The upper floor of the nearly two-hundredyear- old Duchamp Opera House in St. Martinville, for an afternoon, seemed to slip free of geography and time, and among audience members exiting the final concert of Baroque on the Bayou 2026 one feeling was universal: we had all been truly transported.
The program featured soprano Claire de Monteil, resplendent in a carmine red gown, performing with the Atchafalaya Orchestra under the direction of André Courville, and the tableau was perfectly suited to the old-world aesthetics of the opera house: the players all in black, violins, viola, cello, bass, harpsichord front and center, maestro in a crimson velvet jacket. By concert’s end de Monteil had received four hearty standing ovations.
A Paris native trained in Geneva and at Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts, de Monteil’s recent appearances include the title role in Cherubini’s Médée in Germany and a 2024 debut at Milan’s famed Teatro alla Scala. Upcoming engagements will take her to major productions in Italy and France. Yet on Sunday, May 24, her stage was downtown St. Martinville.
The concert opened with Charpentier’s Concert pour quatre parties de violes, followed by Bach’s Violin Concerto in G minor. Cuban violinist Carlos Suarez, stepping in for the originally scheduled soloist, delivered a poised and spirited performance drawing roars of applause from the audience.
The second half of the program centered on de Monteil’s voice. Handel arias from Rinaldo and Giulio Cesare showcased her dramatic range and her mastery of emotional color. A voice of formidable power and equally capable of delicacy, de Monteil moved effortlessly between operatic grandeur and intimate fragility as the text demanded, her performance unfolding in carefully calibrated contrasts: strength and vulnerability, brilliance and restraint. Her rendition of “Ave Maria,” sung in Spanish, cast a spell that seemed to reach across the length of the venerable hall, and her interpretations of two beloved French songs associated with Édith Piaf, “La vie en rose” and “Hymne à l’amour,” only deepened the enchantment.
Duchamp Opera House itself proved inseparable from the experience. Unlike larger halls, the venue allows listeners to sit in close proximity to the musicians, and the concert had the feeling of enjoying music among friends. I greeted de Monteil at the opera house front doors a few hours ahead of the concert and escorted her upstairs to show her where she would soon be performing, and immediately she smiled at the remarkable resonance echoing through the old building, like she knew right away how beautifully sound can fill a space.
And she did know. In that setting that Sunday afternoon, the creak of history always lingering beneath the polished performances, the opera house seemed fully alive, and the city of St. Martinville lived up to its longstanding nickname, Le Petit Paris.
