Tragedy in music in a prologue and five acts
Known as a performer and author of pieces for the viola da gamba, Marin Marais was also an opera musician and even conductor of the orchestra for several years. He composed four lyrical tragedies, one of which, Ariadne & Bacchus, has yet to be rediscovered. With a libretto rich in characters and contrasting situations, a dense and dramatic score, and colourful orchestration, it is undoubtedly one of the masterpieces of the second half of the reign of Louis XIV.
Starring
Judith van Wanroij Ariane
Véronique Gens Junon / La Nymphe de la Seine
Mathias Vidal Bacchus / Un Songe
Hélène Carpentier Terpsichore / Dircée / Un Songe
Marie Perbost La Gloire / Corcine
Mathieu Lécroart Géralde / Jupiter
David Witczak Adraste
Tomislav Lavoie Le Roi / Un Sacrificateur
Philippe Estèphe Pan / Le Deuxième matelot / Lycas / Phobétor / Phantase / Alecton
Marine Lafdal-Franc L'Amour / Elise / La Naxienne
David Tricou Un Plaisir / Un Suivant du Roi / Le Premier matelot / Mercure
Hervé Niquet musical direction
Choir & Orchestra Le Concert Spirituel
Les Chantres du Centre de musique baroque de Versailles (direction Fabien Armengaud)
Hervé Niquet resurrects this tragedy in music from 1696 with, for the first time, the exact size and layout of the 1700 Opera orchestra. A historically informed version of this Ariane &Bacchus by Marin Marais, a violinist at the Royal Academy of Music from 1676 onwards, at the time when his mentor Lully's Atys was triumphant. The latter introduced Marais to the composition of operas and Ariane et Bacchus was premiered nine years after Lully's death... Made possible thanks to the support of the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles and performed in concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées with great success in 2022, this Ariane is "justly rescued from oblivion," writes Diapason: it is magnified by a sober and accurate interpretation by Hervé Niquet and the Concert Spirituel, in osmosis with a remarkable cast", including Judith van Wanroij, Véronique Gens, Mathias Vidal, Hélène Carpentier, Marie Perbost, Matthieu Lécroart, David Witczak, Tomislav Lavoie, Philippe Estèphe...
