Description
A lyric tragedy in five acts and a prologue. Composed in 1693 for the Royal Academy of Music, based on a libretto by Thomas Corneille. Premiered on December 4, 1693, in Paris.
Long overshadowed by Lully’s towering presence, Marc-Antoine Charpentier had only one chance to conquer the stage of the Académie Royale de Musique, and he seized it with dazzling mastery. In 1693, he composed *Médée*, his only opera, and perhaps the greatest masterpiece of the French Baroque.
Based on a libretto by Thomas Corneille, loosely inspired by his illustrious brother Pierre, the work examines with luminous cruelty the soul of a betrayed woman. Jason has abandoned her. M%E9d%E9e will make him pay the most unbearable price imaginable: the lives of his own children. Charpentier depicts this descent into hell with music of rare subtlety—heart-wrenching harmonies, finely crafted recitative, and sequences of almost unsettling fluidity.
To embody this incandescent character, contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux takes on the challenge of this extraordinary role for the first time. Opposite her, the young Czech tenor Petr Nekoranec lends his luminous voice to the role of Jason. Surrounding them is a cast of first-rate soloists, the passionate voices of the Namur Chamber Choir, and an orchestra at the top of its game: Les Épopées, under the familiar baton of Stéphane Fuget.
Running time: 1 hour 35 minutes, including intermission
Prices: 48? | 37? | 33? | 28?
Performed and subtitled in French
