« Pâté en croûte et vieux ragots »

It was in the Queen's apartments, in the antechamber known as the Grand Couvert, that Louis XIV's public meals took place, the sumptuous ritual of which attracted all the courtiers.

Only the royal family could sit at the table. Facing them were the princesses and duchesses who had the privilege of the stool, then, standing, the people who, by their rank or with the authorization of the ushers, had been able to enter.

The maître d'hôtel, his silver-headed staff in his hand, would alert the captain of the guards, who would immediately announce to the king that he was being served. The same ceremony was repeated every evening: the sovereign would then come to dine in public in the antechamber of the Grand Couvert.

The spectacle was impressive, the ritual sumptuous, and that evil tongue Saint-Simon did not hold back from telling the many anecdotes linked to this ritual and to this room which was one of the strategic places of the court at Versailles.

Michel-Richard de Lalande's Sinfonies pour les Soupers du Roy accompanied these Versailles evenings. They are here reprised by Hervé Niquet with an original approach, typical of this conductor known for his fantasy.

With the support of the Fondation d'entreprise AG2R LA MONDIALE pour la vitalité artistique

This new project will be the subject of a creative residency at the Ferme de Villefavard in Limousin - Cultural Meeting Center from April 19 to 22, 2025.