Le Divertissement Royal de Versailles - An audience with the Sun King

Works by Lully, Rameau, Delalande, Philidor & Rebel
Concerto Stella Matutina
Alfredo Bernardini - Baroque oboe & conductor
The Sun King Louis XIV made his fairytale palace of Versailles near Paris the centre of European culture. The French monarch was a master of self-expression and propaganda. The music at his court also had to serve this purpose: Its splendour and magnificence were intended to demonstrate the power and prestige of the absolutist ruler. The Concerto Stella Matutina from Vorarlberg whisks us away to Versailles; we can listen to impressive baroque orchestral works by composers favoured and particularly promoted by Louis XIV and his successors. The Italian-born Jean-Baptiste Lully created the tragédie lyrique, an original French opera genre whose classic pieces include his Alceste. Our programme includes a suite of instrumental pieces from this opera as well as wind suites by André Philidor, the scion of an important French musical family. Although the Sun King brought Jean-Féry Rebel to his court and had him study with Lully, he could no longer hear his most famous orchestral work Les Elements.This original programme symphony from 1737 begins with an incredibly modern depiction of chaos. The greatest master of the tragédie lyrique after Lully was undoubtedly Jean-Philippe Rameau, whose pioneering music forms the brilliant conclusion to our concert.