Aedes explores the works of Monteverdi, inventing a new plot based around his famous Lamento d’Arianna which depicts the tragic love story of Theseus and Ariadne.

Universally acclaimed as one of the jewels of the baroque repertoire, the Lamento d’Arianna is the only fragment we still have of Monteverdi’s second opera L’Arianna, the original score having been lost over the centuries. It was apparently the central element of this opera, composed in 1608 and much performed until it disappeared. Ariadne, abandoned by Theseus on the island of Naxos after she helped him kill the Minotaur, laments her lost love in a moving plaint which presages her death – or her deliverance, the myth having various endings.

In this programme, which exploits the riches Monteverdi’s madrigals as well as the ensemble’s own favourites (Britten’s Sacred and Profane, Ligeti’s Night, and works by Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur and Frank Martin), Mathieu Romano gives us a modern interpretation of Theseus and Ariadne’s relationship. The works selected enable us to hear the voices of the two lovers in turn, and in dialogue, their respective emotions pointed up by the lighting of this show. As the enchantment, doubt and pain of this passionate dialogue culminate, the heroine discovers the idea of revenge: Theseus pays for his betrayal, falling victim to Ariadne’s curse.

Instrumental prologue

Claudio MONTEVERDI
Ecco mormorar l’onde, Livre II
La giovinetta pianta, Livre III
Altri canti d’amor, Livre VIII

Claudio MONTEVERDI
Tempo la cetra, Livre VII
Bel Pastor, Livre IX
Si, si, ch’io v’amor, Livre IX

Jean-Yves DANIEL-LESUR
Cantique des cantiques n° 1

Claudio MONTEVERDI
Ardo, avvampo, Livre VIII

György LIGETI
Night

Claudio MONTEVERDI
Hor che’l ciel e la terra, Livre VIII

Benjamin BRITTEN
Sacred and profane n° 4

Claudio MONTEVERDI
Si tu mi lassi, Livre II
Lamento d’Ariana, Livre VI

Instrumental piece

Frank MARTIN
Full Fathom Five (extrait des Three Shakespeare Songs)

Claudio MONTEVERDI
Cantai un tempo, Livre II

Ensemble Aedes
Mathieu Romano conductor