hear from Brown and Tomas about the process of bringing these two pieces with the same story but different compositions to life as they compare both operas and discuss how each foreshadows Fidelio, Beethoven’s only opera. Learn also about what makes our upcoming production of Beethoven’s Leonore different than every other performance of this rarely-heard work.

A political prisoner awaits death in his cell. A woman puts herself in mortal danger to seek justice. With its atmosphere of revolution and tale of devotional romance and a dramatic rescue from captivity, Pierre Gaveaux’s LÉONORE, OU L’AMOUR CONJUGAL was the direct forerunner to Beethoven’s Fidelio. Having been entirely overshadowed by its famous successor and lain hidden for centuries, this both darkly somber and entertainingly celebratory opéra comique is seen here in an acclaimed modern premiere whose timeless and inspiring story of female heroism and political injustice is as relevant today as ever.