She has been one of the most sought-after singers in the French repertoire for many years. Now Véronique Gens returns to Vienna on 2 February with the title role of Jean-Baptiste Lully's Alceste, portraying a woman who sacrifices herself out of love for her husband.

"Perhaps this character is not easy to understand, especially in the year 2023. Would you still sacrifice yourself for someone these days? In any case, it's a tremendous demonstration of love and I admire Alceste very much."

Véronique Gens also sang the character of Alceste in the setting by Christoph Willibald Gluck, although there are clear differences between the two roles:

"In Gluck's Alceste, the rival Alcide does not appear. The basic situation is the same: Alceste's sacrifice to save her husband Admète. However, due to the different libretto and the completely different settings, the two parts are worlds apart."

In both settings, however, the character of Alceste is a role that places great demands on the singer.

"If you work on it day after day for six weeks, you're always very agitated in the evening. I don't automatically find my way back into "normal" life. Such strong roles are always present and you wake up with them in the morning."

Further information and tickets