Hypermnestre is one of the greatest successes of the Académie royale de musique in the eighteenth century. Premiered on 5 November 1716, this tragédie lyrique by Charles-Hubert Gervais, one of the darkest in the repertoire, was reworked in 1717, then revived in 1728, 1746 and 1765. It is inspired by the myth of the Danaids: Hypermnestra, daughter of Danaus, refuses to murder her husband, Lynceus, as her father ordered all her sisters to do. The fifth act of 1716, written by Joseph de Lafont, had been severely criticised; Abbé Pellegrin, an experienced librettist, rewrote it in 1717 for a more plausible version without the intervention of the dea ex machina.

This recording offers a reconstruction of the 1717 version, with the addition of the first version of the fifth act of 1716. This resurrection of Hypermnestre required significant scientific and editorial work on the piece with the CMBV teams (Thomas Leconte, researcher and editor and Julien Dubruque, editor), from the identification of the musical and literary sources to the recomposition of the missing parts of the fragmentary manuscript----

This performance by the Purcell Choir and the Orfeo orchestra, conducted by György Vashegyi, a specialist and ardent defender of eighteenth-century French music, surrounded by a host of young singers, exceeded all expectations. The opera includes both magnificent tableaux (a marine feast for the arrival of Lynceus, the wedding of Lynceus and Hypermnestra, the marriage song for the wedding night...) and some of the most dramatic scenes in the repertoire. The immense passacaglia in B minor in Act IV, where dance, soloists and chorus alternate, is at least as beautiful as that of Lully’s Armide; Danaüs' final monologue, in the second version, is one of the most moving tragic endings ever.

Contains 2 CDs.
Total duration: 02:25:59