Baroque 2000’s venture will be financed by Embassy of Switzerland in Pretoria, to mark the 300th anniversary of the birth of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the opera’s composer and librettist, who was also one of the 18th century’s most renowned philosophers, theorists and authors.

Le Devin Du Village was first performed before the French court at Fontainebleau on 18 October 1752 and at the Paris Opéra on 1 March 1753. King Louis XV became so partial to the work that he offered Rousseau a life pension, which Rousseau refused, according to information on Wikipedia. However, the opera became one of the most popular pieces of its day, and brought its creator both wealth and fame. It was also performed at the wedding of the future Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Such was its celebrity that Rousseau's work became the object of a parody in the Singspiel, Bastien und Bastienne, by the 12-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Le Devin Du Village’s projected South African performances are the outcome of a conversation between Baroque 2000 director, Michel Schneuwly, and the recently-appointed Swiss Ambassador to South Africa, His Excellency Christian Meuwly. This occurred a few months ago when the latter first visited Durban to meet prominent Swiss citizens in the city. They exchanged ideas about native Swiss composers, and a few days later, the ambassador called Schneuwly with the proposal to mount the tricentennial Rousseau work.

The opera will be performed in concert by Durban soprano, Lauren Dasappa, tenor Warren Vernon-Driscoll and baritone Azola Mabutho, with Baroque 2000’s Ralitza Cherneva leading the group. The Durban concert will be followed by two performances in Pretoria, one for invited guests at the Swiss Embassy on 27 March, the second a public performance at the Brooklyn Theatre on 28 March at 20:00. There will be two final Gauteng performances at the Diepkloof Hall in Soweto on 30 March, one for schools at 10:00, and the other a public performance at 18:00.

Enthusiasts who would like to subscribe to Baroque 2000 eight-concert series at its regular Mariannhill Monastery venue near Durban can email [email protected] or call Michel Schneuwly on 082 303 5241.