Echo et Narcisse de Gluck

After five consecutive triumphs at the Paris Opera since 1774, which ensured his place as a reformer of French opera, Chevalier Gluck, also known as the Bohemian Juggler, was adored by the public and protected by Queen Marie-Antoinette. The new commission from the Royal Academy of Music was also his last work: Echo & Narcisse, based on Ovid's Metamorphoses, was premiered in Paris in 1779. With a style more akin to the pastoral than the heroic tragedy, it disconcerted the audience who had come to see Gluck's new innovative feat: it was above all a tribute to the splendour of the French tradition that he had composed. Disappointed by this reception, Gluck left for Vienna and stopped composing.

Since then, Echo & Narcisse has been waiting for the chance to be heard and appreciated by the public. It was a meeting between Le Concert Spirituel and the Fondation Etrillard, whose mission is to rediscover forgotten works, that brought Gluck's opera out of obscurity. This event is also an opportunity to bring together music and the art of tapestry, embodied by two pieces from the Etrillard Foundation's collection. These are Narcissus admiring his reflection, produced around 1630 after a carton by Simon Vouet, and Echo & Narcisse, woven at the Gobelins factory around 1700 after Antoine Dieu. These two works will be presented to the public during the concert at the Opéra Royal.

Hervé Niquet and a brilliant cast resurrect Gluck's ultimate work for recording and concert. The fates of the nymph Echo, who can only repeat the last word she hears, and the proud Narcissus, condemned to love only his own reflection, are worthy of a baroque opera.