Great Hall of the Crusades - Philidor: Ernelinde, Princess of Norway

Tuesday 27 May 2025

3h including intermission

Location : Grande salle des croisades

FICHE_INFO_SIMPLE_LIBELLE_DESTINATION

Place d'Armes Château de Versailles

78000

Versailles

GPS coordinates

Latitude : 48.805537

Longitude : 2.122499

BY CAR
Motorway A13 - Versailles Notre-Dame exit
Motorway 186 - Versailles Centre exit
Free "Place d'armes" parking from 19:00

BY TRAIN

Gare Montparnasse > Gare Versailles Chantiers
Dreux, Mantes-la-Jolie, Rambouillet direction

Gare St. Lazare > Gare Versailles Rive Droite
Rive Droite direction

Paris RER C > Gare Versailles Rive Gauche - Château
Rive Gauche Château direction

Pont de Sèvres - Bus 171 > Versailles Château stop

Event Organizer

Château de Versailles Spectacles

Phone : +33 1 30 83 78 89

Phone : +33 1 39 24 88 88

"Château de Versailles Spectacles"

Location

Grande salle des croisades

Place d'Armes Château de Versailles

78000

Versailles

Presentation

A considerable composer and world-renowned chess player, Philidor was a pivotal figure in French opera at the end of the 18th century. His Ernelinde princesse de Norvège was hailed at the time as a highly modern composition.

But why on earth was Ernelinde, Princess of Norway dedicated by the Frenchman Philidor to the Countess of Forbach? Born in Strasbourg in 1734, Marie-Anne Camasse, an actress and dancer, married the Duke of Deux-Ponts and led a considerable intellectual life from Mannheim to Deux-Ponts and Forbach, then to Paris where she was close to Diderot, Louis XV and Marie-Antoinette... and finally to the court of Empress Josephine in Paris!

A considerable composer and world-renowned chess player, Philidor was a pivotal figure in French opera at the end of the 18th century. His Ernelinde princesse de Norvège was hailed at the time as a highly modern composition, paving the way for Gluck and the reformed French opera of the reign of Louis XVI. Music inspired by Pergolesi and the other great Italian masters, a drama concentrated into just three acts, vocal writing that is both virtuoso and heroic, and picturesque ballets are all features that distinguish Philidor's score as extremely singular for its time.