Guest Article
By Douglas S. English 
Baroque in Mind. Join Doug English on Friday, February 22 at the Theatre des Champs-Elysées for a performance of Thésée by Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632 – 1687). Born in Florence, the son of a miller, Lully had little education, musical or otherwise, but he had a natural talent for the guitar, the violin, dancing, and, hmmm. . .partying. And crazy enough to do the sound tracks for several of Moliere's theartre works. It was a cool combination, sort of like a Jagger/Richards thing at the time I think. Anyway, it was cool enough for Louis (14), Even when Lully often got into trouble for just partying too hard. Louis would get upset, but always let him off in the end ‘cause they danced well together! This of course infuriated the more jealous types. . .which led to mischievous acts like destroying and dispersing Lully's compositions (I'm thinking here specifically of his Alceste for one). As you have probably guessed by now, Lully's compositions for me have always been about as electric and sexy as could ever be for the period. I've never seen this piece but know that it is a tragedy and the libretto is based on Ovid's Metamorphisis. Et basta. . . Hey, sounds sort of psychedelic, n'est-ce pas? So I have to mention how he finally died because it's so perfect. He was beating time by banging a long staff (the precursor to a conductor's baton) against the floor, when he stabbed his toe, creating an abscess. The wound turned gangrenous, but he refused to have his toe amputated and the gangrene spread, resulting in his death on the 22nd of March 1687. Vanity or Death. . .Perfecto. Click here to see an interpretation of the death of Molière (from the movie Le Roi Dance), who actually died sur scène while performing his very own piece Le Malade Imaginaire. Note Lully watching the scene. For tickets, you can easily purchase them via the Internet and there are several price categories, and your tickets will be sent to the address of your choice. There is a 2 euros charge for Internet (THEATRE DES CHAMPS ELYSEES) or you can call in reservations. Tickets will go in sale for this, as well as all events for the season starting Monday, August 27th! So of course the sooner you reserve, the better seats your have. You can meet me at the entrance to the 1ER BALCON BAR. And of course you can join me for a “drinkypoo” at the Bar des Theatres after the show to discuss the opera, Lully’s life and works, etc. To RSVP, go to Expats Paris. Hope to see you there. - Douglas Post Script: My soul would sing of metamorphoses. But since, o gods, you were the source of these bodies becoming other bodies, breathe your breath into my book of changes: may the song I sing be seamless as its way weaves from the world's beginning to our day. (ll. 1-6). Details, details: Thésée by Jean-Baptiste Lully
Emmanuelle Haïm, direction musicale
Jean-Louis Martinoty, mise en scène
Hans Schavernoch, décors
Sylvie de Segonzac, costumes
François Raffinot, chorégraphie
Orchestre et Choeur Le Concert d'Astrée FRANCE MUSIQUE will be recording this event. Friday February 22nd 2008, 19h30.
THEATRE DES CHAMPS-ELYSEES
15 Avenue Montaigne
75008 PARIS
Métro : station Alma-Marceau
or Franklin-Roosevelt (ligne 9)
RER: station Pont de l'Alma (ligne C)
Bus : lignes 42, 63, 72, 80, 92
| 
