Medea

Charpentier's Medea, the second of the season after Cherubini's opener, is one of the most attractive French baroque operas and a testament to the composer's mastery of the genre. It comes from the Gallic star duo Veronique Gens and Laurent Naouri, with vivid characters, intense emotions and very powerful vocal writing. This opera became a commercial and critical success that lasted only a few months, after which it remained almost 300 years without ever being performed on another stage.  

A shared characteristic between all the Medeas is that the opera requires a protagonist of enormous vocal and theatrical talent. The Medée by Marc-Antoine Charpentier is no exception to this rule, although it must be said, – in contrast to the heroine in Cherubini, a century later– the    crowning moment takes place in the middle of the opera, when, emulating her predecessor, Armide, the furies of the underworld are called upon to support her in the terrible revenge.

The shadow of Lully is relentless throughout the only opera composed by Charpentier. It premiered quite unceremoniously at the Académie Royale de Musique in 1693, precisely because of the nostalgic and revered patriarchy of French music who felt disdain towards their presumed successors, especially if their music showed some sort of approval of the Italian style.  The recovery of the work in modern times –accelerated by the pioneer recording directed by Nadia Boulanger in 1952– has made it, on the contrary, one of the most appreciated artistic prizes of French opera from the era of the Sun King.

Tragédie mise en musique with a prologue and five acts

Music by Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704)

Libretto by Thomas Corneille, based on the tragédie by Pierre Corneille

Premiere at the Ópera of Paris on 4 December 1693

Premiere at the Teatro Real

Semi-staged concert version

Artistic team

Musical conductor: William Christie

Stage director: Marie Lambert le Bihan

Cast

Médée: Véronique Gens

Nerine: Emmanuelle de Negri

Jason: Reinoud van Mechelen

Arcas: Lisandro Abadie

Créon: Cyril Costanzo

Oronte: Marc Mauillon

Créuse/First ghost: Ana Vieira Leite

Cléone: Élodie Fonnard

Love/First prisioner: Lucía Martín-Cartón

First Corinthian/demon: David Tricou

A Corinthian/Envy: Bastien Rimondi

An argium: Matthieu Walendzik

Italian/Second prisioner: Mariasole Mainini

A prisoner of love: Clément Debieuvre

Chorus of three prisoners of love: Juliette Perret, Julia Wischniewski, David Tricou

Revenge: Igor Bouin

Second ghost: Virginie Thomas

Three-part chorus: Maud Gnidzaz, Alice Gregorio, Bastien Rimondi

Orchestra and Chorus Les Arts Florissants