Rameau's 'Les Surprises d'Amour' Triumphs at Opera Lafayette

Opera Lafayette presented the modern world premiere of Rameau's "Les Surprises d'Amour" on Nov. 9, 2026, at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College — the first of three performances that drew effusive ovations from the New York audience.

The production, directed by Chas Rader-Shieber, travels to the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C. later this week. It stages three stories across a prologue and two acts, exploring how love overcomes "war, reason, and even religion," per Artistic Director Patric Dupre Quigley's program statement.

The narrative arc runs from myth to myth. Astrea converts Vulcan's war factory into one manufacturing Cupid's arrows. The musician Linus loves Urania, the astronomy Muse, who wants him focused on intellectual goals until Cupid intervenes. Adonis, wary of love after Diana's indoctrination, falls for Venus.

How did the staging work?

The proscenium held three sets of stages. Upstage sat the orchestra, with Quigley conducting with his back to the audience. Stage left held a throne where Louis XV — interpreted by William Townsend — sat throughout the proceedings. Opposite stood another platform with chairs used by different performers. Between them, an empty space carried most of the action.

Four dancers — Emily Aslin, Alexzander Larson, Cori Lewis and Matthew Spangler, choreographed by Isaac Lerner — anchored transitional moments, appearing as Cupid's envoys during the Vulcan factory sequence. The audience laughed at each of their quippy, stealthy gestures toward the house.

Rader-Shieber and scenic and costume designer Jimmy Stubbs kept the sets sparse: a mini-forge carried on in the first act, trees for the second story, a throne-like conch for Venus, and a life-sized dog sculpture for Diana, with soprano Emilie Kealani intoning a bark of her own.

The blocking carried the weight. Venus entered from stage right; Diana from stage left among similarly clothed comrades. Uranie and Linus sang their dialogues center stage amid chairs, underscoring the static nature of their relationship. Cupid stood center upstage — at his first appearance and again at curtain call — emphasizing his dominance. Costumes favored white and a peachy pink.

What does the conducting change?

Quigley's method raises a practical question: what does a conductor accomplish with his back turned to the singers all evening? The reviewer, searching for a camera or monitor the singers might follow, found none. Even with such an aid, the performance demanded enormous trust between conductor and performers — trust visibly rewarded. Singers and conductor breathed together and shaped lines with an ease and flexibility often lacking in houses where the conductor faces the singers directly.

Balance was, by the account, marvelous, and every artist sounded comfortable. Harpsichordist Leon Shelhase gave colleagues arpeggios as they tuned, lending the tuning a ceremonial quality. Quigley avoided the overwrought gestures of much historically-informed performance and struck the balance opera demands; the singers styled their appoggiaturas exquisitely. The reviewer called it some of the finest operatic conducting witnessed in some time.

Who stood out in the cast?

• Elizabeth Sutphen opened silently as Madame la Marquise de Pompadour, then sang Uranie and Venus. Her Venus delivered perhaps the musical highlight of the night, dispatching extended coloratura on Cupid's flight with graceful bravura.
• Kayleigh Spouse played Amour with a bright soprano, truly impressive trills and a spunky, playful interpretation.
• Emilie Kealani showed great range: delicate as Astrée, thundering as Diane.
• Hadleigh Adams roared as Vulcain, then softened as Linus.
• Philip Lopez, as Le Temps and Adonis, let his bass-baritone roar deliciously before slowly softening as he conceded to love.

The chorus supplied physical and musical energy; the orchestra cohesion and balance.

What does this change for Opera Lafayette? The company has now delivered a modern world premiere of a major Rameau opéra-ballet with musical and staging cohesion to match — and Washington audiences get to test that verdict within days.