Opera from the court of Louis XIV has for decades belonged to early-music specialists, often but not always working hand-in-glove with theater artists of an antiquarian bent. Musically, the director Peter Sellars appreciates a historically informed perspective, but at the dramatic level, escapism into an aesthetic neverland is never—for him—an option. As a matter of temperament, conviction, and principle, Sellars is forever staging burning issues of our own time. Where will he find the contemporary resonance of Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Médée? His companions on the journey are a distinguished lot. Simon Rattle, historically informed but no Baroque specialist, leads the Freiburger Barockorchester, which, as you’ll guess, does specialize in music of the period. Rattle’s wife and inveterate collaborator Magdalena Kožená portrays Medea, the once-indispensable, now-inconvenient wife of a swashbuckler returning home from foreign adventures. (The kids don’t stand a chance.) For added éclat, there’s stage design from starchitect Frank Gehry. —Matthew Gurewitsch