The Etrillard Foundation partnered with Le Concert Spirituel to bring the opera Echo et Narcisse by composer Gluck out of the shadows, which was performed at the Royal Opera of Versailles in the fall of 2022.
Echo et Narcisse, based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses, is Gluck’s final work, premiered in Paris in 1779. Disappointed by the public’s lack of enthusiasm for his work, Gluck returned to Vienna and ceased composing. This opera is therefore little known to the public, one of the reasons why the Etrillard Foundation supports its performance. In addition, the foundation has two tapestries on this theme in its collections, which were exhibited on the evening of the performance to foster a dialogue between music and the art of tapestry.
Laurent Brunner – director of the Royal Opera and Château de Versailles Spectacles – and Hervé Niquet – musical director and founder of the ensemble Le Concert Spirituel – reflect on this final work by Gluck, resurrected for the duration of a concert at the Royal Opera of Versailles.
As part of Gluck’s opera Echo & Narcisse, performed in a concert version on Friday, October 21, 2022, at the Royal Opera of the Palace of Versailles, two tapestries from the Etrillard Foundation’s collection were presented to the audience, notably by highlighting their connection with this final work of Marie-Antoinette’s protégé composer.
The recording of Echo & Narcisse in October 2022 at the Royal Opera of the Palace of Versailles resulted in a double physical and digital album, released on August 25, 2023, and published by Château de Versailles Spectacles.