Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • BBC Music Magazine

    His Majesty’s pleasure

    Jan 21, 2021 5 minutes

    Arguably no monarch was more enthusiastic in taking centre-stage than Louis XIV of France. And quite literally centre-stage. As a seasoned dancer in the Court ballets, he danced some 80 roles – most famously of all that of the rising sun in . It was a role that the 15-year old aspired to live up to throughout his reign, and it supplied his soubriquet: The Sun King. But although the theatre-loving Louis included plans for a great opera house in his ambitions for expanding the palace at Versailles, he didn’t live to see the fulfilment of his musical dreams. And so it would fall to his successor to witness the grand curtain-up. There was an incentive to get it built, too. The theatre had to be ready for the nuptials of the Dauphin and Archduchess Marie Antoinette of Austria in 1770. Which it was, just. And so, along with Beethoven, it had a 250th

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from BBC Music Magazine

    BBC Music Magazine3 min read
    Vivian Fung
    I was born and raised in Edmonton, Canada. I’m first-generation Canadian – my parents emigrated from Hong Kong after they got married. I grew up as any good immigrant family would, with eager parents who wanted their child to do well. I started piano
    BBC Music Magazine1 min readMusic
    Welcome
    We were excited to get our hands on the world-premiere recording of Fausto, Louise Bertin’s 1831 operatic retelling of the Faust story. Given just three performances in the year of its composition, the work then vanished for nearly two centuries! Now
    BBC Music Magazine3 min read
    The BBC Music Magazine PRIZE CROSSWORD NO. 398
    The first correct solution of our crossword picked at random will win a copy of The Oxford Companion to Music. A runner-up will win Who Knew? Answers to Questions about Classical Music ( seeoup.co.uk). Send answers to: BBC Music Magazine, Crossword 3

    Related