Rameau: Les Boréades [Box set]

Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683 - 1764): Les Boréades. Tragédie lyrique. Performed by: Jennifer Smith (soprano, Alphise); Anne-Marie Rodde (soprano, Sémire); Edwige Bourdy (soprano, Polymnie); Martine March (soprano, Une Nymphe); Philip Langridge (tenor, Abaris); John Aler (tenor, Calisis); Jean-Philippe Lafont (bass, Borée); Gilles Cachemaille (tenor, Borilée), Francois LeRoux (tenor, Adamas); Stephen Varcoe (bass, Apollo); Elizabeth Priday (soprano, L'Amour); the Monteverdi Choir; the English Baroque Soloists; directed by John Eliot Gardiner. Recorded in July 1982 at the Festival International d'art lyrique et de musique, Aix-en-Provence, France. Released in 1990 by Erato Disques (Warner) in a 3-CD box as 2292-45572-2. Total playing time: 160'42". (64 page booklet with black and white photographs from the Aix-en-Provence performances)

That this recording exists at all, is due to the persistence of John Eliot Gardiner, who worked out a performing version from the surviving manuscript as early as 1975. The original opera, written by Rameau when he was in his eighties and never performed in his lifetime (the composer died during rehearsals and the planned performance was abandoned), had been forgotten for over 200 years, and all attempts at actually getting it on stage appear to have been dogged by bad luck. Even this recording, which needed eight years between the recording sessions at Aix-en-Provence and its release in 1990, is not without its problems. The biggest seems to be the fact that the French publishing house which owns the copyright to the libretto refused to allow it to be translated - and demanded an extortionate fee on each box sold if the French libretto was printed in the booklet. In the end, Erato decided to do without, and have instead printed a summary of the plot (which is not keyed to the track numbers but can, with a little effort, be fairly easily followed). Another problem appears to have been the recording venue, which leads to a certain amount of echo. The balance between the singers and the orchestra is not always ideal, and there are differences in sound between different parts of the opera. However, all told the engineering is acceptable - certainly better than what you would get on a budget label, I imagine.

Like practically all Rameau's stage works, the storyline here is based on Greek mythology. The "Boréades" of the title are two male descendants of the god of the north wind (Boreas) who lay claim to the hand of the Queen of Bactria, Alphise, and to the kingship. Alphise, however, is in love with Abaris, a mysterious stranger who has been brought up in the temple of Apollo. When Alphise comes out into the open and declares her love for Abaris, the two sons of Boreas call on him to wreak revenge. There is a freak storm, and Alphise is carried away into Boreas's kingdom (which some think may have been Britain, although that is highly unlikely). Abaris follows her and manages to silence Boreas and his two sons by using a magic arrow given to Alphise by the god of Love. If all this sounds rather stupid and superficial, it is just that - the plot seems to be there only as a rather flimsy excuse for lots of dancing, divertissements, appearances of gods, wonderful stage-effects (clouds, winds, etc.) - and some lovely singing, I should add. Jennifer Smith as Alphise is very much at home in this kind of repertoire, and her stylish singing helped me to excuse the occasional hardness of her timbre. The real "stars" of this performance are, however, Philip Langridge (Abaris) and Gilles Cachemaille (Borilée, one of the two pretenders to the throne). Both have plenty of opportunity to shine and do so with delightful voices, rather outshining the other male contributors. Of the smaller female roles, it is Annemarie Rodde as Sémire, a confidante of Alphise, who can create the best impression with her Act 1 air, "Un horizon serein". The Monteverdi Choir is, as usual, exquisite; the playing by the English Baroque Soloists at this period does not quite match up to that on later Rameau recordings by Marc Minkowski's Musiciens du Louvre, but is still wonderful to listen to. There are plenty of very well-known "HIPP" musicians to be heard here, including Lisa Beznosiuk with some great flute playing and Nicholas McGegan on one of the two harpsichords.

French baroque music is often considered "mannered", and personally I think Rameau's operas are definitely an acquired taste - they "reek" of the late Ancien Régime and its decadence. But musically they are always full of interesting details and surprises - as Gardiner points out in his essay, the octogenarian composer was not above introducing clarinets for the first time here.

Delightful musical surprises await you in this "lost" opera by Rameau. If you are in the NYC area, do not miss the few June performances at BAM. I saw William Christie's production (dir. Robert Carsen & dance by Edouard Lock) 3 times here in Paris and it was superb.

› Go to Amazon U.S. to see both reviews  4.5 out of 5 stars