Even among contemporaries, it received the highest praise: Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s »Médée« is undoubtedly the work after Lully’s death — the founder of French opera during the era of the Sun King — that shows the most outstanding mastery.

Much can be learned about the art of composition, the interaction of text and music, and the visualisation of a multifaceted tragic event, whose magnitude and power touches the audience. Charpentier’s opera is unique in its combination of French classicism and Italian melodic beauty, and exceptional in its richness of expression and timbre. Every character is sharply drawn, as is the drama itself, staged by Peter Sellars. A bridge is built from mythical times to the present, underlining once again the relevance and continuing impact of ancient Greek mythology in the present day.