Updated posts 2026
Marie Antoinette is perhaps one of the most revered and misrepresented French royals in history. To shine a new light on this young queen who led a colorful life that was tragically cut short, Opera Lafayette is celebrating her life for their upcoming New York Baroque Musique Festival; The Era of Marie-Antoinette Rediscovered, June 7 – 9, 2022.
To celebrate this upcoming festival, Marifé Hernández and Nizam P. Kettaneh hosted a cocktail reception on May 17th at New York’s French Consulate. Consul General of France in New York Jérémie Robert shared “This festival will redress some misconceptions about Queen Marie-Antoinette. For one, she was fond of Gretry’s Silvain, a work Opera Lafayette will present on June 7th, that reflects on land rights of farmers as well as on the softening of paternal authority through the display of familial virtue, evidently sympathized with both aspects. The Salon de musique of Marie-Antoinette, to be performed on June 8th, reminds us on the one hand that she was a musician and that she was open minded, having the Chevalier de Saint-Georges as one of her chamber musicians and composers. On June 9th will be a performance of Concert Spirituel aux Caraïbes, which illustrates the global reach beyond Europe of the queen’s musical taste for French opera-comique and for Italian music.” The beauty of the each of the programs presented during this festival that reveal the discerning taste of Marie-Antoinette.
The mention of the Chevalier de Saint-Georges points to a figure whose story has only recently returned to wide attention. Born in Guadeloupe to an enslaved mother and a French planter, Joseph Bologne became one of Paris’s leading violinists and composers, as well as a celebrated fencer and later a colonel in a regiment of Black soldiers during the Revolution. That the queen counted him among her musicians complicates the flattened portrait of a court sealed off from the world beyond Versailles.
Opera Lafayette’s festival programming highlights the relation of historical women in 18th century France to the musical life of their time. The three-day event features baroque music performed by international musicians, a roundtable discussion, gala dinner, and reception. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://operalafayette.org/festival2022.
Guests included Angela Chen, Susan Clearwater, Beatriz Coles, Matthias Ederrer, Mr. and Mrs. John French, April Gow, Susan Gutfreund, Sharon King Hoge, Roberta Downs Sandeman and Arthur A. Houghton, Ambassador and Mrs. Kimihiro Ishikane, Caroline and Max Jahn, Ellie Manko, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Quinlan, Barbara Tober, and Rosemary Zraly.
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Opera Lafayette’s New York festival revisits Marie-Antoinette’s musical world, with a reception at the French Consulate ahead of three June programs.
