All material found in the Press Releases section is provided by parties entirely independent of Musical America, which is not responsible for content.
Press Releases
Death of Classical to Present the NY Début of the Versailles Royal Opera Orchestra July 21 & 23, alongside Festival Napa Valley & Atout France
Death of Classical to Present Versailles in New York, the New York Début of the Versailles Royal Opera Orchestra July 21 & 23, in partnership with Festival Napa Valley and Atout France
July 21st, Versailles in Printemps: The Affair of the Poisons will offer an after-hours immersive experience throughout the sprawling new French retail and hospitality concept Printemps New York at One Wall Street, bringing to life the historical "Affair of the Poisons" at Louis XIV's court through a fusion of theater, music, food & drink, and more, with a central performance by the Versailles Royal Opera Orchestra.
July 23, Versailles at L'Alliance will showcase the Orchestra, conducted by Stefan Plewniak with countertenor Franco Fagioli in his North American debut, in a program entitled "Arias for Velluti, The Last Castrato" that includes music by Rossini, Nicolini, Bonfichi, Zingarelli, Mercadante and more. The evening also features a pre-show reception with wine by Bouchaine Vineyards, cheese & charcuterie and more. A special "Louis XIV Experience" includes a post-show salon experience at the nearby Freeman's | Hindman New York Auctions Townhouse, with opulent food, drink, and intimate performances of music, dance, theater, and more.
Death of Classical is proud to present Versailles in New York, a celebration of the New York début of the Versailles Royal Opera Orchestra that will take place July 21 and 23, in partnership with Festival Napa Valley and Atout France. Versailles in Printemps: The Affair of the Poisons (July 21) will offer a one-of-a-kind immersive after-hours theatrical experience throughout the extraordinary new retail and hospitality concept Printemps New York at One Wall Street, while Versailles at L'Alliance (July 23), will feature a full performance of the orchestra and countertenor Franco Fagioli at L'Alliance, followed by an opulent post-show salon at the Freeman's | Hindman New York Auctions Townhouse. Both events are part of the first North American Tour by the Versailles Royal Opera, which will also include performances at Festival Napa Valley, as well as Montreal and Toronto.
July 21, Versailles in Printemps: The Affair of the Poisons will offer an immersive after-hours theatrical experience at the exquisite new retail and hospitality concept Printemps New York which recently opened at One Wall Street, where audience members will be free to wander throughout the 55,000 square foot space, enjoying complimentary food curated by Printemps New York, wine selections from the acclaimed Bouchaine Vineyards, and more. The program, conceived and directed by Death of Classical Founder and Artistic Director Andrew Ousley, will explore a pivotal historic moment in Louis XIV's court, dubbed "The Affair of the Poisons," where widespread poisonings led to mass hysteria, and an investigation uncovered betrayals, Black Masses, and a web of murderous intrigue that reached all the way to the bedroom of Louis himself. Centered around a performance by the full Versailles Opera Orchestra, the production will also incorporate actors, performance artists, singers, musicians, and more. Printemps New York, which opened March 21, 2025, in the historic landmark building One Wall Street, was designed by acclaimed architect Laura Gonzalez, and offers a unique retail experience that incorporates unique and exclusive offerings, five food and beverage concepts, health & wellness services, and more.
July 23, Versailles at L'Alliance will feature the full orchestra conducted by Stefan Plewniak, with soloist countertenor Franco Fagioli (making his North American debut), performing in the Florence Gould Theater. The program, entitled "Arias for Velluti, The Last Castrato," centers around Giovanni Battista Velluti, generally considered the last great Castrato, and features music by Rossini, Nicolini, Bonfichi, Zingarelli, Mercadante and more. Death of Classical's production will include pre-show receptions, included with ticket purchase, featuring wine by Bouchaine Vineyards, cheese & charcuterie, and more. A special "Louis XIV Experience" ticket will also include a post-show salon at the nearby Freeman's | Hindman New York Auctions Townhouse, where audience members will enjoy more opulent food and drink, paired with site-specific performances of music, dance, theater, storytelling, mime, and more.
Death of Classical Founder and Artistic Director Andrew Ousley said: "The Palace of Versailles is one of the most magnificent spaces in the world, and it's both an honor to present the New York Début of the Versailles Royal Opera Orchestra, and a thrilling privilege to summon that singular sense of drama, opulence, art, and intrigue, that Louis XIV first envisioned so many centuries ago. From Printemps New York to L'Alliance, we at DoC are excited to put our unique spin on the finest that French culture has to offer."
Said Laurent Brunner, General Manager of the Versailles Royal Opera: "We are immensely honored to make the North American debut of the Versailles Royal Opera, bringing our unique heritage to audiences across the USA. Our collaboration with Death of Classical, Festival Napa Valley, and Atout France allows us to share our rich musical heritage in truly innovative ways, from the immersive "Affair of the Poisons" at Printemps New York to the incomparable virtuoso star countertenor Franco Fagioli's North American debut. We are incredibly excited to share the legacy of Versailles with American audiences through these exceptional performances."
The Versailles Royal Opera Orchestra’s US debut performances are made possible through a generous gift from Tatiana and Gerret Copeland, proprietors of Bouchaine Vineyards.
Listing Info
Versailles in Printemps: The Affair of the Poisons
The Versailles Royal Opera Orchestra, Various Artists
July 21, 2025, 7-10PM
The Royal Opera of the Palace of Versailles first opened its doors back in 1770, and the Versailles Royal Opera Orchestra has never yet crossed the Atlantic to tour the New World – that is, until now... it is with our heads humbled and beret-laden, and our champagne glasses held high, that we at Death of Classical are proud to present these legends of French Opera in their New York début, part of their first ever tour of the United States, for two evenings of extravagant music-making that we're calling Versailles in New York, presented in partnership with our amazing friends at Festival Napa Valley and Atout France.
The Francophilic fun kicks off July 21, with Versailles in Printemps: The Affair of the Poisons. This one-of-a-kind, immersive after-hours experience, conceived and directed by Death of Classical Founder and Artistic Director Andrew Ousley, will take place throughout the exquisite new retail and hospitality concept Printemps New York at One Wall Street. The evening will explore a pivotal historic moment in Louis XIV's court, a tale of palace intrigue laced with poison and steeped in superstition and witchcraft, from a Black Mass to a murder plot involving Louis' favorite mistress.
Centered around a performance by the Versailles Royal Opera Orchestra, audience members will wander through the different spaces, encountering interactive performances while enjoying complimentary food curated by Printemps New York, wine selections from the acclaimed Bouchaine Vineyards, and more.
Attendees are strongly encouraged to embrace the spirit of the show, so don your finest Court attire and your frilliest Rococo frippery, and let's party like it's 1699.
Versailles at L'Alliance
The Versailles Royal Opera Orchestra, Various Artists
July 23, 2025, 6:30-9PM (post-show Salon until 11PM)
The Royal Opera of the Palace of Versailles first opened its doors back in 1770, and the Versailles Royal Opera Orchestra has never yet crossed the Atlantic to tour the New World – that is, until now... it is with our heads humbled and beret-laden, and our champagne glasses held high, that we at Death of Classical are proud to present these legends of French Opera in their New York début, part of their first ever tour of the United States, for two evenings of extravagant music-making that we're calling Versailles in New York, presented in partnership with our amazing friends at Festival Napa Valley and Atout France.
For Versailles at L'Alliance, we'll offer an evening centered around a full performance by the Versailles Royal Opera Orchestra conducted by Stefan Plewniak, along with the great countertenor Franco Fagioli, in his North American debut. But being the entrepreneurial bon vivants that we are, we're obviously not just going to put on an evening of opera arias and call it a night - instead, we're taking over L'Alliance New York, a gorgeous midtown bastion of French culture, where we'll share a pre-show reception (included in ticket price) featuring charcuterie and similarly thematically-appropriate cuisine, as well as an aperitif of fine wines by Bouchaine Vineyards and cocktails by Via Carota. Once we've ate and drunk our fill, we'll make our way to the theater for the main event: a program entitled "Arias for Velluti, The Last Castrato" that centers around Giovanni Battista Velluti, generally considered the last great Castrato, and features music by Rossini, Nicolini, Bonfichi, Zingarelli, Mercadante and more.
A select number of higher-priced tickets will offer the full "Louis XIV Experience" - a truly over-the-top, opulent extravaganza of an evening that includes a separate pre-show reception in "Le Skyroom" (a room as magnifique as its name), premium seating for the concert, and the coup de grâce: a post-show salon hosted by Freeman’s | Hindman New York Auctions, where we'll take a short summer night stroll up Fifth avenue to their one-of-a-kind townhouse, and enjoy world-class food and drink, fine art, furniture, and jewelry, and site-specific performances of music, dance, theater, storytelling, mime, and more. It promises to be a fête worthy of the Sun King himself.
About The Versailles Royal Opera Orchestra
The Opéra Royal du Château de Versailles presents one hundred performances a year, graced by great names and international performers on its prestigious stage. The Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal was formed in 2019 for John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles. Comprising musicians who regularly work with leading conductors, the Orchestra champions a wide repertoire ranging from baroque to classical to romantic. Due to the history of the place whose name it bears, the core repertoire consists of music from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Several conductors have led the Orchestra over the seasons, each lending their own musical vision to the programme, including Gaétan Jarry, Stefan Plewniak, Victor Jacob and, most recently, the young baroque violin virtuoso Théotime Langlois de Swarte.
The Orchestra, with its varying formations, adapts to the requirements of the different projects of the Opéra Royal and Château de Versailles Spectacles. These different formations allow the Orchestra to offer the best possible musical cohesion to each genre, from chamber music to opera, through symphonic concerts.
For this 2024/2025 season, the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal have a strong presence at Versailles, with more than twenty productions and over forty performances, not counting tours in France and abroad. Most notably, it is taking part in the premières and revivals of the staged productions at the Opéra Royal, including Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Porpora’s Polifemo, Bizet’s Carmen, Donizetti’s The Daughter of the Regiment and Vivaldi’s La Senna festeggiante (CD available in the Château de Versailles Spectacles record collection).
The Orchestra plays at the ADOR Gala evening and performing the Requiems by Fauré and Mozart, Handel’s Sosarme and Messiah, and the New Year's Concert celebrating the bicentenary of Johann Strauss. The musicians of the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal performs The Prodigies of Romanticism, the Concertos for pianoforte by Mozart and Jadin, Bach’s Concertos for violin(s) and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. The Orchestra plays with talented artists such as Sonya Yoncheva, Marina Viotti, Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian and Marie Lys in recitals, as well as Samuel Mariño, Théo Imart and Rafal Tomkiewicz in the famous virtuoso competition, The Three Counter-Tenors.
The Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal also tours extensively, showcasing its virtuosity on the finest stages in France and around the world. It has performed at the Salle Gaveau, the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, the New Year Festival in Gstaad, on tour in South Korea, in Hanoi and at the major summer festivals such as the Festival Valloire Baroque, at the Abbaye du Thoronet, in Cahors, Prades, Bauges and Uzès, at the Festival de Sablé, in La Rochelle, at the Teatros del Canal in Madrid, in Castellón, at the prestigious Peralada Festival and at the Grange au Lac festival in Évian. In April 2024, the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal embarked on a fifteen-date tour of China, Mongolia and Vietnam (to where it will return this season) to coincide with the joint exhibition between the Château de Versailles and the Palace Museum of the Forbidden City in Beijing. Through this series of concerts, the expertise of the Orchestra's musicians has even been enjoyed as far away as Asia. As such, the Orchestra performed at the inauguration of the Ho Guom Opera in Hanoi in July 2023, establishing a partnership between the Opéra Royal of the Château de Versailles and the Ho Guom Opera Hanoi. This partnership has been extended through the co-production of Thierry Malandain’s ballet Les Saisons in December 2023, which will be performed on tour in Hanoi in autumn 2024. The tour will also include a performance of Malandain’s ballet Marie-Antoinette in Bangkok. This season, the orchestra is making its début at the Auditorio Nacional de la Música in Madrid, the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse and the Handel Festival in Karlsruhe.
The Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal is a key presence on the Château de Versailles Spectacles record label (winner of Label of the Year 2022 at the International Classical Music Awards) and plays an active role in its recordings. Among the most acclaimed are the StabatMaters by Pergolesi and Vivaldi conducted by Marie Van Rhijn (Diamond award from Opéra Magazine), Couperin’s Leçons de Ténèbres conducted by Stéphane Fuget, Guido and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with Andrés Gabetta (Choc award from Classica), Zingarelli’s Giulietta e Romeo conducted by Stefan Plewniak (Choc award from Classica), the Coronation Anthems by Purcell and Handel brought together by Gaétan Jarry in The Crown, Vivaldi’s La Senna festeggiante conducted by Diego Fasolis, the Plácido Domingo Gala at Versailles, Handel’s Messiah conducted by Franco Fagioli and Dis-moiVénus... with Marie Perbost and Gaétan Jarry (Choice award from France Musique).
About Death of Classical
We at Death of Classical understand that what we do might seem a bit weird at first glance... presenting classical music and opera concerts in Crypts, Catacombs, Cemeteries, and other unusual venues, pairing them with food, drink, and spirits tastings. But we promise that our mission is pure: to breathe new life into the art form that we love, and to re-envision everything from programming to production to promotion, in order to create deeply-personal performances that change how people perceive and experience classical music.
In the few short years since Death of Classical was founded by Artistic Director Andrew Ousley, the response and acclaim has been unanimous, with the New York Times proclaiming that "Classical is alive and well and living in a Crypt, with a series of intimate, charmingly creepy concerts that offer tightly focused programs from top-flight musicians." Our concerts – most of which sell out in moments – have been hailed as "transcendent" (Billboard), "emotionally-charged" (Forbes), "numinous and genre-bending" (New Yorker), with New York Magazine praising them as “sensitively programmed events in which music and architecture almost meld," and the culture editor of Vogue simply describing a DoC show as "one of the most riveting and unusual chamber music performances of my lifetime."
Death of Classical has presented some of today's most acclaimed artists, including the New York Philharmonic, Lawrence Brownlee, Laurie Anderson, Caroline Shaw, Jennifer Koh, Rufus Wainwright, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Simone Dinnerstein, Gil Shaham, Alexandre Tharaud, Lara St. John, Conrad Tao, and many more. We've partnered with institutions ranging from Carnegie Hall to the United Nations, and our accolades include making the New York Times "Best Classical Music Concerts of the Year" list, receiving a Classical:Next Innovation Award, The American Prize for the Arts, and WQXR's 'Excellence in Opera' award for the world premiere of David Hertzberg's The Rose Elf in the Catacombs.
About Printemps New York
Founded in 1865 by Jules and Augustine Jaluzot, Printemps is an iconic Parisian institution, celebrated for its flagship store, Printemps Haussmann, a designated historic monument in the heart of Paris spanning 485,000 square feet within three exemplary Art Nouveau buildings.
In March of 2025, Printemps unveiled its first directly operated location at the landmark address of One Wall Street in the heart of New York City's vibrant Financial District. This marks the group's inaugural venture in the US, introducing a modern concept that embodies a fusion of retail and hospitality. Underscoring the spirit of innovation deeply rooted in Printemps' DNA, this premier retail destination transcends traditional boundaries. Printemps New York combines its rich heritage with a distinctive experience, providing local and international clients with a redefined and memorable shopping experience. Seamlessly merging French savoir-faire with American hospitality, it features distinctive architecture and design, curated multi-brand offerings, exceptional dining, bespoke services, and a vibrant program of events.
At Printemps, we've been reinventing retail since 1865.
About Freeman’s | Hindman
Freeman's | Hindman is a premier American auction house offering services in multiple categories including fine art, jewelry, design, books and manuscripts, furniture, decorative arts, antiquities, couture, and Asian works of art. With 16 regional locations nationwide, the firm provides auctions, appraisals, private sales, and art advisory services, connecting clients to the global art market. Freeman’s | Hindman strives to bring art, history, and design to life by connecting people with extraordinary objects through exceptional service and expertise.
About Festival Napa Valley
Now in its 19th season, Festival Napa Valley is a nonprofit governed by a dedicated board of prominent vintners and community leaders. Its institutional accomplishments have been recognized by independent accrediting organizations, including GuideStar which awarded the Festival Platinum Status, and Charity Navigator, placing it among 0.1% of charities in North America.
Each July, Festival Napa Valley welcomes more than 15,000 patrons for a 2-week celebration of the arts, presenting international stars and emerging talent on picture-perfect stages featuring classical, jazz, contemporary, opera, dance, and more, complemented by Vintner’s Luncheons and Patron Dinners at leading wineries and estates. The annual The Arts for All Gala, hosted the first Sunday of the festival, is one of the most successful fundraising events in North America and has raised more than $28 million to date. This summer's headliner is Jon Batiste.
The festival experience is amplified by year-round concerts and events in leading U.S. cities and select international destinations.
About Atout France
Atout France USA - The France Tourism Development Agency is responsible for the promotion of France on the US market. Atout France is the French Government's sole operator regarding the promotion of all aspects of tourism in France, providing a variety of services and events for French partners that target American tourism professionals (press, tour operators and travel agents as well as event planners) and as well as well as inform those professionals and the general public all news & developments of interest in France.
FEATURED JOBS
RENT A PHOTO
