Washington Concert Opera Presents GLUCK'S ORPHEE

Washington Concert Opera and Maestro Antony Walker will continue their 35th season with Christoph Willibald Gluck's Orphée on Sunday, April 24 at 6 p.m. at Lisner Auditorium in Washington, DC.

After the successful return to in-person performances with Gioachino Rossini's Maometto II back in November of last year, the company will present Gluck's Orphée, arranged by Hector Berlioz, with an all female cast including WCO favorite Kate Lindsey (Orphée), and Jacquelyn Stucker (Eurydice) and Helen Zhibing Huang (Amour) both in their WCO debuts. Berlioz's 1859 arrangement features a mezzo-soprano in the lead role, just one of many reasons this timeless story of love lost, regained, then lost again stands out from the rest.

A month later, WCO will present Léo Delibes' Lakmé for the final show of the season on Sunday, May 22 at 6 p.m. This performance will feature Erin Morley (Lakmé), Frédéric Antoun (Gérald), Alfred Walker (Nilakantha), Theo Hoffman (Frédéric) and Taylor Raven (Mallika), all making their WCO debuts. Delibes' penultimate opera is widely considered to be his masterpiece, touching on familiar themes of forbidden love, duty, and honor against the backdrop of the rule of the British Raj in late nineteenth century India.

In addition to the season productions this spring, WCO will host another free Opera Outside concert in Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park May 8, 2022 at 11am. More details on this performance can be found here.

In addition, over an hour of highlights from Rossini's Maometto II is currently streaming for free on Washington Concert Opera's website until September 22, 2022. This video can be viewed here.