Psyché (1678) Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687)
Tragédie lyrique in 1 prologue and 5 acts, on a libretto by Thomas Corneille and Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle. First performed on 19 April 1678 at the Académie royale de musique, in Paris.
Ambroisine Bré Psyché Déborah Cachet Aglaure Eugénie Lefebvre Flore, Cidippe Bénédicte Tauran Vénus Cyril Auvity Amour Robert Getchell Mercure, Vertumne, Vulcain Nicholas Scott Apollon Fabien Hyon Palémon, Silène, Bacchus Philippe Estèphe Jupiter Anas Seguin Lycas, le Roi, Momus Matthieu Heim Mars
Les Talens Lyriques Christophe Rousset Direction
“It’s often been said that Lully was a composer whose pieces were “ordered commissions”, and therefore a bit stiff and not terribly interesting dramatically. I think the exact opposite; I consider Lully a dramatic genius, someone who invented many things, including the tragédie lyrique genre. Psyché will constitute the eleventh volume in our Lully collection, and I’m already overjoyed to conduct it.”
– Christophe Rousset
