Opera Philadelphia

Bologne

The Anonymous Lover

The Anonymous Lover

Company Premiere
Music by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Semi-staged production
Performed in French with English supertitles

A romantic comedy ahead of its time, The Anonymous Lover centers on young widow Léontine. When she begins to receive a series of passionate letters from a secret admirer, she wrestles with whether she can love again, especially when it becomes apparent her friend Valcour is the unsigned author. Will love win?

Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, was a pioneering Black composer and a contemporary of Mozart and Haydn. Discover the only surviving opera by this groundbreaking 18th century composer, also an accomplished musician, fencer, and horseman.

MapThe Academy of Music

Dates are Feb 2024.

Fri, Feb 2 8:00 p.m.
Sun, Feb 4 2:00 p.m.

Approximately 80 minutes with no intermission

Maestro Corrado Rovaris' engagement as the Jack Mulroney Music Director has been made possible by Mrs. John P. Mulroney.

Cast & Creative Team

Corrado Rovaris
Corrado RovarisConductor
Dennis Whitehead Darling
Dennis Whitehead Darling *Director
Symone Harcum
Symone Harcum *Léontine
Matthew White
Matthew White *Valcour
Johnathan McCullough
Johnathan McCulloughOphémon
Ashley Marie Robillard
Ashley Marie RobillardJeanette
Joshua Blue
Joshua BlueColin
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges

The Composer

Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges

Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799), was born on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, the son of an enslaved woman of Senegalese origin and a French plantation owner.

From the age of eight, he was educated in France. In 1757, his father was named Gentleman of the King's Chamber, serving as a personal assistant to King Louis XV. At the age of 17, Joseph was made an officer of the king’s guard and given the title “Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges.” Read more>>

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