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Médée, a tragedy in a prologue and five acts on a libretto by Thomas Corneille, was Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s first and last collaboration with the Académie Royale de Musique. The work was premiered on 4 December 1693, when Charpentier was exactly fifty years old and at the height of his career. Louis XIV attended the performance, proving that it was an eagerly awaited event. Yet this sombre drama, which disconcerted the public, was withdrawn after just ten performances, and not heard again until 1976. A specialist in the French repertory and a close associate of the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles, where he has followed all the advances in research and historically informed performance for thirty-five years, Hervé Niquet has endeavoured, in presenting this new Médée, scrupulously to apply all the scholarly findings available to us today. Reviews BBC Music Magazine February 2024 “Gens fits Médée to her vocal arts: when wounded, her pitches drip with sorrow; when threatening, her crescendos gather like storm clouds; when enraged, she lays waste to all other parts…Niquet also brilliantly deploys continuo – its pulses, pauses and rushing passages – to shape how we hear the words of the recitative, which is what drives Médée forward. A magnificent performance. – 4 out of 5 stars Financial Times 6th January 2024 “Niquet, founder-conductor of Le Concert Spirituel, presents a new realisation that aims to get as close as possible to the details of Charpentier’s score. Véronique Gens sounds in less than fresh voice, but rises to the dramatic heights of Medea’s all-encompassing role. Cyrille Dubois is the stylish Jason and Thomas Dolié and David Witczak give fine support as Creon and Orontes. Chorus and orchestra are first-rate. – 4 out of 5 stars Gramophone Magazine March 2024 “All told, this is a long-overdue and welcome fresh perspective on Charpentier’s only fully fledged tragédie en musique. Sunday Times 28th January 2024 “Uniformly excellent performances and some fascinating new details and emphases make this a must-have disc. – 4 out of 5 stars |
