Further Reading
11th April 2011
Christophe Rousset presides over a splendidly elegant account of Lully’s 1679 opera, with Cyril Auvity in the title-role, and Les Talens Lyriques on vigorous form.
Recorded in the Opera Royal of the Chateau de Versailles, France.
This world première and eagerly anticipated release is the fruit of lengthy musicological research by Christophe Rousset. Together with a cast of great talent and breath-taking performances from Cyril Auvity and Céline Scheen, Christophe Rousset, conducting his Talens Lyriques invites us to rediscover the revelation that is Bellérophon, first performed on January 31st, 1679.
It originally ran for nine months at the Palais Royal, and it is not surprising that the work, composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully, endeared itself to the king. The mythical story of a fearless hero whose arrogance is punished by the gods was none too subtly altered to show a hero who practises restraint and moderation to the foes he vanquishes – a reference to the Sun King's recent victory over the Dutch, the Spanish and the Holy Roman Emperor.
This is the first recording of this opera, presented in French, German and English. Bellérophon was recently showcased on Radio 3: Catherine Bott interviewed Christophe Rousset about the first modern day performance of this tragedie en lyrique, at the sumptuous Opera Royal at Versailles, and his discovery of missing pages of the score in a bookshop in Paris. Rousset also talked about the qualities that make Lully's opera stand out as a masterpiece.
Synopsis: The eponymous hero is Neptune’s son and is happily betrothed to the Lycian princess Philonoé. But the fiery Stenobée also desires Bellérophon and wants revenge due to his rejection of her. Her ally, the magician Amisodar, takes three monsters and creates a new one from them: the chimera. However, Bellérophon defeats the monster without too much difficulty. Thwarted, Stenobée kills herself out of disappointment and the Lycians acclaim Bellérophon whose dazzling strength and benevolence are intended to mirror similar attributes of Louis XIV’s.