CHANGE and REVOLUTION: Love, Chemistry, & the Guillotine, an opera by Bridget Gole & Peter Skoggard

In the company of librettist Bridget Gole and composer Peter Skoggard, who described the process of creating their opera about Marie Anne Lavoisier, we travelled through Mme. Lavoisier’s story: her youth as a hostess in her father’s salon, her marriage to Antoine Lavoisier, their collaborative work in the chemistry lab and encounter with the increasing violence of the French Revolution, and her life after Antoine’s execution. Peter began with a synopsis of poetry at the time of the French Revolution, then Bridget spoke about the Enlightenment, with a breakdown of the music and libretto, after which we moved into performed excerpts from the opera by Marion Samuel-Stevens, soprano; Marcel van Heldon, tenor; Jennifer Carter, soprano; Richard Hrytzak, baritone; and Dr. Chrisotpher Burton, piano. An accompanying dramatic reading was performed by Peter as Benjamin Franklin, William Feinman as Joseph Priestly, and Ciaron Myers as Jean Paul Marat, with the audience then forming a modern-day salon by way of a Q & A.

The event was sponsored by Zehr’s in Fergus, Ontario Culture Days, and Centre Wellington Culture Days.

https://culturedays.ca/en/events/ee620ac0-1955-4cbc-93fa-f72e3d2f3e40