Vivaldi/GUIDO - The Seasons

Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal
Stefan Plewniak, violin and conductor

Malandain Ballet Biarritz
Thierry Malandain, choreography

On the one hand, the despair of humanity facing the irrevocable fading of the seasons, on the other, the sublime eternity of nature’s renewal... These are the two worlds developed by Thierry Malandain in Les Saisons, a ballet interweaving The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi and The Four Seasons of the Year by Giovanni Antonio Guido. The Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal, under the direction of Stefan Plewniak, delivers a nuanced interpretation of these well-known arias, freshly accompanying the dancers of Malandain Ballet Biarritz.

Performance recorded on December 15th 2023, at the Royal Opera of the Château de Versailles by Les Films Figures Libres, with the participation of Mezzo and medici.tv

You may find the booklet, available in French and English, by clicking here

You may find this  recording on our online shop by clicking here

La passion selon saint jean

Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal
Under the patronage of Aline Foriel-Destezet
Gaétan Jarry Conductor

Linard Vrielink Evangélist Tenor
Moritz Kallenberg Tenor
Nicolas Brooymans Jésus Bass-baritone
Halidou Nombre* Pilate, Baritone
Solistes et chœurs du Tölzer Knabenchor

*Member of the Académie de l’Opéra Royal

Of the two passions of Bach which have been preserved, St. John was the first one to be composed, and was improved several times by the Cantor for different performances between 1724 and 1747. At Saint-Thomas Church in Leipzig, Bach had a choir and instrumental ensemble that was sufficiently well-trained to allow for the virtuosity of the arias and choruses of this rich passion, and he pushed the rhetoric to the extreme by emphasising the dramatic text as much as the doloristic text that it was meant to embody. It was by far the most extensive of his compositions and remains a favourite among audiences today for its extraordinary humanity.

Barely one year after his arrival in Leipzig, he performed this first great masterpiece for Good Friday in 1724. As such, you will be attending this exceptional evening on the three-hundred-year anniversary of the première of this masterful work. The Orchestra of the Opéra Royal, directed by Gaétan Jarry, will welcome renowned soloists and the formidable Tölzer Knabenchor.

Founded in 1956 near Munich, this boys’ choir is now the heir of seven decades of the most outstanding choral work. The choir – and in particular its young soloists – have performed around the world with, among others, Herbert von Karajan, Wolfgang Sawallisch, James Levine and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Today, it is the greatest children’s choir and especially dazzling in the German holy music repertoire, which the boys sing with joy in their own language. Unforgettable.

The Productions of the Royal Opera

Romeo and Giulieta - ZINGARELLI

An opera in three acts to a libretto by Giuseppe Maria Foppa, premièred at La Scala in Milan in 1796.

Chœur de l’Opéra Royal
Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal

Under the high patronage of Aline Foriel-Destezet

Stefan Plewniak Conductor

Franco Fagioli Romeo
Adèle Charvet Juliet
Krystian Adam Evrard
Valentino Buzza Théobald
Nicolò Balducci Gilbert
Florie Valiquette Mathilde

Gilles Rico Stage director

Roland Fontaine Sets

Christian Lacroix Costumes

Bertrand Couderc Lighting

Napoleon's favorite opera

Napoleon's fervor for opera was extreme. Conquered by the opera Romeo and Juliet, this great music lover brought to him a young Italian star, the contralto Giuseppina Grassini, and the most dazzling castrato: Girolamo Crescentini, the only singer to move the Emperor to tears. Invited to France from 1806 to 1812, Crescentini enjoyed the glorious evenings of the Chapelle Impériale at the Tuileries, in the company of Grassini, appointed First Cantatrice to His Majesty the Emperor - and his mistress. Napoleon's musical passion was Italian opera: 143 concerts by Italian soloists at court between 1810 and 1815 bear witness to this!

Grassini and Crescentini's workhorse was Zingarelli's opera Giulietta e Romeo, premiered at La Scala in 1796, and performed many times before Napoleon in Paris by his two favorite singers. “They excite heroism in me”, said Napoleon. With Franco Fagioli and Adèle Charvet, this duo of Empire stars is brought back to life, resurrecting Zingarelli's totally forgotten opera, even though it was a triumph throughout Europe for three decades, thanks to a sumptuous Bel Canto: this is Napoleon's Opera !

Production Opéra Royal / Château de Versailles Spectacles

The Centre de musique baroque de Versailles is making available its collection of sets designed by Antoine Fontaine.

The Crown

Chœur de l’Opéra Royal
Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal

Gaétan Jarry Conductor

Of all the major ceremonies performed by European monarchies in the pre-Revolutionary era, the Rite of Coronation was obviously the most symbolic and lavish, followed in musical intensity by the royal wedding or funeral. It is for the English monarchy that the music has been best preserved since the mid-17th century: here we find the most sumptuous ceremonial music of the Anglican sacred repertoire.

This Grand Style marked the pomp and ceremony of the English Crown: drum rolls and glorious trumpet fanfares heralded the acclamations of Westminster. God Save the King!

Campra - Les Arts Florissans

André Campra (1660-1744)

Misere (Psalm 50)
Requiem Mass

William Christie Conductor 

Gwendoline Blondeel Dessus
Bastien Rimondi Countertenor
David Tricou High counter 
Mathieu Walendzik Bass-version
Igor Bouin Bass

Recorded at the Chapelle Royale on December 9th 2023

Don Giovanni 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)

Robert Gleadow - Arianna Vendittelli - Florie Valiquette
Riccardo Novaro - Jean-Gabriel Saint Martin - Enguerrand de Hys
Éléonore Pancrazi - Nicolas Certenais

Ballet, Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera of Versailles
Gaétan Jarry, conductor
Marshall Pynkoski, stage director
Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg, choreography
Roland Fontaine, sets

Don Giovanni was commissioned by the Prague Opera immediately after the success of The Marriage of Figaro : Mozart and Da Ponte chose a subject that had triumphed a few weeks earlier in Venice, Giuseppe Gazzaniga's Don Giovanni. Taking up the theme of Le Trompeur de Séville (The Deceiver of Seville), which had already been popular in the theater since the mid-17th century, Da Ponte focused on the libertine character of Don Juan, no doubt inspired by his famous friend Casanova. The result is dazzling, never leaving the spectator the slightest respite between murders, scenes of seduction, cunning and fantastic apparitions: here is a grand spectacle served by extraordinary music, an absolute masterpiece, to which Prague gave an exceptional triumph. Marshall Pynkoski sweeps the characters into a dramatic whirlwind dressed in Christian Lacroix fantasies, Robert Gleadow finally takes on the role of Don Giovanni, and Gaétan Jarry makes the Royal Opera Orchestra shine. 

Show filmed on November 17th and 18th 2023 at the Royal Opera of the Château de Versailles by WAHOO Productions.

You may find the booklet, available in French and English, by clicking here

You may find this recording on our online shop by clicking here

La Caravane du Caire

André Grétry (1741 - 1813)

Opera-ballet in three acts, libretto by Étienne Morel de Chédeville, first performed at the Théâtre royal de Fontainebleau in 1783.

New production

Hélène Guilmette Zélime
Jean-Gabriel Saint-Martin Husca Florestan
Marie Perbost Almaïde
Pierre Derhet Saint-Phar
Enguerrand de Hys Tamorin
Robert Gleadow Osman Pacha
Lili Aymonino French slave
Chantal Santon Jeffery Italian slave
Lucie Edel German slave
Benoît Descamps Osmin
Samuel Guibal Furville

Emma Brest, Malory Delenclos, Vincent Gerbet, Margritte Gouin, Ludovick Le Floc'h, Laurine Ristroph, Edward Tracz and Dominic Who Dancers

Royal Opera Ballet 
Le Concert Spirituel Chorus and orchestra
Hervé Niquet Conductor
Marshall Pynkoski Stage direction
Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg Choreography 
Antoine Fontaine Sets 
Camille Assaf Costumes 
Hervé Gary Lighting
Stéphane Le Bel Lighting assistant
Elisabeth Geiger Singer 

A masterpiece resurrected! La Caravane du Caire was a triumph when it premiered in 1783, and continued to resonate through the ranks of Napoleon's army with the chorus “La Victoire est à nous!”. Grétry's colorful piece, with its patriotic accents, is a true hymn to France: in the sands of Egypt, the “brave Frenchman” Saint-Phar tries to free his beloved Zélime from the slave trader who is going to sell her to the Pacha, the true ogre of the fable! Grétry's dazzling music constantly scores points in this stylish entertainment! The rocambolical situations and ballets feature a sparkling cast, a veritable gallery of characters swept up in a music-hall Orient by the winning duo from Richard the Lionheart by the same Grétry: Marshall Pynkoski and Hervé Niquet!

LES CHEMINS DE BACH : LE VOYAGE À LÜBECK

This concert recounts the prodigious journey that the young Johann Sebastian Bach undertook to meet the most fascinating musician of his time: Dietrich Buxtehude.

Maïlys de Villoutreys Soprano
Perrine Devillers Soprano
Lucile Richardot Mezzo-soprano
Antonin Rondepierre Tenor
Renaud Bres Bass
Manuel Walser Bass

Pygmalion Choir and Orchestra
Raphaël Pichon Conductor

In 1705, the twenty-year-old Bach temporarily left Arnstadt, where he worked as an organist, for a four-hundred-kilometre journey on foot to Lübeck, the Hanseatic capital of northern Germany. His goal was to meet the famous Dietrich Buxtehude, the most famous composer and organist of his time. At the age of sixty-eight, the master created his Abendmusiken, concert evenings featuring up to forty performers! His cantatas and organ works were played all over Germany, such was their quality and virtuosity. Bach's meeting with this mentor over a period of several weeks, the discovery of his exceptional playing and the opportunity to hear many new works from the Nordic school (particularly those by Nikolaus Bruhns, who was working not far away in Usum) enriched the young organist-composer, who left full of musical ideas and ambition. He showed the master some of his compositions, received his advice and perfected his style and playing with him. He also had in mind the works of his great-uncle Johann Christoph Bach, twenty years his senior and cantor in Eisenach: the most gifted of the family before Johann Sebastian.

The cantata BWV 4, dated 1707, is one of the first fruits of these Buxtehudian and Nordic influences on Bach: a masterpiece whose origins in Lübeck and in the music of North Germany and the Bachs' native Saxony are explored by Raphaël Pichon throughout this concert programme.

Produced by Opéra Royal / Château de Versailles Spectacles

This concert was recorded by France Musique and captured by Camera Lucida.

  Available on all streaming platforms here!

CAVALLI : L'EGISTO

Dramatic fable in a prologue and three acts on a libretto by Giovanni Faustini, first performed at the Teatro San Cassiano in Venice in 1643

Marc Mauillon, Egisto
Ambroisine Bré, Climène
Zachary Wilder, Lidio
Sophie Junker, Clori 
Romain Bockler, Hipparco

Le Poème Harmonique
Vincent Dumestre Conductor

In 1643 in Venice, Cavalli’s new opera caused a sensation among the audience of the Teatro San Cassiano. L’Egisto takes its name from the piece’s main character, an Arcadian shepherd who is misled by an ambiguous inscription into believing his love is lost. A succession of misunderstandings ensues, along with spectacular pieces of music, a scene of madness and a descent into the Underworld for this would-be Orpheus searching for his Eurydice. The sumptuousness of the music, which masterfully illustrates the emotions involved in a love quadrangle, offers Vincent Dumestre and his cast the opportunity to paint with dazzling colours and virtuoso strokes for this first great labyrinth of Baroque sentiment.

Produced by Opéra Royal/Château de Versailles Spectacles.

This show was recorded on March 22nd and 23rd 2022 at the Royal Opera of Versailles.   

You may find the booklet, available in French and English, by clicking here

You may find this  recording on our online shop by clicking here

  Available on all streaming platforms here!

CHARPENTIER : DAVID ET JONATHAS

Biblical tragedy in five acts with a prologue, based on a libretto by Father Bretonneau, created in 1688 in Paris.

First complete staging in the Royal Chapel of Versailles

Ensemble Marguerite Louise
Gaétan Jarry Conductor
Marshall Pynkoski Stage direction
Antoine and Roland Fontaine Settings
Christian Lacroix Costumes

Marc-Antoine Charpentier spent most of his career without being able to access opera, as Lully held the royal privilege for this form, however he was able to create a lyrical masterpiece under very special circumstances. In 1688, the Collège Louis Le Grand, in the Jesuit tradition of theatrical, musical and choreographic practice, performed his lyrical tragedy David et Jonathas, with acts interspersed between those of the play Saul. This musical work relates a well-known subject from the Old Testament, the strong friendship - the biblical love - of David and Jonathas, son of King Saul (the latter convinced of the betrayal of the young David, who took refuge in the Philistine’s camp after his banishment). The inevitable confrontation between their armies leads to Saul's suicide and Jonathas' death in the arms of the victorious David...

The extraordinary inspiration of Charpentier's music, the dramatic force of the libretto, and the intense emotion that radiates from the work, led to great success from the outset, as shown by several revivals in other Jesuit colleges. This production is a baroque dream: a performance of the sacred drama David and Jonathas in the Chapelle Royale of Versailles, with a magnificent set by Antoine Fontaine, costumes by Christian Lacroix, a baroque and vibrant staging by Marshall Pynkoski, choreography by Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg, and the admirable musical vision of Gaetan Jarry leading exceptional soloists. This is the vibrant version of the fateful, fusional love between David and Jonathas...

Produced by Opéra Royal / Château de Versailles Spectacles.

This show was recorded  from November 12th to 16th 2022 by Camera Lucida at the Royal Chapel.

You may find the booklet, available in French and English, by clicking here

You may find this  recording on our online shop by clicking here