Le Chevalier de Saint George

Joseph Bologne de Saint-George (1745-1799) Le Chevalier de Saint-George

Thursday 15 October, 8pm

Opéra Royal

Duration: 2h including interval

The first mixed-race American composer and an indefatigable adventurer, Le Chevalier de Saint-George is reborn through the quality of his music. Born in Guadeloupe, this son of a white landowner and an enslaved woman of African origin was educated in France and became one of the best violinists of his time, a conductor of orchestras and operas, and Marie-Antoinette's music master. An outstanding fencer and revolutionary, in 1792 he founded the Légion franche de cavalerie des Américains, composed of free Black and mixed-race Antillean soldiers, of which he was colonel. While his destiny as a "military artist" captures the imagination, it is above all the sensitivity of his writing that remains at the heart of this musical portrait today. This programme unveils an unknown Saint-George, far from mere displays of technical virtuosity. Between touching lyricism and a great sense of theatre, his music paints soundscapes of rare diversity: from concert arias of aerial sweetness to wild dance suites. Rare pieces, from intimate or solemn contexts, thus reveal the art of the "just touch" of a composer who knew, better than anyone, how to create atmospheres of striking thematic effectiveness. Théotime Langlois de Swarte, the soloists and the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal revive this flamboyant personality, forgotten for two centuries: was he the Black Mozart?