Monteverdi Choir
Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique
John Eliot Gardiner conductor

Programme

Hector Berlioz: Les Troyens

Berlioz’s idea for an opera about the Trojan War and its aftermath has its roots in his childhood. The composer’s father used to read Virgil’s Aeneid to him, urging him to learn a few verses by heart every day; Berlioz was even given the name of the Trojan hero, Hector.

‘I have spent my life in the company of these demi-gods; I know them so well that I imagine they know me’, Berlioz wrote to his friend Princess Sayn-Wittgenstein, who encouraged him to take on the monumental task of composing the opera. Les Troyens is Berlioz’s most ambitious work, the summation of his entire artistic career. It begins with the capture of Troy by the Greeks, as foretold by Cassandra, and ends with the death of Dido, the queen of Carthage, after her unhappy love affair with the Trojan, Aeneas.

‘It is the sheer courage of Berlioz’s vision for his great opera that I find so impressive and so touching. On every page of his score Berlioz shows himself to be a far-sighted observer of people and of the human condition, and on every page he reveals his complete mastery of orchestral timbres-the individual colour of each instrument. The originality of his orchestration is accentuated by the use of instruments of his day. From start to finish, Les Troyens contains music that is heart-rendingly truthful and ageless in its epic sweep. Be prepared to be moved!’

John Eliot Gardiner

The Monteverdi Choir and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique last performed Berlioz’s Les Troyens in 2003, on Berlioz’s bicentenary, at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris – the first time the opera had been performed in Paris in its entirety. Now, twenty years on, we are joined by an exciting international cast for performances at some of the greatest festivals and venues in Europe.

Cast:

Cassandra - Alice Coote, mezzo-soprano
Énée - Michael Spyres, tenor
Didon - Paula Murrihy, mezzo-soprano
Chorèbe/Sentinelle I - Lionel Lhote, baritone
Ascagne - Adèle Charvet, mezzo-soprano
Narbal/Priam - William Thomas, bass
Panthée - Ashley Riches, bass-baritone
Anna - Beth Taylor, mezzo-soprano
Iopas & Hylas - Laurence Kilsby, tenor
Hécube - Rebecca Evans, soprano
Hector/Sentinelle II - Alex Rosen, bass