The Dreyfus Affair
When the Jewish captain Alfred Dreyfus was accused of treason in 1894 and imprisoned, French society erupted into a fireball of anti-Semitism and political partisanship that called into question the very nature of French identity. This tragic private drama played out in a very public arena; not only the press but also artists, writers, and musicians became entangled in a controversy which lasted almost two decades and continues to resonate to this day.
A poignant script based on Dreyfus’s letters and diaries and other contemporary sources?—?such as Zola’s article J’Accuse?—?is interwoven with music of transcendent pathos, including Franck’s Piano Quintet in F minor, Ravel’s Deux mélodies hébraïques, and arias from Halévy’s La Juive, capturing the human and sociopolitical drama of this turbulent period.
2006-2007 Season
The Paris Project
In its sixth season, the Ensemble for the Romantic Century created a tableau of Paris in a series of four theatrical concerts. The artistic, literary and political changes that electrified Paris since the end of the 19th century were evoked in a fusion of theater and chamber & vocal music.
More from our 2006-2007 Season: