French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) and Opera Lafayette
present
US Premiere Production
from Théâtre de la Croix-Rousse in Lyon
Menu: Plaisirs
An evening of staged cabaret featuring
Jean-Paul Fouchécourt
Wednesday, November 16 at 7:30pm
FIAF • Florence Gould Hall; 55 East 59th Street, NYC
New York, NY, November 3, 2016—The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF), New York’s premiere French cultural center, and Opera Lafayette present Menu: Plaisirs (Menu: Pleasures), a US premiere production from Théâtre de la Croix-Rousse in Lyon. Tenor Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, universally acknowledged as one of the foremost interpreters of the French baroque repertoire, returns for one evening of French song and arias with English supertitles. The performance takes place on Wednesday, November 16 at 7:30 pm in FIAF’s Florence Gould Hall.
Jean-Paul Fouchécourt will perform music from Gabriel Bataille (1575-1630) to Serge Lama (b. 1943), including songs and arias by such notable French composers as Rameau, Offenbach, Fauré, and Poulenc. Conceived by stage director Jean Lacornerie, Menu: Plaisirs is part recital, part cabaret, and part magic show, the latter created by Thierry Collet. French pianist Jamal Moqadem will accompany Fouchécourt. Other featured musicians include Ryan Brown and Elizabeth Field on violin, and award-winning early music theorist Daniel Swenberg.
A free pre-performance discussion with Ryan Brown and Jean Lacornerie will take place one hour before the performance.
This production will also be presented at La Maison Française in the Embassy of France in Washington, DC on Friday, November 18 and Saturday, November 19, 2016 at 7:30pm.
Cast:
Jean-Paul Fouchécourt – tenor
Jamal Moqadem – piano
Ryan Brown – violin
Daniel Swenberg – theorbo
Jean Lacornerie – Stage Director
Thierry Collet – A Creator of Magic
- ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
About Jean-Paul Fouchécourt
Jean-Paul Fouchécourt’s career has taken him to major opera houses and orchestras around the world. These performances and his over 100 recordings including works by Rameau, Lully, and Campra have received huge acclaim. Fouchécourt has a rich history with Opera Lafayette. He sang the title role of Actéon in the company’s first foray into opera in 1998. He has since performed with Opera Lafayette in the title roles of Jean-Phillipe Rameau’s Pygmalion, Jean-Baptiste Lully’s Acis et Galatée, Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Orphée et Euridice, and François Rebel and François Francœur’s Zélindor, roi des Sylphes. He can be heard on Opera Lafayette recordings of Orphée et Euridice and Zélindor, roi des Sylphes, as well as a recording of Rameau arias, a program which he performed for Opera Lafayette in 2006. Currently he is an Honorary Member of Opera Lafayette’s New York Advisory Board. He recently decided to dedicate part of his time to passing on his expertise to young singers and is now Artistic Director of Studio de l’Opéra de Lyon.
About Jean Lacornerie
Jean Lacornerie is the director of the Théâtre de la Croix-Rousse, which is dedicated to all forms of show that mix music and theater—from chamber opera to musical. Artistic achievements since his 2010 arrival to the company include: creating a concert version of West Side Story in association with the Percussions Claviers de Lyon and the Solistes de Lyon-Bernard Tétu; directing the Studio of the Opéra de Lyon’s production of Mesdames de la Halle, an opérette bouffe in one act created by Jacques Offenbach; directing a choral-show Notre West Side Story, involving 200 professional and amateur participants; and directing American musicals including Broadway Melody, The King and I, and Bells Are Ringing. Previously he served as director of the Théâtre de la Renaissance in Oullins Grand Lyon; founded the Ecuador Theatre Company in Lyon; and was appointed Secretary General of the Comédie Française at the age of 26 by Jacques Lassalle. He made his US debut in 1994 when he was invited by the Spoleto Festival USA to direct La Trahison Orale by Maurizio Kagel. Other opera directing credits include the Festival d’Ambronay’s Samson, Rossi’s Orfeo for the National Opera House of Lyon, where he also produced and directed The Tender Land.
- •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
About Opera Lafayette
Opera Lafayette is an American period-instrument ensemble that specializes in French repertoire, rediscovers masterpieces, and creates a recorded legacy of its work. Founded in 1995 in Washington, DC by Artistic Director Ryan Brown, Opera Lafayette has earned critical acclaim and a loyal following for its performances and recordings with international singers renowned for their interpretations of baroque and classical operas. At the invitation of Château de Versailles Spectacles, Opera Lafayette made its international debut at the Opéra Royal in February 2012 with the modern world premiere of Monsigny’s Le Roi et le fermier. Opera Lafayette returned to Versailles for five sold-out performances in January and February 2014. The company’s discography on the NAXOS label has expanded to eleven releases, including the recent release of Philidor’s Les Femmes Vengées. OperaLafayette.org.
About FIAF
The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) is New York’s premiere French cultural and language center. FIAF’s mission is to create and offer New Yorkers innovative and unique programs in education and the arts that explore the evolving diversity and richness of French cultures. FIAF seeks to generate new ideas and promote cross cultural dialogue through partnerships and new platforms of expression. www.fiaf.org
Merci!
Opera Lafayette thanks the Centre National du Cinema for kindly agreeing to allow us to use Georges Méliès’s movie Le Déshabillage impossible (The Impossible Undressing).
Opera Lafayette is grateful to the following organizations for their generous support: Art Works, DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, Pernod Ricard.
FIAF Fall 2016 Season Sponsors:
American Society of the French Legion of Honor,Cultural Services of the French Embassy, Edmond de Rothschild Foundations, Engie, FACE (French American Cultural Exchange), Florence Gould Foundation, Hermés Foundation within the framework of the New Settings program, Howard Gilman Foundation, Institut français, JCDecaux, National Endowment for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), Office de Tourisme de Boulogne-Billancourt, and Pommery.
- •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
LISTING SUMMARY
| What: | Opera Lafayette: Menu: Plaisirs |
| When: | Wednesday, November 16 at 7:30 p.m. |
| Where: | FIAF – Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th Street
(between Park and Madison Avenue) |
| Admission: | FIAF Member Tickets: Rows B-K $100, Rows L-O $75, Rows AA-CC, P-R $20
Non-Member Tickets: Rows B-K $110, Rows L-O $85, Rows AA-CC, P-R $25 Student Discount: $25 Subscription tickets are also available: Purchase mini subscriptions and save 10% or purchase a full subscription and save 20% through Opera Lafayette at operalafayette.com or 202 546 9332. |
| Tickets: | 800 982 2787 | fiaf.org |
| Information: | 212 355 6160 | fiaf.org |
| Transportation: | 4, 5, 6, N, R and Q to 59th Street & Lexington Avenue |
| F to 63rd Street & Lexington Avenue; E to 53rd Street & 5th Avenue | |
| Bus – M1, M2, M3, M4, Q31 to 59th Street; M5 to 58th Street
|
Twitter: @FIAFNY
Instagram: @FIAFNY
Facebook: Like facebook.com/fiafny
###
