Opera Lafayette:

Artistic lightning flashed in the private theater of Versailles’ Petits Appartements, where Madame de Pompadour conceived love as both strategy and spectacle—and enlisted Rameau, at the height of his genius, to give it sound. In Les Surprises de l’Amour, Cupid delights in rearranging the emotional furniture: the cool Uranie finds her reason softened, the beautiful Adonis discovers that Venus always wins. Feelings bloom, certainties wobble, and the dances glitter to Rameau’s incandescent score. The result is irresistible: an evening where elegance sparkles, emotions shift in an instant, and every entrance carries the thrill of the unexpected.

This modern world premiere restores the formidable alliance of Pompadour and Rameau to the stage for the first time since 1748—flirtatious, refined, and delightfully witty.

Partnership with Opera Lafayette

This season, the Folger is proud to partner with Opera Lafayette to host its modern world premiere of Les Surprises de L’Amour. This partnership unites two organizations dedicated to preserving, expanding, and producing works that celebrate the artistic traditions of the early modern world. We are pleased to offer audiences an exceptional experience that brings baroque opera into the home of the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare and renowned materials from the same period.

Learn more about the production on the Opera Lafayette website