Opera remained an exclusively courtly and princely genre throughout the first third of the seventeenth century. During this period it established itself as one of the cornerstones of the Baroque aesthetic through its use of mythological subject matter. In Florence and Mantua the first myths performed with music were those of Orpheus, Arion, and Daphne, but later other characters with magical powers like Armida, Alcina, and Medea took over from them.

The last of these, Medea, the sorceress who was sister to Circe and granddaughter of the Sun, traverses the whole history of opera and plays a major part in works by Cherubini, Handel, Mercadante, and Pascal Dusapin. From the XVIIth century to the mid-XVIIIth century the Medea’s musical myth was a great success on stage, as well as being an inspiration for many and various compositions including the pieces featured on this new CD by the likes of Lully, Clérambault, and de la Barre.

After studying drama, Stéphanie d’Oustrac was voted Vocal Discovery of the year at the Victoires de la Musique in 2002. She appears with equal success on the concert platform and the operatic stage. She has sung under the direction of many of the great names of Baroque performance including William Christie, Jean-Claude Malgoire, Marc Minkowski, John Eliot Gardiner, Myung-Whun Chung, and Christopher Hogwood,

The flexibly sized ensemble Amarillis has, over a relatively short period of time, established itself as one of the most original Baroque groups in Europe thanks to its cultivated sound and its high standard of instrumental technique. It has received enthusiastic acclaim of audiences around the world, as well as high praise from the French and international press for its recordings on the Ambroisie label.

Amarillis:
• Héloïse Gaillard - recorder & baroque oboe
• Gilone Gaubert-Jacques - violin
• Violaine Cochard - harpsichord
• Anne-Marie Lasla - viola da gamba