Our favourite activities
Royal Opera - Pergolesi/Vivaldi: STABAT MATER FOR TWO CASTRATOS
Thursday 02 April 2026
21:00 to 22:20
Location : Chapelle Royale
Destination
Château de Versailles
78000
Versailles
GPS coordinates
Latitude : 48.804963
Longitude : 2.122356
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 CAR PARK
- During the day before 7pm: paid parking. No access via the central driveway. Please note that the car park is full on Sundays. We recommend arriving one hour in advance 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 CAR PARK
- During the day before 7pm: paid parking. No access via the central driveway. Please note that the car park is full on Sundays. We recommend arriving one hour in advance 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
Château de Versailles
78000
Versailles
Presentation
Two countertenors for Pergolesi’s iconic Stabat Mater resurrecting the history of the creation in France of this work, brought by two castrati of the Royal Chapel of Louis XV!
A few months before his death at the age of twenty-six, Pergolesi was commissioned to create a new Stabat Mater to replace a previous version by Alessandro Scarlatti. Afflicted by illness, he expressed the suffering of the Virgin by using the language of passions specific to opera. Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, first performed in 1736, is one of the emblematic works of the baroque period and had a profound impact on the musical world of the 18th century, particularly in France.
The Italian castrati of the Royal Chapel of Versailles (Louis XIV invited 8 from Italy as early as 1679 for his sacred music), brought the score from Italy and highly recommended the composition, both at the court of Louis XV and at the Concert Spirituel. When Paris discovered Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, the public fell for the revolutionary composition of the young Neapolitan genius, who sadly died too young... This success lasted during the entire century.
The text of the Stabat Mater inspired Vivaldi with a virtuoso work , composed in 1712 for performance in Brescia, and in mirror image of these Marian complaints, the motet In furore unleashes opposing passions in a work that is as dazzling as it is contrasting: here is the fury of divine anger!
To convey the full splendor of the sumptuous duet of angelic voices lamenting Mary's sorrow at the foot of the Cross, the two singers must know how to blend their timbres, like the two Neapolitan castrati for whom this music was composed. The brilliant sopranist Samuel Mariño, born in Caracas, brings all the light of South America to a voice that is totally youthful, almost timeless, and which undoubtedly reflects the angelic nature of some of the castrati of the Vatican, the Royal Chapel of Naples... or the one in Versailles! For this concert in Versailles, he sings in duet with Filippo Mineccia, who has become in a few years a seductive singer on the baroque scene, and particularly in Versailles where he has shone at the Opera as well as in the Chapel. Here are two exceptional performers for a sensitive and virtuoso programme…
The Italian castrati of the Royal Chapel of Versailles (Louis XIV invited 8 from Italy as early as 1679 for his sacred music), brought the score from Italy and highly recommended the composition, both at the court of Louis XV and at the Concert Spirituel. When Paris discovered Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, the public fell for the revolutionary composition of the young Neapolitan genius, who sadly died too young... This success lasted during the entire century.
The text of the Stabat Mater inspired Vivaldi with a virtuoso work , composed in 1712 for performance in Brescia, and in mirror image of these Marian complaints, the motet In furore unleashes opposing passions in a work that is as dazzling as it is contrasting: here is the fury of divine anger!
To convey the full splendor of the sumptuous duet of angelic voices lamenting Mary's sorrow at the foot of the Cross, the two singers must know how to blend their timbres, like the two Neapolitan castrati for whom this music was composed. The brilliant sopranist Samuel Mariño, born in Caracas, brings all the light of South America to a voice that is totally youthful, almost timeless, and which undoubtedly reflects the angelic nature of some of the castrati of the Vatican, the Royal Chapel of Naples... or the one in Versailles! For this concert in Versailles, he sings in duet with Filippo Mineccia, who has become in a few years a seductive singer on the baroque scene, and particularly in Versailles where he has shone at the Opera as well as in the Chapel. Here are two exceptional performers for a sensitive and virtuoso programme…
