Opera

It was an event: in 1989, Jean-Baptiste Lully's shimmering opera Atys arrived at BAM. The mastermind was conductor William Christie, and the orchestra was early-music ensemble Les Arts Florissants, whose incisive production rekindled the ravishing power of French Baroque opera for both New York City and the world. Created in 1676 for King Louis XIV and derived from Ovid's poem Fasti, Atys is a breathtaking marriage of the royal court's dance- and chorus-filled spectacles to Ovid's tragic tale of love lost to a vengeful god. Now, in celebration of BAM's 150th anniversary, Lully's allegory-rich paean to the Sun King returns to BAM to make history once more.