M. Marais & L. de Lully: Alcide

Curve of the moon uit het muzikale ensemble a nocte temporis

Programma

M. Marais & L. de Lully, Alcide

Uitvoerders

Baroque ensemble:

‍a nocte temporis

Choir:

‍Choeur de Chambre de Namur

Soloists:

Reinoud Van Mechelen, Alcide and artistic direction
Gwendoline Blondeel, Iole, La Victoire
Philippe Estèphe, Philocète
Sterre Decru, Testylis‍

Aurélie Moreels, A Shepherdess, Cupid
Sean Clayton, Zephyr
Thibaut Leanerts, A Shepherd, An inhabitant of Oechalia
Samuel Namotte, An inhabitant of the blessed lands
Arnaud Lion, A Warrior, Lichas, A Priest

‍

With Alcide ou le Triomphe d’Hercule, a nocte temporis and Reinoud Van Mechelen return to the rich world of late‑17th‑century French tragédie lyrique.

The opera premiered on 13 March 1693 to great acclaim: a collaboration between Marin Marais and Louis de Lully, son of the renowned Jean‑Baptiste Lully, set to a libretto by Campistron.

Following earlier rediscoveries such as Céphale & Procris (Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre) and Médée et Jason (J.F. Salomon), the ensemble now turns to a work once celebrated but rarely performed today. The opera recounts the tragic fate of Alcide (Hercules) and his unrequited love for Iole, in a prologue and five acts.

Marais, who served for many years as Lully’s assistant, crafted a score deeply rooted in his master’s late style:recitatives shaped by chaconne rhythms, dances, ritornellos, a mad scene, and a striking infernal act - all hallmarks of the grand French operatic tradition.

O mort ! je t'implore en ce jour, Ce n'est plus qu'aprés toy que mon ame soupire; J'ay triomphé jadis de ton puissant empire, Et tu triomphes à ton tour.

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