The most unfathomable character in Greek mythology: Medea, the sorceress, the wife betrayed by her husband Jason who takes revenge by offering her lover a poisoned dress and then killing her own children. A tragic fate, which has inspired many artists over time, soon found its embodiment in the Opera. In 1693, Marc-Antoine Charpentier created his only opera tragedy at the Royal Academy of Music - forerunner of the Paris National Opera - to a libretto written by Thomas Corneille. The opera debuted in the presence of King Louis XIV. Three centuries after its creation, the baroque score of great orchestral richness composed by Charpentier returns to the stage of the Paris National Opera for the first time, led by the musical direction of William Christie. Famous for his highly understandable retellings, director David McVicar transposes the action during the Second World War, thus strengthening the tragic character of the heroine.
