Jarry Atypique

In 1733, Pergolesi created La Serva padrona in Naples, which won over Paris in 1752, becoming the symbol of Italian music. Quickly played in French as La Servante Maitresse, it inspired Rousseau for his Devin du Village, a parody of which was created under the title Les Amours de Bastien et Bastienne. Mozart discovered it in 1768 and composed his Bastien und Bastienne in German for the private theatre of the magician Mesmer. These two masterpieces bound through style and history come to life with colourful plots: lightness, falsehoods and what is comic create delightfully bubbly situations for the tyrannical servant and naive shepherds, from which Pergolesi and Mozart derived the best musical effects. Adele Carlier, David Tricou and Marc Scoffoni, with the Opera Royal Orchestra and Gaetan Jarry, carry this torch of emotion and comedy, so emblematic of the 18th century.

Although celebrated for opera and harpsichord in his fifties, Rameau had formerly been first and foremost a master of sacred music. These works, composed between 1712 and 1721 when he was in his thirties, are marvels of balance, fully bearing the seeds of the splendor that Rameau would later display on the Parisian opera scene. In the French tradition of Lully and Lalande, which places the sacred text at the heart of a sumptuous musical performance, this complete set of Rameau's Motets is performed with jubilation and grace by the soloists, the choir and the Marguerite Louise Orchestra under the inspired direction of Gaétan Jarry.

It was on July 18, 1668 that Moliere successfully performed George Dandin ou le mari confundu, a play mixed with a sung pastoral, for "Le Grand Divertissement Royal de Versailles" offered by Louis XIV to his Court, as a celebration of the Peace of Aachen. This amusing story of a rich peasant who purchases a young noble girl includes interludes set to the splendid music of Lully. The same year sees the promising meeting between Lully and Quinault: together they write for King La Grotte de Versailles, in which Louis is glorified, and dances in person the role of a nymph. These two works, symbolic of the creative vigor of the early days of Versailles, and of the artistic appetite of a thirty-year-old Sovereign, are brought back to life thanks to Gaetan Jarry and Marguerite Louise, with incomparable taste: tambourines, flutes and musettes are part of the festivities and the trumpets proclaim the glory of Louis. Here we have a scintillating echo of the sumptuous festivities given at Versailles by Louis XIV!

D’Alfred Jarry, on ne retient souvent de nos jours que le scandaleux Ubu Roi. Cela revient cependant à passer sous silence la singulière expérimentation, placée sous le signe de l’enfance, dans laquelle l’existence de l’écrivain s’est peu à peu abimée. Au creux de sa voix lézardée se devine un désir éperdu de mettre en mots les forces de déflagration propres à la vie, qui corrompent inéluctablement notre conscience individuée et que nos nobles philosophies s’efforcent en vain de compenser. …

Here are the Oriental Turqueries galantes of the Opera Comique, where the lovers are captured by Corsairs and held as prisoners: the Harem for the Belle and the galleys for her knight… These enslaved Christians captivated the artistic imagination, which mixed the Thousand and One Nights and slave traders in amorous intrigues where the Sultan is deceived in his Seraglio! The young soprano Florie Valiquette embodies these captive heroines, marked by love, despair and courage, while Gaetan Jarry offers the Orchestre de l'Opera Royal the bright colours and frenzied rhythms of Oriental fantasy, from Gretry to Mozart!

To mark the Coronation of King Charles III, we have brought together the most famous pieces of music from the coronations of James II in 1685 and George II in 1727. The masterpieces by Purcell and Handel display an extraordinarily evocative force: their “Grand Style” put a magnificent stamp on the Ceremonial of the Crown of England. Drum rolls and glorious trumpet fanfares herald the acclamations of Westminster: God Save the King!

Officier du roi dans une Pologne imaginaire, le Père Ubu est un horrible bonhomme et sa femme une gredine : deux personnages comiques, avec leur vocabulaire particulier et leurs pittoresques scènes de ménage. Le texte est enrichi d'une lecture d'image et d'une mise en perspective explorant le mouvement littéraire, le genre, le contexte historique et social, etc. …