Opera News & Press

Death By Opera: New Orleans Wine Auction Comes of Age

Read about the Wine Auction on NewOrleans.com.

Dean Shapiro
NewOrleans.com

Anyone who was born the year the New Orleans Opera Association held its first Wine Auction would be turning the legal drinking age this year. However the history of the storied musical art form in New Orleans goes much further back than that. Back over 213 years, to be exact; to the year 1796 when the first opera was staged in the city.

That momentous event will be commemorated when the Junior Committee of the Women’s Guild of the New Orleans Opera Association stages its 21st Annual Wine and Spirits Auction on Thursday, October 29. The location of this year’s fundraising event is no coincidence. The Inn on Bourbon Street in the Bourbon Ramada Plaza Hotel, at the corner of Toulouse and Bourbon streets in the heart of the French Quarter, stands on the site of the old French Opera House that burned down on December 4, 1919 and was never rebuilt.

During its heyday, from its opening in 1859 until its sad demise, the French Opera House was the epicenter of New Orleans’ social and cultural life. American premieres of the works of some of Europe’s greatest opera composers were staged there and some of the greatest singers of their era performed there. While the French Opera House stood, New Orleans reigned supreme as “The Opera Capital of North America.”

A frontal view of the old white marble opera house, designed by James Gallier Jr., is featured on the invitation card to this year’s auction. The theme for this year’s Wine Auction, as it is for the 2009-10 New Orleans Opera Season, is “Death by Opera.” All three operas performed by the NOOA this season, plus the Verdi Requiem in January, all revolve around this theme.

The wine auctions themselves have a history that is almost as interesting as that of the city’s centuries-old opera tradition. Begun as a modest affair in the late 1980s, the auction has since grown into a major social event and one of the largest fundraisers of each opera season. In the early 1990s, the Wine Auction Dinner was hosted by a then little-known chef who had just opened his first restaurant at Tchoupitoulas and Julia streets and has since gone on to worldwide renown: Emeril Lagasse. In addition to being the gracious host and contributing the use of his facility, Emeril also purchased many of the wines auctioned off during those early years.

Since that time, wine donations to the auction have come in from all over the United States and nearly every inhabited continent: from North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Some of the world’s best-known vintners have put in appearances at past auctions, including the late Robert Mondavi, who is widely credited with elevating California wines to European standards. Other celebrities have served as guest auctioneers over the years.

This year’s wine auction, as in the past, will feature live and silent auctions between 7:30 and 10:30. Guest auctioneers this year are Rob Nelson and Laura Buchtel of WWL-TV Channel 4’s “Morning News.” Live entertainment will be provided by renowned pianist Joe Krown and his trio, and there will be dancing, food and . . . of course . . . plenty of wine and spirits to sample.

The Patron Party, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., will feature “Death by Opera” performances; arias from some of this year’s operas sung by talented local opera singers. Patron tickets are $75 apiece and guest tickets are $50. You must be 21 years old to attend.

Costumes are optional but highly encouraged. Those who come dressed as their favorite doomed hero or heroine can enter the “Death by Opera” Costume Contest. Those who don’t costume may come in cocktail attire.

To purchase tickets, contact Gina Klein in the New Orleans Opera office at 504-529-2278 extension 227 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . The number for the hotel is 504-818-0262.