Highly dramatic
Charpentier’s “Médée” with Simon Rattle in Berlin
A highly dramatic opera which portrays one of the most exciting female figures in world literature with unusually varied colours: “Médée” develops from deceived woman to frightening witch in Marc Antoine Charpentier’s tragic opera. His only tragédie composed for the Académie royale de musique was premiered on 4 December 1693 in Paris. To contemporaries, his fundamentally renewed musical language with great harmonic richness, a developed counterpoint and a colourful use of the orchestra sounded insufficiently like Lully. Now a new benchmark Bärenreiter edition invites rediscovery of this work. It will be used for the first time on 19 November 2023 at the Staatsoper Berlin (photo: Marcus Ebener) for a staged production directed by Peter Sellars. Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Freiburger Barockorchester. Further performances: 23, 25, 30 November, 2 December 2023. Information/Tickets