Opera Lafayette to Launch 32nd Season With World Premiere and Masquerade

Opera Lafayette has announced its 32nd season, Crazy in Love. Led by Artistic Director Patrick Quigley, Opera Lafayette offers a dual-city season that includes a modern world premiere of Rameau's Les Surprises de l'Amour , a masquerade experience with music by Dowland, Campion, Purcell and early Handel, and a deep dive into Mozart via Metastasio's La clemenza di Tito. With a diverse cast of all-star vocalists, staging directors like former Director of Music at Shakespeare's Globe, and hosts like Folger Shakespeare Library, this season promises to keep Opera Lafayette's firm standing as the “Nation's Period Opera Company.”  

The season kicks off in November 2026 with multiple performances of the modern world premiere of Rameau's Les Surprises de l'Amour This production will restore the formidable alliance of Madame de Pompadour and Jean-Philippe Rameau to the stage for the first time since 1748. The story follows Cupid as he delights in rearranging the love lust of Uranie, Adonis and Venus. The fully-staged opera features soprano Kayleigh Sprouse (Un Plaisir, Amour), soprano Elizabeth Sutphen* (Uranie, Venus), soprano Emilie Kealiani* (Astree, Diane) and bass-baritone Phillip Lopez* (Le Temps, Adonis). 

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 Edmund Dedé's Morgiane in 2025. 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.

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 Each Performance

The season continues in late February and early March with a musical masquerade, The Imposter Unmasked, set in 17th-century England. Costumes are encouraged for audience members and costume masks will be provided by the company. Bill Barclay*, Artistic Director of Concert Theatre Works and former Director of Music at Shakespeare's Globe will provide stage direction. Songs of longing, satire, devotion, and melancholy by Dowland, Campion, Purcell and early Handel will be performed by Filipino-Chinese mezzo-soprano Michelle Mariposa* (Grand Finals Winner of the 2025 Metropolitan Opera, Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition) along with tenor Aaron Sheehan and bass-baritone Jonathan Woody. 

The Imposter Unmasked 

February 27, 2027, 7:00pm
Bohemian National Hall
321 E 73rd St, New York, NY

March 1, 2027, 7:30pm
St. Francis Hall
1340 Quincy St NE, Washington, DC

The season will come to a close with Metastasio's La Clemenza di Titto. GRAMMY Award-winning American tenor Nicholas Phan brings Metastasio's great hero to life in arias by Mozart and composers who shaped him: Mysliveček, Gluck, and Hasse, Haydn, and Marianna Martines. In Clemenza, betrayal by the closest of friends is real — but so is forgiveness. 

Metastasio's La Clemenza di Titto

May 1, 2027, 7:30pm
Sixth and I
600 I St, NW
Washington, DC 
Pre-Show Talk with Patrick Quigley, 6:30pm

May 4, 2027, 7:00pm
Markin Hall at Kaufman Music Center
129 W 67th St, New York, NY 10023 
Pre-Show Talk with Patrick Quigley, 6:00pm