University Calendar

What happens when a good-looking, double-crossing cross-dresser sets out to win back her lover from the arms of a young seductress? Find out in the very French La Double Coquette, a charming revision of Antoine Dauvergne’s 1753 opéra comique. Modern-day French composer Gérard Pesson’s additions seamlessly complement the original score. Combined with Pierre Alferi’s cheeky new libretto, La Double Coquette is delicious light comedy brought to life by the gifted musicians of Ensemble Amarillis. Click to read the rave review in The New York Times! 75 minutes, no intermission. In French with English supertitles. 

Strange Bedfellows: A Pre-Show Talk with Neal Goren, Founding Artistic Director of Gotham Chamber Opera
Saturday, June 4 @ 6:30 p.m.
Alexander Kasser Theater Lobby
Free; please RSVP by June 2

Join The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) in Montclair and Peak Performances for a lively pre-performance talk before La Double Coquette's opening night. Neal Goren, Founding Artistic Director of Gotham Chamber Opera, will use composer Gérard Pesson's revisions of and additions to La Double Coquette's original 1753 score to pose the question of whether artistic "purity" is a valid concept, and if so, when? Is it a fixed, all-or-nothing concept, or is there a sliding scale of egregiousness? Mr. Goren will use audio recordings to illustrate his points (i.e., the Mozart/Luciano Berio "Zaide," Berio's completion of "Turandot," Brahms' cadenza to Mozart's G Major piano concerto, and Mozart's revision of Handel's "Messiah").

Conductor Neal Goren is the Founding Artistic Director of Gotham Chamber Opera, and conducted all of the company’s twenty-four productions. He has conducted throughout the U.S. and in Europe. For Gotham Chamber Opera he conducted repertoire from Monteverdi to Mozart to Muhly, including the world premiere of Nico Muhly's Dark Sisters. Mr. Goren has also conducted Britten’s The Turn of the Screw for Angers Opera (France) and Opéra de Nantes, in 2004; and The Magic Flute for his New York City Opera debut in November 2003. He was the resident conductor of the 2015 Casalmaggiore Music Festival in Italy. As a recital accompanist, Mr. Goren has performed with Leontyne Price (as her exclusive musical collaborator), Kathleen Battle, Hei-Kyung Hong, Harolyn Blackwell, Haken Hagegard, Thomas Hampson, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Aprile Millo, Hermann Prey, and others. He has been a member of the faculty of the graduate opera department of the Mannes College of Music since 1992. In addition, Goren is a frequent judge of vocal competitions throughout the U.S., appears annually on the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcast quiz, and is a member of the Visiting Committee to the Department of Musical Instruments of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Goren’s upcoming engagements include Conrad Susa’s Tranformations for San Francisco Opera’s Merola Young Artist Program this summer and the U.S. premiere of two chamber operas by Louis Andriessen for New York’s Center for Contemporary Opera in October.

The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF), the premiere destination for French language and culture in the tristate area, offers French classes, workshops, and social and cultural events for all ages and levels in Montclair, New Jersey. www.fiaf.org/newjersey