ÉMILIE
an opera by
KAIJA SAARIAHO & AMIN MAALOUF
DATES & TICKET INFO
Ticket Information Coming Soon!
Thursday, May 14 - 8:00pm
Friday, May 15 - 8:00pm
Saturday, May 16- 8:00pm
258 W 118th St, New York, NY 10026
Accessible via the B & C Trains at 116th St. Walk 2 blocks up Frederick Douglass Blvd to 118th St. and the Parish is half way down the block on the south side of the street.
CAST & CREATIVE TEAM
Conductor: Neal Goren
Stage director: Luca Veggetti
Lighting & Set designer: Clifton Taylor
Costume designer: Peter Speliopoulos
Producer: Natalie Renee
CAST
Émilie: Melissa Harvey, soprano (May 14 & 16)
Émilie: Emily Richter, soprano (May 15)
LISTEN TO THE MUSIC
Listen | The Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Marko Letonja perform Kaija Saariaho’s Suite from Émilie consisting of three songs and two instrumental interludes with text in French by Amin Maalouf composed in the form of letter to Voltaire, Saint-Lambert, and of Émilie’s own inner dialogues.
THE STORY
Kaija Saariaho’s Émilie (2010) is a one-act monodrama written for soprano and orchestra, with a libretto by Amin Maalouf. It portrays the final night in the life of Émilie du Châtelet (1706–1749), the French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher best known for her translation of Newton’s Principia Mathematica.
The opera unfolds as a sequence of reflections, both intellectual and deeply personal. Alone in her chamber and aware that she is nearing death from complications of pregnancy, Émilie addresses her unborn child, her lover Voltaire, and herself. She meditates on themes of love, desire, knowledge, and legacy—recalling her passionate relationship with Voltaire, her pursuit of scientific truth, and her fears and hopes for what she will leave behind.
There is little external action: the drama is interior, lyrical, and philosophical. Saariaho’s shimmering, atmospheric score mirrors Émilie’s restless thoughts and emotions, turning her final night into a poignant exploration of mortality, memory, and the unending quest for understanding.
THE PRODUCTION
Stage Director Luca Veggetti uses Harlem Parish’s dramatic sacred setting to amplify the opera’s thematic material and bring the production to life.
THE COMPOSER
Kaija Saariaho (1952–2023) was a Finnish composer celebrated for her luminous sound worlds and her profound contributions to contemporary opera. After studies in Helsinki, Freiburg, and Paris—where her work at IRCAM shaped her use of electronics and timbre—she emerged as one of the leading voices of her generation. Her operatic career began with L’Amour de loin (2000), a meditation on distance, desire, and transcendence that quickly entered the international repertoire and was later staged at the Metropolitan Opera. She went on to compose Adriana Mater (2006), confronting themes of war and forgiveness; Émilie (2010), an intimate monodrama about the Enlightenment thinker Émilie du Châtelet; and Only the Sound Remains (2016), drawing on Nō theatre. Her final opera, Innocence (2021), interwove languages and perspectives in a devastating story of trauma and survival. Her operas, both poetic and searing, have defined her as one of the most important composers of the 21st century.