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Exciting New Critical Edition of Lully’s Psyché is Available from Bärenreiter • Alkor

Nov. 24, 2025

With the new publication of Psyché (1678), another fascinating opera is available in a new edition as part of the Lully Complete Edition. The rich amount of source material – 32 manuscript scores were evaluated – provides an in-depth insight into the work, which holds a special position in many respects: it is the only opera by Lully whose subject matter was not stipulated by Louis XIV and which was therefore never performed at court. Thomas Corneille wrote the libretto, based on the tragédie-ballet of 1671, which Lully created together with Molière and which he transformed into a tragedy with recitatives. Expressive recitatives, varied monologues, and a refined harmony transform Psyché into a masterpiece on a level with Lully’s best-known operas. The critical edition edited by Herbert Schneider comprises the full score and harpsichord score of the two versions. The performance material is available from Bärenreiter · Alkor.

Read more about this new publication in [t]akte here.

To learn more about Jean-Baptiste Lully and the Lully Complete Edition, click here.

Jean-Baptiste Lully
Psyché (1678)
Tragédie in a prologue and five acts
Libretto: Thomas Corneille. Edited by Herbert Schneider.
Lully, Œuvres Complètes, III, 7.

Scoring: Prologue: Flore (soprano), Vénus (soprano), Vertumne (haute-contre); Palémon (haute-contre), Chorus (soprano, haute-contre, tenor, bass) – Tragédie: Aglaure (soprano), Cidippe (soprano), Lychas (bass), Femme affligée (soprano), Homme affligé I, II (haute-contre), Psyché (soprano), Le Roi (bass), Vulcain (tenor), Zéphir I, II (tenor), Vénus (soprano), Nymphe cachée (soprano), L’Amour (soprano, haute-contre), Nymphe I, II, III (soprano), le Fleuve (bass), Furie I (tenor), Furie II (haute-contre), Furie III (bass), Mercure (tenor), Jupiter (bass), Apollon (haute-contre), Bacchus (haute-contre), Mome (bass), Mars (bass), Muse I, II (soprano), Satyre I (haute-contre), Satyre II (bass), chorus

Orchestra: 3 flutes (3 bass flute), trumpet, musette, violin, 3 violas, bass, b. c., timpani, drum
Publisher: Georg Olms. Performance material: Bärenreiter · Alkor

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