FULL Le Malade Imaginaire (Molière & Charpentier) Versailles 2022 Élodie Fonnard, Étienne de Bénazé, Jean-Jacques L’Anthoën
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: Le Malade Imaginaire
- Composer: Charpentier Marc-Antoine
- Libretto: Molière Jean-Baptiste Libretto Text, Libretto Index
- Venue & Opera Company: Opéra Royal, Chateau de Versailles, France
- Recorded: April 2022
- Type: Staged Opera Live
- Singers: Élodie Fonnard, Étienne de Bénazé, Jean-Jacques L’Anthoën
- Conductor:
- Orchestra:
- Stage Director: Claude Stratz
- Stage Designer: Ezio Toffolutti
- Costume Designer: Jean-Philippe Roy
- Lighting Designer: Marc-Olivier Dupin
Information about the Recording
- Published by: Sorbonne Université
- Date Published: 2023
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: yessubs, frsubs, gensubs
- Video Recording from: YouTube FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
Comedy-ballet in three acts and in prose created by the Troupe du Roi on the stage of the Palais-Royal in Paris in 1673.
“Molière’s last piece begins in the hues of a dying day. It is a twilight comedy tinged with bitterness and melancholy. It is with these words that Claude Stratz, now deceased, depicts Le Malade imaginaire which he directed in 2001, and which, performed more than 500 times since, is one of those timeless shows visited by generations of actors. of the Troop. The refined staging restores the infinite palette of this comedy-ballet. February 10, 1673, Molière, in the role of Argan, creates his new work where it is a question of real or fake patient, real or fake doctor, real or fake music master, real comedy but with dramatic accents. Seven days later, when he gave the fourth performance of the play, his lung disease forced him to stop and carried him away a few hours later. It is therefore impossible not to see hovering over the character of Argan the shadow of the dying playwright who “in his own misfortune chooses to make us laugh”. If the quackery of doctors is a favorite theme of the author, it is medical science itself that is attacked in this satirical farce, coupled with a dark and lucid meditation on the fear of death. Written by a weakened Molière, victim of the intrigues of Lully, in royal disgrace, dejected by the death of his son and his lifelong friend, Madeleine Béjart, his last play is however one of his most brilliant comedies.