Opéra Royal - Vivaldi: MAGNIFICAT

Friday 10 April 2026

20:00 to 21:10

Performance without an interval

Location : Chapelle Royale

Destination

3 Pl. Léon Gambetta, 78000 Versailles

78000

Versailles

GPS coordinates

Latitude : 48.804798

Longitude : 2.120273

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

"Château de Versailles Spectacles"

Location

Chapelle Royale

3 Pl. Léon Gambetta, 78000 Versailles

78000

Versailles

Réservation

Presentation

At the helm of Les Arts Florissants, William Christie offers a new interpretation of two masterpieces of Italian sacred music: Scarlatti's Messa di Santa Cecilia and Vivaldi's Magnificat.

It was in 1720, at the age of sixty, that Alessandro Scarlatti composed the Messa di Santa Cecilia in Rome. Considered the crowning achievement of his church music, this piece synthesises the compositional possibilities of the early 18th century in a score brimming with striking contrasts. During the same period, in Venice, Antonio Vivaldi composed his famous Magnificat for the virtuoso musicians of the Ospedale della Pietà, where he was director. Over a period of more than twenty years, he carefully reworked this score to create the gem of sacred music that we know today – and which provides a brilliant Venetian counterpart to Scarlatti's Roman mass for this concert.

Although he has conducted the Magnificat many times, this is the very first time that William Christie has tackled the Messa di Santa Cecilia. For the occasion, he has brought together an international cast of young soloists, alongside the choir and orchestra of Les Arts Florissants, who are well versed in this repertoire. A celebration of Baroque splendour, Italian style!