Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques return to their first loves with Lully’s seventh opera, Isis. Nicknamed “the musicians’ opera,” it combines Roman mythology and ancient Egypt: Jupiter tries to seduce the nymph Io, to the great displeasure of his wife Juno, who, in her jealousy, will pursue her all the way to the Underworld! The plot caused a great stir at Court: Madame de Montespan, believing she recognized the King and his mistress in Jupiter and Io, punished this affront by condemning the librettist Quinault to exile. Isis multiplies twists and transformations (Io will become the goddess Isis), pretexts for the deployment of a formidable musical arsenal: the score overflows with evocative wonders, from the chorus of the peoples of the frozen climates, imitating shivers — Purcell would draw inspiration from it for the Cold Air in King Arthur — to the laments of the nymph Syrinx turned into reeds, depicted by the flutes. Carried with unwavering commitment by Christophe Rousset, Les Talens Lyriques, the Choeur de chambre de Namur, and a radiant cast (Ève-Maud Hubeaux and Bénédicte Tauran lend their warm timbres to Io and Juno, Edwin Crossley-Mercer to Jupiter), Isis is adorned with all its graces and brings its fabulous universe to life.