Persée

Persée is the sixth work that Jean-Baptiste Lully and Philippe Quinault wrote in collaboration for the Royal Academy of Music and the second composition upon which they worked together after the librettist had incurred royal disfavor on account of alleged allusions to Mme de Montespan in Isis. Le Journal de l’Opéra asserts that it was performed for the first time on 17 April 1682 at the Palais-Royal with the king, the queen, and the dauphin present. Mlle Desmatins appeared in it on this…