Performed by young singers from the baroque scene accompanied by Andrés Gabetta conducting the Royal Opera Orchestra, this evening is an invitation to rediscover the inventive genius of Gluck before Orfeo, in the setting of the Queen's Theatre.
A rare and lively work, Gluck's Le cinesi (The Chinese Women) transports us to a fantastical Orient, typical of the Rococo taste for exoticism. Composed in 1754, this little gem of comic opera features three young Chinese women and a young man, brought together for a musical contest in which each attempts to seduce the others through song. Gluck has fun parodying the operatic styles of his time, from the tragic to the heroic, in a lively, elegant and humorous score.
