A master stroke born of the collaboration of the composer Lully and his librettist Quinault, the musical tragedy Alceste caused a great stir at the time of its creation in 1674. At that time, Tragedy was reserved for the theatre, while the music concerned itself with the comedic. But thanks to the combined talents of Lully and Quinault, the stage of the Royal Academy of Music saw the development of the new tragic and lyrical genre.

In addition to the choir, the nine soloists, directed with energy and finesse by Christophe Rousset, present here characters with passions more real than life. The libretto is based on a Cornelian dilemma. This timeless theme of a thwarted love moves us all the more because of the clarity of the text and the amplification of emation in the score. Christophe Rousset and his Talens Lyriques recording is an interpretation where theatre and music combine in jubilant harmony.