Medea / Médée By Luigi Cherubini

The immolation of Medea in the temple, burned by the avenging fury of the flames, constitutes one of the most overwhelming and visionary moments in the history of opera. This was recognized by Wagner – a self-confessed admirer of this work – when he replicated it at the close of his monumental Twilight of the Gods, and this was also recognized by Maria Callas, who with her unmatched dramatic talent turned this almost forgotten title into one of the most personal milestones of his career. Cherubini’s genius reigned in republican France in the 1790s and made a deep impression on the young Beethoven, although, at the turn of the century, his name fell behind those of Spontini and Rossini, and he gained fame as a moody and conservative author. Noble and majestic like a sculpture by Canova or a fresco by David, but internally shaken by the overwhelming personality of its protagonist, the opera Medée offers unsuspected possibilities of scenic and dramatic development in accordance with “the harmonic ravings, the barbaric transitions and the exaggerated chromaticism.” » which – according to an early critic of the work – treasures its score.

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