Les Arts florissants / La Descente d'Orphée aux enfers

To close his 80th anniversary season, William Christie has made a symbolic choice: to share with the public the short opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier which gave his name to the ensemble... Les Arts florissants. Presented in a double format with another operatic piece by the same composer, La Descente d'Orphée aux enfers, this new show will also provide an opportunity to discover the voices of the ten new laureates of Le Jardin des Voix, Les Arts Florissants' international academy for young singers. A grand finale!  

Charpentier's Les Arts florissants and La Descente d'Orphée aux enfers are part of the “story of the origins” of Les Arts Florissants, who performed them from their very first concerts. True jewels of theatrical music, these pocket operas were - and still are - fields of remarkably rich experimentation. They contain all the ingredients of Baroque vocal art: choruses in the style of the Roman school, eloquent declamatory solos, courtly arias... and echoes of Lully's comedies and tragedies, with typical overtures and lively, colorful instrumental pieces. These two masterpieces consecrate Charpentier's dramatic genius, whose lasting resonance with audiences remains living proof to this day. 

To give them life and body, this new production will make full use of the energy and talent of the ten new laureates of the Jardin des Voix academy. These young singers, selected from around the world by William Christie and Paul Agnew, will perform together for the first time with the musicians of Les Arts Florissants, and immerse themselves in the ensemble's core repertoire: French music of the “Grand Siècle”. A celebration of the arts, in which stage directors Marie Lambert-Le Bilhan and Stéphane Facco, together with choreographer Martin Chaix and his dancers, will take part to reveal all the flavor and emotion! 

Exceptionally, the singers of the 12th edition of Jardin des Voix will take part in a second new production during the season: Alessandro Scarlatti's oratorio Il giardino di rose, to open Les Arts Florissants' Spring Festival 2026 (dates to be announced).