The Anonymous Lover
Music by Joseph Bologne,
Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Libretto by Desfontaines-Lavallée
A co-production with
Boston Lyric Opera and Opera Philadelphia.
The Huntington Theatre
Friday, February 16, 2024 | 7:30PM
Saturday, February 17, 2024 | 7:30PM
Sunday, February 18, 2024 | 3PM
Sung in French with English dialogue and surtitles
Running time: 90 minutes, no intermission
Orchestra parts for The Anonymous Lover are provided by arrangement with Opera Ritrovata in conjunction with the publishers and copyright owners, engravers and editors: George N. Gianopoulos, Stephen Karr, Leila Núñez-Fredell, and Mishkar Núñez-Fredell.
Celebrate Valentine’s Day with a comic love story for the ages! Written in 1780 by the virtuoso Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the chamber opera The Anonymous Lover tells the story of Léontine, a wealthy young widow disenchanted with the notion of love, who starts receiving letters from an anonymous admirer. In this joyful new co-production by Boston Lyric Opera and Opera Philadelphia, Bologne’s stirring music is complemented by a fresh book adaptation from the pen of Obie Award-winning Boston playwright Kirsten Greenidge, mixing English dialogue with the original French singing. Don’t miss an evening of lighthearted mishaps, heartfelt melodies, and endearing characters that will inspire you to root for true love!
The third of Bologne’s six operas, The Anonymous Lover was his most successful opera, and the only one that has survived to this day. The work holds a significant place in the annals of music history, standing as one of the first known operas composed by a Black artist. Learn more about the works and life of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges in our Dive Deeper links below!
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David Angus | Conductor
DAVID ANGUS Now in his fourteenth year as Boston Lyric Opera’s music director, David Angus recently served as music director and conductor for the critically acclaimed online productions of desert in and The Fall of the House of Usher, as well as BLO’s backwards La Bohème and Anne Bogart’s striking production of Bluebeard’s Castle. In addition to his work with BLO, he just conducted a new Sweeney Todd at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, The Marriage of Figaro in Prague, and several recordings of new American works with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Prior to his time at BLO, Angus was music director of The Glimmerglass Festival and Chief Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Flanders. He has led orchestras and choirs throughout Europe, particularly in Scandinavia, including the Lahti Symphony Orchestra and several Danish orchestras. Born in England, he has conducted most of the major orchestras in Great Britain, including the London Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra, most of the BBC orchestras, the London Mozart Players, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He recently debuted with the Toscanini Orchestra in Parma and the Porto Symphony Orchestra in Portugal. He returned to Wexford Festival Opera, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the LPO, and the Huddersfield Choral Society, as well as to his former orchestra in Belgium. Angus was a boy chorister at King’s College under Sir David Willcocks and read music at Surrey University. He was a conducting fellow at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, where he won several prizes for opera conducting.
Dennis Whitehead Darling | Stage Director
DENNIS WHITEHEAD DARLING is an award-winning stage director in opera, theatre, and video/film. In 2018, he was chosen as the inaugural Opera Memphis McCleave Fellow. Recent credits include world premieres of Marian’s Song, Houston Grand Opera; Sanctuary Road, North Carolina Opera; Why I Live at the P.O., Urban Arias; Buried Deep, End Station Theatre; and The Secret River, Opera Orlando.
Other works include Susannah, University of Kentucky; Sweeney Todd, Chautauqua Opera; The Cunning Little Vixen, Manhattan School of Music; Ride the Cyclone, Ramapo College of New Jersey; María de Buenos Aires, Opera Columbus; Jelly’s Last Jam, Long Wharf Theatre; The Falling and the Rising, Arizona Opera; Lost in the Stars, Annapolis Opera; Hansel and Gretel, Playground Opera; La bohème, Opera Columbus; Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Carnegie Mellon University; The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, Red Mountain Theatre; Independence Eve, Opera Birmingham; Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill and Ain’t Misbehavin’, HaZloo Theatre/Spazio Teatro No’hma, Milan; The Parchman Hour, Sunset Baby, and Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet, HaZloo Theatre; Intimate Apparel, University of Memphis; Movin’ Up in the World and Blue Viola, Opera Memphis; and James and the Giant Peach, Circuit Playhouse. Associate Directing credits include The Mountaintop, Geffen Playhouse; Arts in the Armed Forces on Broadway, Studio 54; The Last of the Love Letters, Atlantic Theatre; Light’s Out: Nat “King” Cole, Geffen Playhouse; and Skeleton Crew, Geffen Playhouse.
Driscoll Otto | Lighting Designer
DRISCOLL OTTO is a visual storyteller for opera, dance, and theatre specializing in lighting and video design. His career has been spent chasing dreams and building relationships with amazing theatre makers. Highlights of his career include designing the projections for La Donna Del Lago at the Metropolitan Opera and The Golden Cockerel at Santa Fe Opera, and designing the lighting for The Life at NYCC Encores.
Otto received his MFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Leslie Travers | Costume Designer
Multi-award-winning designer LESLIE TRAVERS trained at the Wimbledon School of Art and is recognized as one of the leading stage designers of his generation. He was recently honored by Liverpool Institute of the Performing Arts, where he was made a “Companion of LIPA” (Honorary Doctorate). His current and most recent operatic projects include major designs in many of the leading opera houses of Europe, the US, the UK, and beyond. His most recent ventures have taken him to La Scala, Bucharest, Santa Fe, Greek National Opera, and Opera North, where he recently designed their “Sustainable Season”. Outside the opera theatre, Travers’ most recent projects include such diverse creations as film, a theme park, a new cruise ship theatre, an immersive game, and a production with NASA to celebrate the anniversary of man walking on the Moon.
Baron E. Pugh | Scenic Coordinator
BARON E. PUGH is a Boston-based scenic designer whose work has been seen across New England and the country. He is excited to make is BLO debut.
Off-Broadway: shadow/land (associate designer), The Public Theater. NYC: King Lear, The Tempest, The Juilliard School, Drama Division. Regional: Million Dollar Quartet and B.R.O.K.E.N code B.I.R.D switching, Berkshire Theatre Group; ABCD, Barrington Stage Company; Trouble in Mind, Hartford Stage; K-I-S-S-I-N-G (associate designer) and The Bluest Eye (associate designer), The Huntington Theatre; Tiny Beautiful Things and Radio Golf, Trinity Repertory Company; Detroit ’67, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, and School Girls, TheatreSquared; Assassins, The Light, Breath and Imagination, and The Wiz, Lyric Stage Company of Boston. Baron received his MFA in scenic design from Boston University and is a proud member of United Scenic Artists Local 829.
April Gerbode | Wig and Makeup Designer
Hair and makeup designer APRIL GERBODE has been making faces since 2009. The only child of a movie buff, Gerbode’s earliest exposure to theatrical hair and makeup began with golden age movie musicals and classical Universal horror monsters, and remained a constant fascination as they participated in community theatre productions.
Gerbode holds a degree in special make-up effects from Tom Savini’s Special Make-up Effects program, where they studied theatrical makeup, wig making and styling, mold making and casting, prop and costume fabrication, prosthetic design and application, digital sculpting, and animatronics. They are currently based in New York City, where they work as a hair, makeup, and wardrobe technician.
Favorite projects include White Girl in Danger (world premiere), Second Stage (HMU Run Crew; JOY (world premiere), George Street Playhouse (Hair and Make-up Supervisor); Other World (world premiere), Delaware Theatre Company (HMU Run Crew); Assassins, Mountain Community Theater (Hair and Make-up Designer); and Isaac’s Eye, Sidereal Theater Company (Hair and Make-up Designer).
Brett Hodgdon | Chorus Director
BRETT HODGDON is Chorus Director and Head of Music at Boston Lyric Opera, where he has collaborated with Music Director David Angus on the company’s music staff since 2011. Hodgdon was a member of the first class of Jane and Steven Akin Emerging Artists in the 2011/12 season.
Hodgdon serves on the full-time opera faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music. Additionally, he teaches courses including diction and vocal repertoire at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee.
In addition to his work at BLO and as an educator, Hodgdon has been a rehearsal pianist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Tanglewood Festival Chorus since 2008, having rehearsed and coached vocal programs for music director Andris Nelsons and many guest conductors, including performances at Symphony Hall, Tanglewood, and Carnegie Hall. He has also been rehearsal pianist and coach for the Emmanuel Music Bach Cantata Series since 2006.
Hodgdon spends his summers as Head of Music at Si Parla, Si Canta! in Arona, Italy and serves on the coaching faculty of the Boston Wagner Institute.
He received a DMA in collaborative piano from the New England Conservatory and holds degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Angie Jepson | Intimacy Director
ANGIE JEPSON is an intimacy director, fight choreographer, actress, and professor based in the Boston area. Her fight and intimacy work has been seen onstage at theaters including the Manhattan Theatre Club, the Huntington Theatre Company, Trinity Repertory Company, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Gloucester Stage, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, SpeakEasy Stage Company, Greater Boston Stage Company, Central Square Theater, and at several universities in the Boston area. She is currently on the faculty of the Brown/Trinity MFA Acting program, and at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where she teaches in the theatre and opera departments. She is a certified intimacy director with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators, and a certified teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors. She holds an MFA in Acting from Brandeis University.Kirsten Greenidge | Book Adaptation
Playwright KIRSTEN GREENIDGE is known for such works as The Luck of the Irish, Baltimore, and the Obie Award-winning and Lucille Lortell-nominated Milk Like Sugar. A PEN/Laura Pels Playwrighting Award recipient, she is honored to have been named Playwright Laureate of Boston and is currently a Howlround/Mellon Foundation Artist-in-Residence at Company One Theatre in Boston, where she facilitates the Volt Writer’s Lab and its Open Write Playwrighting series. She is also a Huntington Playwrighting Fellow and a New Dramatists alum.
Ms. Greenidge is known for work that places hyper-realism onstage, examining the nexus of race, class, gender, and the Black American experience. Her work has been developed and produced at the Huntington, American Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, LTC3 (Lincoln Center), Yale Repertory Theatre, The Kennedy Center, and more. Works include Feeding Beatrice: A Gothic Tale; Bossa Nova; Sans-Culottes in the Promised Land; Roll, Belinda, Roll; and an episode of Boston Lyric Opera’s desert in, an episodic opera.
An alum of Wesleyan University and University of Iowa, Ms. Greenidge believes strongly in the importance of community and collaboration in theatre-making, working to uplift and center the stories of those who have not traditionally seen themselves onstage. As an associate professor at Boston University, she founded and maintains the theatre program’s New Works, which includes First Pages, Springboard Reading Series, and Next Stage Workshops and Productions.
Costumes for this production were constructed by Kansas City Costume Company.
Costumes provided by Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Philadelphia, San Diego Opera, and Palm Beach Opera with original design by Leslie Travers.
Brianna J. Robinson | Léontine
Soprano BRIANNA J. ROBINSON is a former Jane and Steven Akin Emerging Artist with Boston Lyric Opera, where she covered and performed roles such as Lucy, Fellow Travelers, Mimì (cover), La bohème; Lena, Svabda and covered several roles in The Handmaid’s Tale. Most recently, she stepped onstage as Julie in the 2023 Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Omar.
In the 2023/24 season, Ms. Robinson makes her Carnegie Hall debut with The Cecilia Chorus of New York in Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem. She returns to Boston Lyric Opera as Jeannette, The Anonymous Lover, also covering the role of Léontine. Last season, she made multiple concert debuts with several orchestras, including the Akron Symphony Orchestra, Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra/New World Chorale, and Crossing the Deep with the Handel and Haydn Society. She was named a finalist in the Benjamin Matthews Vocal Competition with Opera Ebony and awarded first prize at the 6th Getting to Carnegie Competition. She has participated in the Berlin Opera Academy and Opernfest Prague, and made her international debut in Ruse, Bulgaria in 2021, creating the role of Ophelia in the world premiere of Joseph Summer’s Hamlet.
Ms. Robinson is a proud graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Eastman School of Music.
Omar Najmi | Valcour
OMAR NAJMI Boston-based tenor Omar Najmi’s recent engagements include Hamlet, Hamlet, State Opera Rousse; Rodolfo, La bohème, Opera Steamboat; Astolfo, Furiosus, Mercury Opera; Shakur, Thumbprint, Portland Opera; Tybalt, Romeo and Juliet, Boston Lyric Opera; Spearmint Lodge, The Artwork of the Future (World Premiere), Fresh Squeezed Opera; Alfredo, La traviata, MassOpera; Tito, La Clemenza di Tito, Opera Steamboat; Bilal, This Is Not That Dawn, Catalyst New Music; and Alessandro, Il re Pastore, Orpheus PDX. Past work includes roles with Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Colorado, Chautauqua Opera, Annapolis Opera, Opera Saratoga, Opera Maine, and American Lyric Theater. He debuted at Carnegie Hall in 2018 and has toured with Video Games Live. Accolades include the Harold Norblom Award (Opera Colorado), Stephen Shrestinian Award (Boston Lyric Opera), Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Fellowship (Emmanuel Music), and Second Place nationally in the Handel Aria Competition. He was a regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions.
After Najmi’s first opera composition, En la ardiente oscuridad (2019), sold out, he was invited to be Boston Lyric Opera’s first Emerging Composer, working with Boston Youth Poet Laureate Alondra Bobadilla to create the song cycle my name is Alondra (2021). Other composing credits include The Last Invocation (Emmanuel Music), More Than Our Own Caves (Juventas New Music Ensemble), and This Is Not That Dawn (Catalyst New Music). He is currently working on Jo dooba so paar, a short opera exploring the intersection of Queer and Muslim identity (White Snake Projects). His opera-in-progress The Fermi Paradox is a semifinalist with Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ New Works Collective.
Evan Hughes | Ophémon
This season, EVAN HUGHES makes his debut with Theater an der Wien as Valens, Theodora and returns to the Opernhaus Zürich to sing Jupiter, Platée. Other upcoming performances include Ophémon, The Anonymous Lover, Boston Lyric Opera and Protector, Written on Skin, Orchestre National de Lille.
Recent highlights include Somnus, Semele, Opéra de Lille; Figaro, Le Nozze di Figaro, Vienna Volksoper, Sächsische Staatsoper, and San Diego Opera; Monster, Venere e Adone, Hamburgische Staatsoper; Virgil, Il Viaggio, Dante, Aix-en-Provence Festival; Masetto, Don Giovanni, Teatro Massimo; Papageno, Die Zauberflöte, Komische Oper Berlin; Theseus, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Opera Philadelphia; and Astolfo, Orlando Furioso, State Chamber Orchestra of Russia. Concert and recital work has led him to collaborations with San Diego Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony, Aspen Music Festival, and more.
A champion of contemporary music, Mr. Hughes has appeared in Syringa with the Met Chamber Ensemble and the Tanglewood Music Festival; Three Explorations (world premiere) with the Axiom Ensemble; and On Conversing with Paradise as part of Ascending Dragon, a festival of cultural exchange, in Los Angeles, Hanoi, and throughout Vietnam.
An alumnus of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, Mr. Hughes attended the Curtis Institute of Music. He is a previous winner of the Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition and a national semi-finalist of the 2010 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Ashley Emerson | Jeannette
In the 2022/23 season, soprano Ashley Emerson performed as Papagena, Die Zauberflöte, The Metropolitan Opera; Lauretta, Gianni Schicchi, New Jersey Festival Orchestra; Despina, Così fan tutte, Cedar Rapids Opera; and sang Shostakovich’s Opus 38 with the Brooklyn Art Song Society. In 2023/24, she sang Gretel, Hansel and Gretel, Kentucky Opera; sings Jeanette, L’amant anonyme, Boston Lyric Opera; Papagena, Die Zauberflöte, Cleveland Orchestra; and returns to The Metropolitan Opera. A passionate recitalist, she returns to the Brooklyn Art Song Society in 2024/25. Recent engagements include Cinderella and Boris Godunov, The Metropolitan Opera; Johanna Barker, Sweeney Todd, Opera Omaha; and Rapunzel, Into the Woods, HALO.
Previous roles with The Metropolitan Opera include Laura Fleet, Marnie (North American premiere); Brigitta, Iolanta; Papagena, The Magic Flute, Giannetta, L’elisir d’amore, and Barbarina, Le nozze di Figaro. She has appeared in major roles with On Site Opera, Opéra National de Bordeaux, Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, Dallas Opera, Washington National Opera, Atlanta Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, and others.
Ms. Emerson is a graduate of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and has appeared in over 200 Metropolitan Opera performances. She trained at Marlboro Music Festival, Verbier Festival, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as a Gerdine Young Artist. Ms. Emerson is a graduate of the University of Southern Maine School of Music
Zhengyi Bai | Colin
Chinese tenor ZHENGYI BAI’s 2023/24 season roles include Monostatos, Die Zauberflöte, San Fransisco Opera; Colin,The Anonymous Lover, Boston Lyric Opera; and Goro, Madama Butterfly, Virginia Opera.
In 2022/23, Bai covered Valzacchi, Der Rosenkavalier, Metropolitan Opera; and performed as a Resident Artist with Opera San José, singing Basilio, Le nozze di Figaro; Dr. Caius, Falstaff; Hunchback, Die Frau ohne Schatten; and Goro (cover), Madama Butterfly, San Francisco Opera.
Bai’s recent roles include Fong See, On Golden Mountain, Los Angeles Opera; First Prisoner, Fidelio, San Francisco Opera; Dancing Master/Lamplighter, Manon Lescaut, San Francisco Opera; Remendado, Carmen, San Francisco Opera; and Alessandro, Il Re Pastore, Merola Opera. In recitals and concerts, he has performed in the Schwabacher Recital Series in San Francisco and the Adlers showcase “The Future is Now” concert with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra.
Born and raised in Shandong province of China, Bai began his studies as a piano performance student and collaborative pianist. With a solid musical foundation of piano study, Bai flourished in his vocal studies, beginning in Shandong, China and continuing his opera training in the United States. Bai was a participant of the Merola Opera Program, and then invited to join the renowned Adler Fellowship Program at San Francisco Opera.
Sandra Piques Eddy | Dorothée
SANDRA PIQUES EDDY is a former New England Regional Winner of the 2000 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a National semi-finalist, singing the first of her numerous Metropolitan Opera roles in 2001. Her more recent roles include Lilah, When the Sun Comes Out, Portland Opera; Desiree, A Little Night Music, Opera North (UK); Maddalena, Rigoletto, Opera Colorado; and Rosina, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Wichita Grand Opera. Future engagements include her return to Paula, Florencia en el Amazonas, Nashville Opera and Carmen, Carmen, Vancouver Opera.
Past highlights include Dinah, Trouble in Tahiti, Opera North (UK) and six role debuts: Meg Page, Falstaff, Opera Colorado; Euridice, Orfeo ed Euridice, Portland Opera; Suzuki, Madama Butterfly, Inland Northwest Opera; Paula, Florencia en el Amazonas, Pittsburgh Opera; Adalgisa, Norma, Boston Lyric Opera; and Mistress Revels, Prince of Players, Florentine Opera, the recording of which was nominated in 2018 for a Grammy Award. A highlight of Miss Eddy’s career is her work in Japan: invited by Maestro Seiji Ozawa, she appeared at his Tokyo Music Academy in her signature role of Carmen and toured with the production in two separate seasons.
The Huntington Theatre
264 Huntington Avenue | Boston, MA | 02115
“A sweet treat! With attractive, colorful sets…snappy stage-directing, an agile orchestra…and a new and witty English adaptation by Boston playwright Kirsten Greenidge.”
– The Boston Globe
Feb 18, 2024
“A joyous delight! Funny, romantic, and splendidly sung!”
– Broadway World
Feb 17, 2024