Château de Versailles spectacles
Francais
English
support
Haendel : Feux d’artifice royaux
-
Friday May 22nd 2026
-
Salle Gaveau
-
8p.m | 1h30 without intermission
Cast
- Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal
- Gaétan Jarry Conductor
Presentation
The famous Music for the Royal Fireworks was composed in 1749 by George Frideric Handel for the festivities honouring the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. To mark the occasion, King George II commissioned Handel to write festive music to accompany a grand fireworks display over the River Thames. Handel was then a living legend in England, and the magnificent music he composed made a great impression on the public. Expectations were enormous, and twelve thousand people flocked to the rehearsal, creating numerous incidents. The official performance on 27 April 1749 created a new musical order: some eighty instrumentalists were brought together to perform Handel’s masterpiece in an ‘open-air’ version. Wind instruments and percussion were in the limelight, but no string instruments, so the sound power was sufficient to compete with the sound of the fireworks !
Royal Opera Productions.
Programme
Georg Friedrich Haendel (1685-1759)
Water Music (suites 1 and 2)
Music for the Royal Fireworks
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)
Suite des Indes galantes
- Download the programme of the show – coming soon
Salle Gaveau
More info
You may also like…
