Lully
Psyché
Ambroisine Bré, Deborah Cachet, Bénédicte Tauran, Cyril Auvity; Les Talens Lyriques/Christophe Rousset
In celebration of their 30th anniversary, Les Talens Lyriques made this dazzling recording of. Rarely performed or recorded, this unwieldy ‘tragédie-comique’ offers 18 dramatis personae moving through a baggy plot with at times disjointed movements – one even in Italian (!). ‘Comic’ action can seem cruel: Venus, jealous of mortal Psyché’s beauty, is ultimately thwarted when her son Cupid falls in love with Psyché rather than aiding Venus’s plot to destroy her. Yet the score is mostly ravishing, and is here the launchpad for stunning performances.
