Concert

Perseus (original version from 1682) opera by Lully

Saison

2024/2025

Opera in concert

Musical tragedy in five acts and a prologue in praise of Louis XIV, composed in 1682, on a text by Philippe Quinault. Persée is the most spectacular opera of all those by Lully, since it contains an omnipresent use of the marvelous, crowd scenes, and complex scenic devices using both the hangers and the underside, making the work almost impractical in theater today.

Distribution

Mathias Vidal Perseus
Anaïk Morel Andromeda/the Hymen
Helene Carpentier Merope
Thomas Dolie Phinea
Michèle Losier Cassiope
Matthieu Lecroart Cepheus
Reinoud Van Mechelen mercury
David Tricou Megathyma/First Ethiopian/Euryale
David Witczak Phronime/Second Ethiopian/a Cyclops/ Medusa/Triton/the High Priest
Alexandre Baldo Third Ethiopian/an infernal deity/Stenone/Idas
Olivia Doray LaVertu/A Warrior Nymph/Venus
Marine Lafdal-Franc Fortune/Love

Hervé Niquet managements

chorus and orchestra The Spiritual Concert

Les Pages et les Chantres du Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles (Fabien Armengaud, artistic director)

Program

Tragedy in music, in a prologue and five acts, on a libretto by Philippe Quinault based on the Metamorphoses by Ovide, created at the Académie Royale de Musique on 17 April 1682.

Production

Coproduction: Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Le Concert Spirituel and the Versailles Baroque Music Center Score made by Nicolas Sceaux, Le Concert Spirituel - Hervé Niquet.

Duration

3:00

Intermission included

Photo credit

Mathias Vidal (Perseus) at the Royal Opera of Versailles © Château de Versailles Spectacles

Additional information

Opera sung in French, surtitled in French and English

A version of Perseus by Lully from 1770 was recorded for Alpha Classics in the Château de Versailles Spectacles collection. The album was released in March 2017 under the reference ALPHA 967.

This concert will be the subject of an audio recording for the label Alpha Classics/Outhere Music France

Lully, creator of the French opera genre, “Tragedy in Music”, knew how to surround himself with exceptional collaborators, in order to give the “French” show a dazzling effect like no other. Thus, as La Bruyère notes, “French opera delighted the eyes, ears and spirit at the same time.”

In Perseus, the most spectacular of all of Lully's operas, the place given to the orchestra and the chorus is constantly growing, while the main characters are no longer standardized figures, but real heroes, animated by lively and contrasting passions.

A piece of choice for Hervé Niquet, a specialist in this period and a lover of Lully's music, which he presents in an unprecedented way by taking advantage of the latest research on this repertoire at the Versailles Baroque Music Center.

The ensemble Le Concert Spirituel is in residence at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées as part of the “cross-residencies” system initiated by the Versailles Baroque Music Center.

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