A French Baroque Evening with the Opera

Pygmalion carved a statue so splendid that he fell in love, begging the goddess Venus to make his object real. Versions of Pygmalion's plight have woven their way through art and literature for centuries; now, this weekend at Le Petit Théâtre Du Vieux Carré, the New Orleans Opera will animate Jean-Philippe Rameau's Baroque composition, written amidst the splendor of the Louis XIV's court. Paul Groves takes the lead as Pygmalion, with Sarah Jane McMahon as Venus ("L'Amour"), Rachel Looney as the statue, and Haley Whitney as Pygmalion's spurned girlfriend, Céphise. The Marigny Opera Ballet accompanies.

Following Rameau's Pygmalion, the opera will provide a companion in song, dance, and orchestral grandeur to New Orleans Museum of Art's exhibition of the Duke of Orléans' renowned art collection, playing through eight pieces by leading eighteen-century composers, Lully, Campra, Charpentier, Marais, and Rameau again—with scenery drawn from the Duke's art collection. 7:30 pm on Thursday & Friday; 2:30 pm Saturday & Sunday. $50–$125. neworleansopera.org.