Envi 5.4

Perhaps Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Devin du Village has been waiting just for you for two centuries at the Theatre de la Reine at the Petit Trianon. On September 19, 1780, Marie-Antoinette was on stage, in costume, and was acting with her troop of aristocrats in front of a public of close friends. That evening, she was singing the role of Colette, the heroine of this one act opera composed in 1753 by the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, perhaps the most celebrated work of its time. That exceptional evening, a veritable fantasy of the Queen’s who imagined that she was a shepherdess, has been resuscitated under the direction of Sebastien d’Herin in a costumed reconstitution, staged in the original historic sets. A bonus film of the complete performance accompanies this recording.

‘One evening I paid a visit to the Opéra. There I saw Les Danaïdes, by Salieri. The gorgeous splendour of the spectacle, the rich fullness of the orchestra and the chorus, the wonderful voice and pathetic charm of Madame Branchu, Dérivis’s rugged power […] filled me with an excitement and enthusiasm that I cannot attempt to describe.’ Thus Berlioz related his encounter with one of the most revolutionary operas of the ancient régime, written by an eminent pupil of Gluck, Antonio Salieri. Feeling the stirrings of early Romanticism, the latter imbued the tragic fate of Hypermnestra with pathos and vehemence such as were rarely attained even by his teacher. The horrible plot fomented by Danaus with his daughters, the Danaids, takes us from palatial splendour to the sinister darkness of a secret temple, and finally to the Underworld itself, where a vulture, serpents, demons and the Furies avenge the mass murder of the sons of Ægyptus.

The pastoral tragedy Acis et Galatée was Lully's last finished work, a three-act extravaganza complete with an opening Prologue, a closing Passacaglia, and assorted dances interspersed throughout. In the right performance, it is at once an inspiring work, a relaxing work, and even an entertaining work and this performance by the Choeurs des Musiciens du Louvre led by Marc Minkowski is surely the right performance.