Written at the request of Louis XIV in honor of his sister-in-law, Henrietta of England, Jean-Baptiste Lully’s Le Ballet royal de la naissance de Vénus was performed in 1665 with Henrietta herself as the goddess of love and youth. This grandiose spectacle combining dancing, music, and poetry, served the power of the king, while attesting to the magnificence of his court. Musically very inventive, it shows the culmination of the ballet genre. The recording, from Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques, is completed with excerpts from other works by Lully.
Lully: Ballet Royal de la Naissance de Vénus – Les Talens Lyriques
