Médée

Sung in French with English captions

Medea, having secured Jason the Golden Fleece, has made herself an outcast by destroying his enemies and murdering her brother for his sake. In exile in Corinth, Jason decides to abandon Medea and marry King Creon’s daughter Creuse and secure the future of his sons. Creon banishes Medea who retaliates by using magic to destroy Creuse. Realising that her children may be used against her, and to further punish Jason’s betrayal, she kills their two sons and escapes in a winged chariot.

Following Russell Plows’ “skilful” and “effective” (Evening Standard) production of Ullmann’s The Kaiser of Atlantis, Opera Up Close presents Darius Milhaud’s opera Médée, a pacey, hour-long adaptation of Seneca by the composer’s wife, Madeleine, who is now over 100 years old. Written in 1939, Médée contains some of Milhaud’s most lyrical and imaginative music including the beautiful aria “Chers Corinthiens” and furious, energetic choruses. The opera reaches its climax in the scenes in which Medee destroys her rival and her children. Only spoken about in Euripides, Madeleine Milhaud brings these terrifying events onstage to Milhaud’s memorably dark and disturbing music. Médée is performed in French with English captions in a specially prepared new chamber version for harp and strings.