Carissimi - Le Jugement Dernier

HOLY WEEK Giacomo Carissimi (1605-1674) Le Jugement dernier Thursday 25 March, 8pm Chapelle Royale Duration: 1h10 without interval An absolute masterpiece of Roman Baroque, Giacomo Carissimi's Historia di Jephte was composed around 1649 for the oratorio del Santissimo Crocifisso in Rome, and went on to become one of the great peaks of Italian musical literature.

In it, Carissimi tells the story of Jephthah, who, before battle, makes God the reckless vow to sacrifice the first being to come out to meet him should he win the victory. It is his only daughter who will be that being.

From this transgression arises a overwhelming dramatic reversal: the warlike triumph turns into a funeral lament, culminating in the famous final chorus "Plorate", a peak of emotion that has stirred admiration across all of Europe since the seventeenth century...

It is from this act of excess that the second part of the programme derives: Le Jugement dernier. Composed by Carissimi to an anonymous text, the work blends extracts from the Old and New Testaments into a genuinely theatrical fresco.

It is probably the most impressive musical counterpart to the Last Judgment painted by Michelangelo a century earlier in Rome, the city where Carissimi spent his entire life.

Under the direction of Vincent Dumestre, the musicians and soloists of Le Poème Harmonique restore to these masterpieces all their panache and historical truth.

Long accustomed to exploring the hidden treasures of the Italian Seicento, they make the acoustics of the Chapelle Royale resonate for an evening marked by emotion and fervour.