Volume 12, no. 1:

A Video of Lully’s Persée

From Lois Rosow*

Readers of JSCM 10, no. 1 (2004) might be interested to know that a video recording of Opera Atelier’s production of Lully’s Persée, as revived in 2004, is now available, with subtitles in English, German, and French (EuroArts, DVD 2054178, published in 2005 and distributed internationally). Produced by CBC/Radio-Canada and Docutainment Plus Productions, Inc., the video presents the performance of April 28, 2004, recorded live at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto. The principals include Cyril Auvity (Persée), Marie Lenormand (Andromède), Stephanie Novacek (Cassiope), Monica Whicher (Mérope), Olivier Laquerre (Céphée / Méduse), Alain Coulombe (Phinée), and Colin Ainsworth (Mercure). They are joined by the artists of Atelier Ballet, the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, and the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Hervé Niquet. This is, to my knowledge, the first video of an opera by Lully produced for widespread commercial distribution. It is of high quality and is a pleasure to watch.