Since the Sablé Festival in 2007, Collegium 1704 has won the heart of French and German audiences alike, for their fervor and for the high quality of both orchestra and choir. This oratorio was performed in Dresden under the patronage of Marie Josèphe of Austria, wife of Augustus the Strong. It tells the edifying story of an imaginary meeting between King David, Mary Magdalene, and Saint Peter around Christ's tomb. The oratorio of the Counter Reformation in all its splendor, it was created to improve the mind and educate the heart through emotion and the sheer beauty of the music.