LES SURPRISES DE L'AMOUR to Premiere at Opera Lafayette's Rameau 350

Opera Lafayette has announced their latest rediscovery project, Rameau 350, a multi-year exploration of French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau's operas, beginning in November of 2026 and continuing through the 350th anniversary of his birth in 2033.

Rameau stands among the defining composers of the eighteenth century, yet much of his theater remains unfamiliar to North American audiences. Over the coming seasons, Opera Lafayette will explore the full range of his repertoire from comedy to tragedy, to mythology, romance, dance, and spectacle-works, both celebrated and rediscovered.

Rameau 350 will launch officially in Washington, DC and New York City in November as Opera Lafayette kicks off their 32nd season with the modern world premiere of the original 1748 version of Les Surprises de l'Amour. Rameau created the opera for Madame de Pompadour, first performed in her theater at Versailles in 1748. Pompadour herself sang and danced in the cast and King Louis XV was in the audience. Shortly after, this original version disappeared from the stage. 278 years later, Opera Lafayette will bring it back. 

The story follows Cupid as he delights in upending the loves and fates of Vulcaine, Uranie, and Adonis. The fully-staged presentation, directed by Chas Rader-Sheiber, features soprano Kayleigh Sprouse (Amour, Un Plaisir), soprano Elizabeth Sutphen* (Uranie, Venus), soprano Emilie Kealiani* (Astree, Diane), bass-baritone Phillip Lopez* (Le Temps, Adonis) and baritone Hadleigh Adams* (Vulcan, Linus). Jimmy Stubbs will design costumes and scenery, and Connie Yun will design lighting.

Through this rediscovery project, Opera Lafayette hopes to reveal the full range of Rameau's theater to North American audiences. For more than thirty years, French Baroque opera has been central to Opera Lafayette's artistic life. The company has revived neglected French works, performed at the Royal Opera of Versailles, and already returned Rameau to the stage through projects including Io in 2023. 

“Rameau 350 is a culmination of Opera Lafayette's history: scholarship, rediscovery, and performance brought together in a sustained exploration of one of the great theatrical imaginations of the eighteenth century,” says Opera Lafayette Artistic Director Patrick Quigley.

The project is the latest in a slew of rediscovery efforts including most recently their collaboration with OperaCréole premiering the oldest known complete opera by a Black American composer, Edmond Dede's Morgiane. That work gained international acclaim for its tour in 2025.

All three Washington, DC performances of Les Surprises de l'Amour will take place at Folger Shakespeare Library. Opera Lafayette is proud to partner with Folger after their initial collaboration during the world-premiere of Edmond Dedé's Morgiane. This partnership again unites two organizations dedicated to preserving, expanding, and producing works that celebrate the artistic traditions of the early modern world. The collaboration will offer audiences an unparalleled experience that brings baroque opera into the home of the world's largest collection of Shakespeare and renowned materials from the same period.

Later this season, Opera Lafayette will present an immersive masquerade with music by Dowland, Campion, Purcell and early Handel, followed by a deep dive into Mozart and his circle of influence via Metastasio's La clemenza di Tito. 

Rameau's Les Surprises de l'Amour 

• November 9, 2026, 7:00pm
  The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College

695 Park Ave, New York, NY

Pre-Show Talk with Patrick Quigley, 6:00pm

• November 13 & 14, 2026 at 7:30pm
  November 15, 2026 at 4:00pm
  Folger Shakespeare Library
  201 East Capitol St SE, Washington, DC 

Pre-Show Talk with Patrick Quigley, Hour Before Performance