‘Between the profane and the sacred, light and darkness, a kind of requiem that tastes like paradise.’ (Sophie Bourdais, 2018)

‘Pichon and his companions imbue each aria with contrasts and colours, each phrase with tension, anxiety and terror from the beginning to the final appeasement. (…) Dark, dramatic passages, magnified by a theatrical vision that grips the listener and never lets go (the choir is a model of finesse and homogeneity). Is there any need to extol the qualities of Stéphane Degout? The beauty of his voice, the sumptuous metal of his timbre, the suppleness of his elocution, the clarity of his diction, the nobility of his declamation, the musicality that illuminates every word.’ (Michel Parouty, 2018)

“A new, highly technical concept album, as only Raphaël Pichon knows how to concoct, (…) a new work in the form of a pagan requiem that combines the sacred with the real, religious music with secular opera. This descent into Hell is also the fruit of a long period of collaboration between Stéphane Degout and the conductor. The artistic duo has achieved a remarkable fusion here.” (Guillaume Tion, 2018)