Wednesday 18 May 2022
West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge
Amid the glitter and pomp of the French court, Lully, Rameau and their contemporaries looked East. Peter Whelan directs the Academy of Ancient Music, as West Road Concert Hall becomes the Palace of Versailles.
Buy Tickets
Tickets are not on sale for this event yet.
Swagger, splendour and imaginations running wild. At the court of the Sun King and his
successors, no-one doubted that the world revolved around Versailles. Or that the court
composers would bring all nations to pay homage – musically, at least. Lully, Rameau,
Delalande and Campra evoke the world of the Ottoman Empire from a very French
perspective.
The result? Well, it’s not always what you expect – and it’s not just sizzling percussion and
tangy harmonies either. Lully’s score for Molière’s social-climbing comedy holds a satirical
mirror to European society. Rameau, meanwhile, gives an unexpectedly positive twist to a
tale of love and forgiveness in a society very different from his own – with music as spirited
as it is entertaining.
Lully Overture & La Cérémonie des Turcs from Le
Bourgeois Gentilhomme
Delalande Grand piece in G-ré-sol from Simphonies pour
les Supers du Roy
Campra Pasacaille and ‘La Turquie’ from L’Europe
Galante
Rameau Suite & ‘Le Turc Généreux’ from Les Indes
Galantes
Carolyn Sampson soprano
Anthony Gregory tenor
Marcus Farnsworth baritone
Academy of Ancient Music
Paolo Zanzu director
Event type:
Running time:
Approx. 2h