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

Postponed to January 31 & February 2, 2025

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 Jan - Feb 2025.

Fri, Jan 31 8:00 p.m.
Sun, Feb 2 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

Dennis Whitehead Darling
Dennis Whitehead Darling *Director
Symone Harcum
Symone Harcum *Léontine
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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