A Baroque opera in Occitan at the court of Louis XV: in 1754, Mondonville brought to the stage at Fontainebleau a Languedoc pastoral entirely sung in the language of his native southern France. Nearly three centuries later, Jean-Marc Andrieu and Les Passions revive it on period instruments with the Les éléments Chamber Choir. 
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With Daphnis et Alcimadure, Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville created one of the most unusual works of eighteenth-century French opera. Premiered at Fontainebleau in 1754 before the court of Louis XV, this three-act pastoral is based on a fable by La Fontaine, but radically transforms its ending: where the original tale is cruel, Mondonville opts for romantic reconciliation. Above all, he has his characters sing in Languedoc Occitan, while a French prologue celebrates the Jeux floraux, an ancient Toulouse poetry competition, and Clémence Isaure, the legendary figure presented as its founder.
An Occitan opera at the French court
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