Hello everyone, my first post on this opera forum which I've been following with pleasure,
Here are two more Rameau operas on DVD. (I mainly watch opera on DVD as I like the whole package). Quite a contrast.
My favourite of the two is “Les Boréades” conducted by William Christie:
The music is wonderful, choruses, dances and (i don’t really know if this is the word” – programmatic music – related for example to the weather, as in sweeping winds, or when the god Borée is impotently storming about it the last act, lots of little unfinished phrases. Also I personally love the colour given to the orchestration by the frequent domination of wind instruments.
The production highlights two main themes: la Liberté versus buttoned-up (literally) conformity, and the passage of the seasons. The seasons are particularly beautifully incarnated, fields of spring flowers, twirling autumn leaves flung from whirling umbrellas, twinkling winter starts followed by flurries of snow, and back to spring again. The followers of liberty wear flowing white tunics, as opposed to the brutalist grey greatcoats and long leather gloves of the followers of the north wind. Liberty and love triumph in the end (the themes of the forthcoming revolution are already well represented in this opera, no wonder it was never shown at the time).
The main part is sung by Barbara Bonney, not an obvious choice for this genre, but she acquits herself well without necessarily producing what I can only call the “French sound” that you hear from Sandrine Piau, Véronique Gens, Patricia Petitbon. Other parts are sung by such veteran Rameau experts as Paul Agnew and Nicolas RIvenq who will be familiar to fans of les Indes Galantes.
My only caveat is the dancing. It’s technically extremely accomplished, but the choreography is ultra-modern and consistently employs extremely fast, angular, exaggerated and robotic arm movements. It grew on me, but was rather exhausting. The explanation offered in the hour-long documentary (good old Opus Arte) is that the director wanted a modern counterpart to the high stylised and conventionalised movements of baroque dance.
Platée (cond Marc Minkowski) is the second opera, quite a different kettle of fish, or should I say frogs:
The story is much slighter, and is really an excuse for lots of “divertissements” particularly on the part of Folly (clad à la Marie-Antoinette in sheet music) and her dancers. Paul Agnew hangs up his hero’s arrow to play the titular ugly marsh nymph, whom (in a twist of particularly gallic logic) Jupiter pretends to marry in order to prove to Juno that he is not actually unfaithful to her (huh???) The production by Laurent Pelly is modern, Comédie Française meets Beatrix Potter with a bit of commedia dell’arte thrown in, and a rollicking time is had by all.
I’m now contemplating my next DVD purchases.
Pretty much decided on Les Paladins:
But not sure about Castor et Pollux:
Or Zoroastre:
Any advice gratefully received. I don't mind modern productions, or even Regie, as long as it makes sense. (possibly the latter is an oxymoron... )
