220518 AAM

Programme

Lully - Overture and La Cérémonie des Turcs from Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme

Delalande - Grand piece in G-ré-sol from Simphonies pour les Soupers du Roy

Campra - Pasacaille and ‘La Turquie’ from L’Europe Galante

Rameau - Suite and ‘Le Turc Généreux’ from Les Indes Galantes

c.2 hours

Performers

Carolyn Sampson - soprano

Anthony Gregory - tenor

Marcus Farnsworth - baritone

Academy of Ancient Music

Paolo Zanzu - director & harpsichord

Box Office

Cambridge Live

£5.00 – £37.50

Book tickets

Amid the glitter and pomp of the French court, Lully, Rameau and their contemporaries looked East. Paolo Zanzu directs the Academy of Ancient Music, as West Road Concert Hall becomes the Palace of Versailles.

Swagger, splendour and imaginations running wild. At the court of the Sun King and his successors, no-one doubted that the world revolved around Versailles. Or that the court composers would bring all nations to pay homage – musically, at least. Lully, Rameau, Delalande and Campra evoke the world of the Ottoman Empire from a very French perspective.

The result? Well, it’s not always what you expect – and it’s not just sizzling percussion and tangy harmonies either. Lully’s score for Molière’s social-climbing comedy holds a satirical mirror to European society. Rameau, meanwhile, gives an unexpectedly positive twist to a tale of love and forgiveness in a society very different from his own – with music as spirited as it is entertaining.

more about the Academy of Ancient Music

Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) is an orchestra with a worldwide reputation for excellence in baroque and classical music. Using historically-informed techniques, period-specific instruments and original sources, we bring music vividly to life in committed, vibrant performances.