Christine de Suede

Christine de Suède | Concert

The life of Christine of Sweden seems straight out of a novel—or better yet, an opera. Born on December 18, 1626, in Stockholm, she ended her days in Rome in 1689 after an exile that led her to meet more and more protagonists throughout the different acts of her life. A great lover and patron of the arts, her life is marked by the omnipresence of music, of which she was a major supporter. This concert musically retraces her life in three acts—and a prologue—through works she might have heard or even commissioned.

Prologue: the coronation and abdication. The concert opens with a selection of works that might have been performed at her coronation—about which nothing is known musically. The highlight of this moment is Carissimi’s Veni Sponsa Christi (whom Christine admired and would meet much later). But the joyful prologue ends abruptly with Fader War, which was sung at her abdication.

The first act is set in the city of Innsbruck in 1654, when Christine was invited by Archduke Ferdinand Charles of Austria. There she affirmed her new conversion to Catholicism and attended the performance of L’Argia, an opera by the imperial composer Antonio Cesti, given in her honor. The third act is her brief stay at the French royal court in 1657. Although Lully had not yet composed his great motets, Henry Du Mont held this position at the time. The final act: Rome. Christine was then a major patron and supported many composers such as Stradella and Melani. The latter wrote a sumptuous Requiem preserved in the Santini Collection, which gathers many artistic treasures accumulated by the most European of princesses of her time.

The Productions of the Royal Opera.

Prestige VIP – Best seats in the house, including a glass of champagne and the show program.
Prestige – Includes a complimentary glass of champagne.

Program and cast

Malena Ernman, Mezzo-soprano

Maîtrise de Paris / CRR

Soloists of the Royal Opera Academy

Chœur de l’Opéra Royal

Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal

Consort Musica Vera

Jean-Baptiste Nicolas, Conductor

Programme

Christine de Suède

After André Danican Philidor (1652–1730)
La Suédoise

Gustav Düben (1629–1690)
Venite Sancte Spiritus

Giacomo Carissimi (1605–1674)
Veni Sponsa Christi

Gustav Düben
Fader War

Antonio Cesti (1623–1669)
L’Argia: prologue

Henri Du Mont (1610–1684), Michel Lambert (1610–1696) and Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632–1687)
Court airs and excerpts from Alcidiane

Alessandro Melani (1639–1703) and Antonio Bertali (1605–1669)
Requiem and excerpts from the Missa Archiducalis