Night is falling. In this twilight of the reign of Louis XIV and at the end of his Grand Coucher, the king is at last free from protocol. He then orders the musicians of the King’s Chamber, to come to him; they are the most excellent in the kingdom. These “Petits Concerts” which were held in the evening before His Majesty enabled the king to hear his preferred repertoire from all that he had loved and even danced to. Here is the “Sleep scene” from Lully’s Atys, the Sombres Deserts by Lambert, the Mutine by Visee, the Grande Piece Royale by Lalande, A Gigue by Marais, La Plainte by La Barre… Thibaut Roussel has gathered around him the finest interpreters of the French baroque repertoire, to give us, as if in a walking dream, the intimate music of this Coucher du Roi. “Let the night last,” sings Le Camus, right up until Couperin’s Land of Dodo.

With his Te Deum (1677), Lully produced a singularly important work, which was to impose an "official" genre which lasted a century: a chef-d’oeuvre of musical architecture, the imposing forces require trumpets and timpani and was the religious work the most often performed at that time. Another substantial work the Missa Salisburgensis by Biber is of an exceptional ostentation. The music, is written for fifty-three different voices, which have to be divided up in the space into two choirs. The impressive forces of trumpets and percussion, indicate the solemnity of the ceremony and thereby resonate splendidly, responding to the angelic choirs like divine acclamations, in order to build a musical monument which would be talked about for eternity.

At the height of his career as a viola da gamba player, Marais published this Suite d’un goût étranger (Suite with a Foreign Flavour) in 1717, a veritable voyage of initiation into the most unexpected musical styles. He paints a portrait of the art of the viola da gamba at the French court, which is almost avant-garde in its audacity. Louis XIV heard these pieces in the latter part of his life, and must have been absolutely delighted with this string of ‘dazzling precious stones’: Tourbillon, Bijou, Tartarine, Asmatique, Sauterelle, Américaine, Caustique, Badinage, Arabesque, Fougade, Bizarre, and finally Labyrinthe, illustrating just how much one can be absorbed in pleasure in the 30 exotic ports of call of this odyssey, of which Robin Pharo is the pilot, at the head of a valiant crew which knows in turn how to be perky, puckish languid and virtuosic!

Christmas time would make sacred music shined forth in monarchical France. The organists had free rein to improvise on the popular Nativity songs, which had been known to all the faithful for centuries, and amateurs would swarm to churches throughout Paris to hear the virtuoso works of these masters! Here, finally gathered together, are the most famous organ pieces of Daquin, Corette, Dandrieu and Balbastre along with the melodies that inspired them, played by the skilled fingers of Gaetan Jarry at the Grand Orgue of the Royal Chapel of Versailles, accompanied by the children’s choir (the Pages) of the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, just as the children used to at the Chapel during the reign of Louis XIV!

One hundred and fifty years of harpsichord music at Versailles, under the reigns of Louis XIII, Louis XIV and Louis XV: French harpsichord music is inseparable from the Court, which gave rise to its greatest performers. The Harpsichord Cycle at Versailles is an anthology of this extraordinary repertoire. The reign of Louis XIII (1610-1643) and the construction of the first Versailles (1624) saw the practice playing the harpsichord take hold in France and it immediately became the virtuoso instrument of the salons. The King’s passion for music and ballet led him to compose himself. Here are masterpieces by the early masters, pieces from the famous ballets that the King danced, and even a work composed by the king himself, all brought together and exalted by the illustrious and virtuoso playing of Arnaud De Pasquale, who is compelling in this repertoire of the pioneers of the French harpsichord.

A musician of genius, Jean-Baptiste Lully put all his musical science at the service of intense oratorical emotion in the Grands Motets. These vast religious compositions, with their powerful dramatic character, were representative of the splendor deployed at the court of Louis XIV. The Dies Irae and the De Profundis, imbued with great solemnity, were both given at the royal funeral of Louis XIV's wife, Queen Maria Theresa of Austria, in 1683 in the Basilica of Saint-Denis. This extraordinary Funerial ostentation was magnified by Lully's works, making Madame de Sevigne remark that at their performance that "all eyes were welled up with tears". Stephane Fuget and Les epopees - a veritable army of generals - deliver a grandiose, shimmering, theatrical and oratorical version of this music, draping it in an abundance of brilliant glittering ornaments, like the sun invigorating the stained-glass windows, mirrors and gilding of Versailles, to the point of eternity.

Gems of baroque music spirit and virtuosity, Handel’s concertos for organ and orchestra were composed to serve as intermezzos during his oratorios. Played at the time by Handel himself – he was known to be an unequaled organist, these agile, tender and poetical pieces reveal a singular color… which Gaétan Jarry will interpret on the new “grand” positive organ built by Quentin Blumenroeder for Versailles: at last an organ that can convey Handel’s music in all its beauty! Responding to the instrumental jubilation expressed by the Marguerite Louise musicians, Handel’s motets for one voice and orchestra will bring the audience the fire and freshness of his composition, in the exceptional interpretation of the soprano Chiara Skerath, a fine finale for this program full of jubilation and grace.

Around 1600, when opera was invented in Italy, Venice was resplendent with the works of Giovanni Gabrieli in the Basilica of San Marco. A daring amalgamation of Flemish and Italian styles, this is a corpus of virtuoso pieces in which voices compete with cornets and trombones for polyphony of rare beauty. In an Italy ravaged by wars, where the Condottieri were the modern Heroes, the souls of these captains rise again thanks to the music of the brilliant Gabrieli, the ultimate representative of a Renaissance that put the fighting Princes into the last cherished armours.... Adrien Mabire and his Mercenaries have been recruited to serve under Maestro Gabrieli, to enable his works to resound loud and clear, where we hear the triumphant flapping banners of the Victory at Lepanto, Glory be to the Serenissima!

Jean-François Dandrieu mirrors himself: here is the King’s organist in his costume of chamber composer, reeds and flutes compete with the trills of the violin... It is rare to have two such dissimilar versions of the same works, two facets of a composer which combine the grandeur and majesty of the organ pieces with the Italianate and virtuoso playfulness of trio sonatas where the violin leads the dance! Yet it was these chamber pieces that Dandrieu first composed, in 1705, and then revisited at the height of his career in Offertoires pour orgue presque galants (1739). Under the musical direction of Camille Delaforge, the ensemble Il Caravaggio allows this inventive and splendid music to sparkle, while Jean-Baptiste Robin makes the stops of his Grand Orgue resound magnificently, filling the Royal Chapel!

Sémiramis tortured by Zoroastre’s spells, violence, incest, murder and magnificence: this is one of the most astonishing tragédies-lyriques! Its composer Destouches led an extraordinary life: a missionary in Siam, then a Musketeer in the Royal Army, he finally became a musician and trained with Campra. His first operatic work, Issé, triumphed in 1697 in the presence of Louis XIV. Twenty years later, his last tragédie-lyrique, Sémiramis (1718), is of great dramatic force, that of the fatal destiny of the Queen of Babylon who, fearing the prophecy of a son who would lead her to death, abandoned him at birth. But Arsane, the adopted son whom she adores whilst ignoring his birth origins, will fulfil the will of the gods by saving his beloved Amestris, driven mad by the magic of Zoroastre. From this powerful libretto, Destouches calls upon striking effects that make his final work a veritable torrent of passion. Margaux Blanchard and Sylvain Sartre bring this opera of impossible love to a state of incandescence.

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In purgatory, the Ghosts of Versailles are waiting impatiently for Beaumarchais’ new play: what if he manages to save Marie Antoinette from the scaffold? Here is Count Almaviva, the famous Figaro, but also Rosina and Cherubino, plunged into a thousand twists and turns to make the famous Queen’s Necklace disappear, thwarting the spies of the Revolution. But the situation escapes its creator, and Beaumarchais must himself become involved in the trial of the Queen – with whom he is in love? With assumed brio, Corigliano’s music navigates between Mozart and Rossini, and takes the audience into an unexpected opera, all the characters of which are familiar to us! The Ghosts of Versailles are indeed there, and will fulfil their destiny once again… This unique opera, triumphantly premiered in 1991 at the Metropolitan Opera of New York, was predestined for to the stage of the Royal Opera of Versailles, for which no doubt Beaumarchais had written this story which goes back in time… Two hundred and fifty years after her marriage in this mythical theatre, will Marie-Antoinette be able to escape her destiny there?

BONUS CONTENT: "Of Rage and Remembrance" - a documentary on Corigliano's Symphony No. 1

REVIEWS:

Corigliano’s score is a riotous mix of styles — Gilbert & Sullivan, Mozart, Rossini, Strauss, as well as his own — and Joseph Colaneri masterfully blended them into a cohesive whole. The orchestra underpinned all of the madcap escapades, tender love scenes and heartache with shimmering sound.

– Seen and Heard International (Rick Perdian reviewing this production)

At the head of the Royal Opera Orchestra, Joseph Colaneri leads instrumentalists and singers in this complex score, of which he masters the shifting distribution between the different instruments. He also ensures a good sound balance between singers and orchestra, in which the voices are highlighted.

– Baroquiades.com (Bruno Maury)

Campra was the most important opera composer between Lully and Rameau. The success of Europe Galante in 1697 is a tribute to this founding work of the Opera-Ballet, mixing dance and opera in the opulent divertissements. Campra takes the spectator on a voyage into the amorous nations of Europe. France moves to the rhythm of the genteel heartbeat of the shepherds and the shepherdesses, Italy refined but jealous and violent and finally the Sultan who has to soothe the criminal bitterness of the Sultana, who has been ousted by a beautiful slave. This is spicy musical banter created during the reign of Louis XIV, recovered by Les Nouveaux Caracteres directed by Sebastien d’Herin.

The flamboyant destiny of the Florentine sculptor Benvenuto Cellini, a misunderstood genius, gave Berlioz the energy to compose his first opera in 1836. It allowed him to identify with the hero of his work: a monumental struggle to create an extraordinary statue, Roman intrigues (well known to Berlioz who had just returned from Villa Medici) and the murder committed by the sculptor arouse dazzling pages in the composer. The powerful choirs evoking the Roman crowds or goldsmiths and the incredibly daring orchestral parts seem utterly innovative. The difficulties of interpretation and the monumentality of Benvenuto Cellini make him a monster both feared and admired. Sir John Eliot Gardiner and his cohort of musicians, all accomplished devotees of Berlioz, are celebrating the year of Berlioz with a presentation of this legendary piece, in a specially staged version, with the title role performed by today’s most spellbinding singer, the tenor Michael Spyres, surrounded by a dizzying distribution. The opera is performed on the historic 1837 set, recreated specially in the Royal Opera: the perfect setting for Benvenuto Cellini! Berlioz and Cellini triumph at the Palace of Versailles, dedicated “To all the glories of France”!

Could Bach’s Suites be most representative of his French identity? Composed in Germany around 1720 at the Court of Köthen, like the Brandenburg Concertos, for a Francophile and gambist, they find in Myriam Rignol’s vision and vibrant embodiment an unmistakable French flavor, transcended by the viola da gamba! When an exceptional talent meets the instrument that makes Bach resound in Versailles, lending it the rhythm of the dances so dear to Louis, in a polyphony like no other, Johann-Sebastian dazzles in the Palace of the Sun King…

Le Destin du Nouveau Siècle [The Fate of the New Century]: what a pertinent idea for a libretto for the year 1700! This unknown opera-ballet by Campra, premiered at the Collège Louis-le-Grand, foreshadowed the Century that was opening in France, where Louis XIV had been King for... 57 years! Saturn wants to regulate the destiny of this new century according to the will of the people, but some wish to ignite an eternal War, while others celebrate Peace. Campra's splendid music is here marvelously revealed by exceptional soloists, under the direction of Patrick Bismuth. The Europe of the old King was rumbling with war and famine to come, unrest mingled with hope at the dawn of this new century... here is the musical snapshot of this so particular era!