In celebration of the San Diego Museum of Art’s centennial and Opera Neo’s 15th Anniversary Season, Opera Neo artists present a unique recital. This “exhibition” of art songs is curated to explore and complement some of the works of art in the museum’s galleries, spanning several centuries of art history and bridging multiple continents. The performance at the La Jolla Woman’s Club will be accompanied by immersive projections, and directed by Samantha Fox and Beatrice Huang.

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A Night at the Museum: Art Song Recital

La Jolla Woman's Club

Long before Gounod’s famous Faust, a 26-year-old French composer named Louise Bertin took on Goethe’s epic drama and created something entirely her own. Fausto, receiving its American premiere with Opera Neo, is an astonishingly rare work, seen only at its 1831 Paris premiere, its modern revival in Essen, Germany, and now here in San Diego. Bertin’s score is raw, visceral, and unfiltered, blending Mozartian classicism, Italian opera, German magic opera, and emerging French Romanticism into a strikingly eclectic yet deeply personal musical voice. The opera follows an aging and disillusioned scientist’s desperate bargain with the Devil to reclaim youth and pleasure, posing eternal questions about the value of knowledge and the price of love. Both bold and deeply human, Fausto invites audiences to rediscover a forgotten masterpiece and encounter a uniquely youthful female perspective on one of Western culture’s most enduring stories.

Arianna Paz

Events

Past events

Jul 18, 2026

A Night at the Museum: Art Song Recital · Opera Neo

26 - 27 Jun, 2026

Fausto · Opera Neo

Future and recently performed repertoire

Marta & The Witch (cover) Ensemble in Fausto by Bertin

Opera Neo

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