This 17th volume of the monumental edition of Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s work includes Le Malade imaginaire, the different versions of which are reproduced in their entirety for the first time----

This volume of the monumental edition of Marc-Antoine Charpentier by the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles is the first dedicated to the composer’s secular music. It brings together the collaborations commissioned from Charpentier by Molière’s troupe: La Comtesse d'Escarbagnas, Le Mariage forcé, whose musical interludes replace those of Lully, Le Sicilien, the overture to Le Dépit amoureux, and finally Le Malade imaginaire, created at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in 1673, whose numerous revivals have led to some confusion, and which constitutes the main work of the volume.

The scholarly editor has carried out a significant investigation to reconstruct, on the basis of Charpentier’s indications and based on the various musical and literary sources, the three main states of this Malade imaginaire, referred to by the composer as "in all its splendour" (first state, 1673), "after the prohibitions" (second state, 1673/74) and "rearranged differently for the 3rd time" (third state, 1686), which may itself present some variations. To facilitate interpretation, the states are available separately from each other (score and parts) allowing you to choose between dramatic or scoring alternatives.

Catherine Cessac is a research director at the CNRS. A specialist in Charpentier, she has already published several volumes with the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles, as well as reference works on the composer. She is currently working on the publication of an interdisciplinary seminar on the question of the nature and source of the sung text and is continuing her research on the Duchesse du Maine.