Lucile Richardot: Anne de La Barre’s travels to the North

Because of her uncommon life and the literature she has inspired, Anne Chabanceau de La Barre was one of the most famous singers of the 17th century. Born in an illustrious family of musicians, she was one of the first women to be part of King Louis XIV’s Musique de la Chambre. She knew, and consorted with, Molière, Lully, Boësset, Luigi Rossi, Francesco Cavalli, Tristan l’Hermite, Charles Dassoucy, as well as Constantijn Huygens, secretary of the Prince of Orange, man of letters and composer.

Gifted with great beauty and grace, highly educated and refined, she embodied not only the delicacy of French style singing but also defended the Italian repertoire, in great vogue at the time of Mazarin. She held the lead roles in many court ballets and attracted an enthusiastic public to the Offices de Ténèbres where she sang, she also sang in the first Italian operas performed in France, such as Luigi Rossi’s Orfeo.

Idolised by poets, heroine of gazettes, her fame extended to all Europe, and Queen Christine of Sweden invited her to her court around 1647. She began her travels to Nordic countries in 1652, accompanied by her brother Joseph, a renowned singer and composer. In Antwerp, The Hague, Kassel, Copenhagen, she was entertained by the greatest: the Prince and Princess of Orange-Nassau, Béatrix and Charles IV of Lorraine, Elisabeth of Bohemia, Sophie-Amalie von Braunschweig and her husband Frederik III of Denmark, Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel…

These travels, extensively documented in writing (letters, poems, gazettes), will be conjured up by Lucile Richardot and Faenza in the both intimate and grandiose setting of the Hercules Room, revisiting Anne de La Barre’s repertory – she sang in French, Italian and Latin – and was as at ease on opera stages as in the confidential universe of private chambers.