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Opéra Royal - Charpentier: MIDNIGHT MASS
Wednesday 17 December 2025
20:00 to 21:15
Location : Chapelle Royale
Destination
Place d'Armes
78000
Versailles
GPS coordinates
Latitude : 48.804957
Longitude : 2.122303
BY CAR: GPS: Château de Versailles, Place d'Armes, 78000 Versailles
-A13 motorway > Versailles Notre Dame exit
-A86 motorway > Versailles Centre exit
PLACE D'ARMES PARKING LOT
- During the day before 7 p.m.: paid parking. No access via the central driveway. Please note that the parking lot is full on Sundays. We recommend arriving 1 hour early and parking in town.
- In the evening from 7 p.m.*: free parking. Access only via the central driveway, at the statue of Louis XIV, and parking on the right, on the bus side.
*Opens at 6:15 p.m. for shows starting at 7 p.m.
BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT
- LINE N: Montparnasse Station > Versailles Chantiers Station
Direction: Dreux, Mantes-la-Jolie, Rambouillet.
- LINE L: Gare St-Lazare > Gare de Versailles Rive Droite Dir. Versailles Rive Droite.
- RER C: Paris > Gare de Versailles Château Rive Gauche Dir. Versailles Rive Gauche Château.
- BUS 171: Pont de Sèvres > Versailles Château stop.
-A13 motorway > Versailles Notre Dame exit
-A86 motorway > Versailles Centre exit
PLACE D'ARMES PARKING LOT
- During the day before 7 p.m.: paid parking. No access via the central driveway. Please note that the parking lot is full on Sundays. We recommend arriving 1 hour early and parking in town.
- In the evening from 7 p.m.*: free parking. Access only via the central driveway, at the statue of Louis XIV, and parking on the right, on the bus side.
*Opens at 6:15 p.m. for shows starting at 7 p.m.
BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT
- LINE N: Montparnasse Station > Versailles Chantiers Station
Direction: Dreux, Mantes-la-Jolie, Rambouillet.
- LINE L: Gare St-Lazare > Gare de Versailles Rive Droite Dir. Versailles Rive Droite.
- RER C: Paris > Gare de Versailles Château Rive Gauche Dir. Versailles Rive Gauche Château.
- BUS 171: Pont de Sèvres > Versailles Château stop.
Event Organizer
Château de Versailles Spectacles
Location
Chapelle Royale
Place d'Armes
78000
Versailles
Presentation
In the religious era of Louis XIV, Easter was the most important period for piety throughout society. But Christmas became increasingly important, to the point where it took second place in the hearts of the faithful.
Specific scores were dedicated to Advent and Christmas, using popular melodies and silencing the organ from the first Sunday of Advent until Christmas, when it resurfaced with vigor to perform the famous Christmas carols!
While Charpentier found his way back into posterity with the first notes of his Te Deum, his Midnight Mass is probably one of the main works that made him famous. It invites us to immerse ourselves in a musical world where scholarly and popular traditions are not opposed, quite the contrary: all of Charpentier's art and science are illustrated in this invitation to traditional Christmas carols within a mass composed around 1690 for Christmas Eve. These melodies, familiar to all, peasants and gentlemen alike, who recognized them, are interwoven within a subtle counterpoint and renewed harmony, enriched with orchestral parts. The pleasure of music is offered to everyone: to recognize a familiar tune, or to grasp its extraordinary arrangement. The simplicity of the original songs also gives the entire mass a candor and simplicity that spoke universally at the time.
CD available in the Château de Versailles Spectacles collection.
While Charpentier found his way back into posterity with the first notes of his Te Deum, his Midnight Mass is probably one of the main works that made him famous. It invites us to immerse ourselves in a musical world where scholarly and popular traditions are not opposed, quite the contrary: all of Charpentier's art and science are illustrated in this invitation to traditional Christmas carols within a mass composed around 1690 for Christmas Eve. These melodies, familiar to all, peasants and gentlemen alike, who recognized them, are interwoven within a subtle counterpoint and renewed harmony, enriched with orchestral parts. The pleasure of music is offered to everyone: to recognize a familiar tune, or to grasp its extraordinary arrangement. The simplicity of the original songs also gives the entire mass a candor and simplicity that spoke universally at the time.
CD available in the Château de Versailles Spectacles collection.
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