Opéra Royal - Vivaldi : La Senna Festeggiante

Cultural

Vivaldi's works played a significant role in the rich relationship between Venice and Versailles, which stretched around the Grand Canal from the flotilla of Little Venice to the mirrors of the Hall of Mirrors.

His famous Four Seasons were widely performed in Paris and his work La Senna festeggiante was strictly intended to celebrate Louis XV. This commission from the French ambassador in Venice honoured the marriage of King Louis XV to Marie Leszczynska in 1725. The young king was fifteen and his wife twenty-two. This grand Serenade in two parts, in the format of a small opera, brings together Virtue and the Golden Age on the banks of the festive Seine. The glory of the King of France is allegorically magnified by particularly sumptuous and virtuoso music.

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Inaugurated in 1780 for Marie-Antoinette's private use, the Théâtre de la Reine is an absolute marvel: built by Richard Mique as a veritable miniature theatre, it still has all its antique machinery and many sets in which we imagine the Queen may have performed... Before turning away from these theatrical performances in 1784 in favour of the country splendour of her new refuge: the Hameau de Trianon.

Presenting this work in period costume on the sumptuous mobile sets of the Théâtre de la Reine is guaranteed to be an unforgettable evening.