La Jérusalem délivrée ou La Suite d’Armide is a tragédie lyrique in a Prologue and Five Acts. It was composed by the future Regent Philippe d’Orléans in the early 18th century and was played by the Musique du Roi in Fontainebleau’s Galerie des Cerfs on 17th October 1712, presumably before king Louis XIV. Philippe d’Orléans’ music master at the time was the composer Charles-Hubert Gervais, a remarkable musician who shared with his student a love of the Italian style. In 1705, with the help of Gervais, Philippe d’Orléans staged another opera at Palais-Royal called Penthée. Both works have much in common – first, they share a highly atypical style and orchestration, far divorced from the usual fare at the Académie Royale de Musique. Drawn to this neglected score, Leonardo Garcia-Alarcon and his musicians rise to the challenge of a revival performance of the work in Versailles and Namur, to be recorded on the CVS label. It is an opportunity for the CMBV to bring out the score of Penthée and La Jérusalem délivrée, making this royal musician’s operas available to the public.  

By the score