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In 1674, Lully and Quinault unveiled a new collaboration: Alceste, a tragedie en musique combining the dramatic power of the Greek myth from which it was inspired with the musical richness of the... more

Of all the performances of the Te Deum conducted during Lully's lifetime, history retains only the last, which sealed the composer's death in 1686: it was while beating time that, carried away by his... more

Here; four exceptional Grands Motets composed by Lully to the greatest glory of Louis XIV have been brought together: Plaude Laetare Gallia was performed in 1668 as a jubilant celebration of the... more

"Percé jusques au fond du coeur" ("Pierced to my heart's depths") is a tragic proclamation of Le Cid's voice, at last put to music by "Mr Charpentier, famed for a thousand works that charmed all of... more

Ulysses and Monteverdi: passion and action at the heart of musical drama. Penelope sings of her endless wait, her hope to see the king of her heart again, while her suitors besiege her to take her... more

In 1607, Claudio Monteverdi premiered his Orfeo for the Carnival opening in the Court Theatre of Duke Vincenzo I of Gonzaga in Mantua. For the first time in the history of music, real characters are... more

The fashionable literary salons of Paris were centres of experimentation in the refined art of conversation that expressed an idealised vision of love as well as a most poetic depiction of... more