This new recording from March 2024 of Jean-Baptiste Lully's musical tragedy, premiered in Saint-Germain-en-Laye 348 years earlier, is the result of the most recent historical, musicological and organological research. The instructions in the 1676 libretto regarding the orchestra's layout, the number and distribution of musicians, and the instrumental colours, particularly of the wind instruments, have been scrupulously followed by Alexis Kossenko and Benoît Dratwicki, artistic director of the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles. The choice of soloists was as close as possible to the characteristics of the singers who performed the work when it was first created, as much is known about their vocal and theatrical qualities. This has resulted in a first-rate vocal ensemble, including Mathias Vidal, Véronique Gens, Sandrine Piau, Tassis Christoyannis, Hasnaa Bennani, Eléonore Pancrazi, Adrien Fournaison, David Witczak... as well as the Pages and Chantres du CMBV (bringing together children and adults) and Les Ambassadeurs - La Grande Écurie, all experts in this repertoire.

The court of Louis XIV was a lively and musically thriving place, and Jean-Baptiste Lully, who actually was Italian (Giovanni Battista Lulli) but became a naturalized French citizen, was right in the middle of it. As director of one of the king's orchestras and as Superintendent of the King's Music, Composer of the King's Chamber, and Master of Music of the Royal Family, Lully's job included providing music for various entertainments, mostly ballets and other orchestral and stage works. Sacred choral music came later in Lully's career, and this recording offers three of his most important masterpieces in this genre. The artful use of homophonic and polyphonic sections, double chorus, soloists, and orchestral color combine to give each of these substantial works the dramatic charge and forward-moving energy of a theatrical piece. Le Concert Spirituel, named and fashioned after an 18th-century concert organization that specialized in performance of French "Grands Motets", is an outstanding modern advocate for Lully's music, with fine soloists, an excellent chorus that knows the true meaning of "ensemble", and instrumentalists (and conductor) who understand the importance of rhythm in realizing this music's full effect. I look forward to Volume 2. [11/25/1999]--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

The Aradia Baroque Ensemble, Mary Enid Haines & Sharla Nafziger, Sopranos. Conducted by Kevin Mallon. Recorded at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Toronto, Canada October 8-10, 1996. Played on original instruments.