Relive the beginnings of theater and opera at Versailles through these two entertaining works, reflections of the King's youth and of the captivating lightheartedness prevailing at the Court, delightfully performed by the Marguerite Louise Ensemble.

It was on 18 July 1668 that Molière successfully performed George Dandin ou le mari confondu, a play mixed with a sung pastoral, for "Le Grand Divertissement Royal de Versailles" offered by Louis XIV to his Court, as a celebration of the Peace of Aachen. This amusing story of a rich peasant who purchases a young noble girl includes interludes set to the splendid music of Lully. The same year sees the promising meeting between Lully and Quinault: together they write for King La Grotte de Versailles, in which Louis is glorified, and dances in person the role of a nymph. These two works, symbolic of the creative vigour of the early days of Versailles, and of the artistic appetite of a thirty-year-old Sovereign, are brought back to life thanks to Gaétan Jarry and Marguerite Louise, with incomparable taste: tambourines, flutes and musettes are part of the festivities and the trumpets proclaim the glory of Louis. Here we have a scintillating echo of the sumptuous festivities given at Versailles by Louis XIV!

Recorded from February 26th to 28th in the Crusades Room of the Palace of Versailles.

Marguerite Louise
Gaétan Jarry, direction

Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687)
Molière (1622-1673)

Booklet in French, English, German
CD duration : 78’43