Orphée et Euridice

A founding myth of Western music, the story of Orpheus and Eurydice's love affair runs through the history of opera. Paul Agnew, who first tackled the subject with Monteverdi's Orfeo, now revisits another musical interpretation, conducting Gluck's Orphée et Euridice. 

This opera, whose famous aria "J'ai perdu mon Eurydice" ("I've lost my Eurydice") has gone down in history, has had several versions. Later than the Italian castrato scores, the French version adapts the role of Orphée to the key range in the French repertoire, namely the haute-contre (or high tenor) voice. In addition to altering the overall tonality of the score, this final version demonstrates Gluck's profound desire to transform French opera - and lyric theater in general. 

This production, which was a resounding success when first presented at the Philharmonie de Paris in 2023, brings together the chorus and orchestra of Les Arts Florissants around three exceptional soloists, already well known to regulars of the Festival Dans les Jardins de William Christie: Reinoud Van Mechelen (Titon in Titon et l'Aurore, 2023), Ana Vieira Leite (title role in Partenope, 2021) and Julie Roset (Amour in Titon et l'Aurore, 2023). 

A fitting end to this 13th edition of the Festival!