Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset

Monteverdi Lamento d’Arianna
Il ballo delle Ingrate
Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda

Our commemoration of Monteverdi’s 450th birthday moves from the sacred (with I Fagiolini on 7 May) to the worldly, with three masterworks dealing with love and loss. In a striking concert opera performance based on Pierre Audi’s production of Madrigals for Dutch National Opera, we hear an exquisite fragment from the lost opera L’Arianna alongside madrigals whose narratives and powerful music have made them fixtures on the stage. The ‘Lamento’, the only part of L’Arianna to have survived, etches Arianna’s grief and longing for death in music of potent poignancy. Il ballo delle Ingrate is a dance which shows the living what to expect if they resist the arts of Cupid, while Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda tells the tale of Tancredi, who, in seeking revenge on his enemy, mistakenly kills his lover, Clorinda.

The master of Baroque music performance, Christophe Rousset, and his extraordinary ensemble Les Talens Lyrique bring their rare powers of interpretation and insight to Monteverdi’s riveting masterpieces.

Pre concert talk with Christophe Rousset, 6pm (ticket holders only)