Gretry: Andromaque

With his first Tragédie lyrique Andromaque (1780), Gretry broke unwritten laws of the French music theatre of his time: he had set to music a tragedy by the pillar saint Racine and departed far too far from Gluck's works, which were perceived as the norm. The piece promptly failed, which was not due to Grétry's music, on the contrary: his "fresh cell treatment" with elements of the Opéra comique is perceived today as an enrichment. Hervé Niquet succeeds here not only in supplementing our image of French opera, but in enriching it with a genuine masterpiece.