Persée
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Persée by Lully, which is rarely performed, has all the ingredients of a monumental opera. Hervé Niquet has put together a fine team to bring this sleeping beauty back to life.
Mathias Vidal | Persée
Déborah Cachet | Andromède
Hélène Carpentier | Mérope
Thomas Dolié | Phinée
Véronique Gens | Cassiope
Matthieu Lécroart | Céphée
Reinoud Van Mechelen | Mercure
David Tricou | Mégathyme / First Ethiopian / Euryale
David Witczak | Phronime / Second Ethiopian / A Cyclope / Méduse / Triton / High priest
Alexandre Baldo | Third Ethiopian / An infernal deity / Sténone / Idas
Olivia Doray | Virtue / Hymen
Marine Lafdal-Franc | Fortune / A warrior Nymph / Vénus / L’Amour
Hervé Niquet | direction
Le Concert Spirituel Orchestra & Choir
Chantres du Centre de musique baroque de Versailles | direction Fabien Armengaud
Composed for Louis XIV by Jean-Baptiste Lully and his faithful librettist Philippe Quinault, who drew his inspiration from Ovid, Persée has all the ingredients of a monumental opera. This spectacular work, punctuated by dances, fight scenes, and special effects, tells the extraordinary story of Perseus, the son of Zeus, who defeated a snake-haired monster, the gorgon Medusa. A typical Lully opera, it comprises an overture, a prologue (praising Louis XIV) and five acts. This highly flamboyant work blends heroic glory and the pangs of love with balance and finesse. Over a century after its premiere, Persée was chosen by Louis XV to inaugurate the new opera house at the Palace of Versailles for the marriage of Marie-Antoinette and the Dauphin. It has been a sleeping beauty on the opera stage ever since and audiences are now flocking to see it because it is so rarely performed.
Coproduction Théâtre des Champs-Elysées | Le Concert Spirituel | Centre de musique baroque de Versailles