Nathalie Manfrino, sopran - Hjördis Thébault, sopran - Sébastien Guèze, tenor - Philippe Do, tenor - Armando Nogueda, baritone - Pierre-yves Pruvot, baritone - Alain Buet, bass-baritone - Pierre Virly, baritone - Antonio Guirao-Valverde, bass-baritone - Cyrille Gautreau, bass-baritone - Jérémie Rhorer, direction

Luigi Cherubini

The booklet tells the unending story of the poor soprano imprisoned by a despicable baritone. Her tenor lover, handsome and valiant but not very clever, throws himself into the lion's den out of sheer bravery and lets himself be shackled, only to give the villain the opportunity for the classic blackmail "your body for his life". The couple owes their salvation only to the miraculous intervention of a savage Tartar, with whom the hero had sworn friendship in less than three bars at the beginning of the first act. On this agreed libretto, but not so badly tied up, Cherubin delivers a truly astonishing score. Triumphant from its premiere in 1791 at the Théâtre Feydeau in Paris, Lodoïska marks the beginning of the growing success of the Italian Luigi Cherubini in France, while laying the groundwork for modern opera. Revolutionary in its form - Cherubini revisited the genre of comic opera, here tinged with a new dramatic tension - Lodoïska quickly became a European success. Fascinated, Beethoven, Weber, Schumann, Wagner. now recognize in Cherubini one of the major composers of his time. Beethoven draws his inspiration for Fidelio from the work. This recording on ancient instruments participates in the rediscovery of a work deeply rooted in a revolutionary context, both politically and musically, of which we are still the heirs today.