Recorded at the Eglise Saint-Germain during the Festival du Marais. ‘Esther’ (1689) is a biblical tragedy complete with musical choral interludes composed by Jean-Baptiste Moreau, who would serve in this same role for Racine’s last play, Athalie. The play shows how Esther, the wife of the Persian king Ahasuerus (Xerxes I), saves the Jews from a massacre plotted by the king’s chief minister, Haman. With its three acts, chorus and transcendent message that God and truth can be made manifest on stage, Esther breaks sharply with Racine’s previous practice in tragedy. It is not one of his major works, despite the beauty of its choruses.” Reference: Encyclopedia Britanica. Online; http://www.eb.com
Credits: Director, Dominique Delouche ; photography, Emanuel Machuel ; music, Jean-Baptiste Moreau.
Cast: Andre Falcon, Liliane Nataf, Julien Bertheau, Claude Brosset.
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Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
X000373
Language
French
Subject category
Foreign language films
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
16mm film; Limited Access Print (Section 2)