Yale Opera Performs Rare Gounod Opera

As part of a celebration of French Opera presented by the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the Yale French Department and the Yale School of Music, Yale Opera presents Charles Gounod’s rarely performed opera “Le Médecin Malgré Lui” (“Doctor In Spite of Himself”) on Friday and Saturday, April 16 and 17, at 8 p.m. in the newly renovated Sprague Memorial Hall.

Yale Opera performances of Gounod’s “Le Médecin Malgré Lui” will headline a weekend-long celebration of French opera, April 16-17.

Based on a play by the great French satirical playwright Moliére, the Gounod opera has recitatives added by Erik Satie.

These Yale Opera performances are part of a two-day conference, “French Opera from Gounod to the Ballets Russes,” April 16-17. All lectures, presentations and exhibits of the conference are free but advance registration is required. Call 203-432-7325 to register.

The opera will feature singers from the Yale Opera program with a full orchestra, and will be sung in French with English supertitles. Ransom Wilson will conduct with stage direction by Marc Verzatt. Doris Yarick Cross, professor of voice at the Yale School of Music, is artistic director of Yale Opera. For more information, contact the Yale School of Music Box Office at 203-432-4158 or visit their website at www.yale.edu/music.