Les Boréades

• Alphise, Queen of Bakrien (soprano )
• Semire, her confidante (soprano )
• Borée ( Boreas ), god of the North Wind ( bass)
• Borilée ( Borileas ) and Calisis, his sons (baritone and tenor / Haute- Contre )
• Apollo, god of light and symbol of the French king (baritone )
• Abaris, his son (tenor / Haute- Contre )
• Adama, Apollo High Priest ( bass)
• Polyhymnia, muse of music (soprano )
• Cupido, a god of love (Soprano)
• The wake of the Queen, priests, people, Graces, nymphs, winds, zephyrs (chorus )

Les Boréades is the last opera by the French composer Jean -Philippe Rameau. The libretto was written by Louis de Cahusac. The opera has five acts and was built in 1763, a year before Rameau's death. Premiered the opera in 1975 in London ( in concert) and 1982 in Aix -en- Provence ( scenic ).

Action

The focus of the opera is the love between Alphise, Queen of Bactria, and Abaris, the subordinate agents of the chief priest of Apollo. This love is so sincere that all social differences and social conventions are transgressed. Alphise are even on the throne to be with her ​​lover. The libretto bears Masonic elements and includes ideas of the French Revolution.

Performance history

The samples for the preview of the opera in Choisy were sold after a month, although they had been given by the Académie Royal de Musique Française in order. Instead, an opera by the composer Benjamin de Laborde ( Ismene et Ismenias ) was voraufgeführt. Causes on the one hand the revolutionary idea at the time (equality), the libretto texts with a self -actualizing woman ( " C'est la liberté qu'il faut que l' on aime " [ It is the freedom that matters ] ) have been or simply lack of money, intrigue (like the musicologist Sylvie Bouissou suspected; Benjamin de Laborde was a lover of Madame de Pompadour ), and technical problems of the singers and the orchestra.

The opera was rediscovered in the second half of the 20th century. In 1974 the plant in London by John Eliot Gardiner was first presented in concert. The scenic premiere of the opera took place in 1982 in Aix -en- Provence during the festival held again under the direction of Gardiner. After that, the popularity increased considerably along with the rediscovery of the Baroque stage music. In 1999, Simon Rattle opera at the Salzburg Festival. Followed in 2003 by the Opéra National de Paris with a production by Robert Carsen under the direction of William Christie as a conductor. From this performance, there is a DVD. 2004, there was a production of the Zurich Opera House, under the musical direction of Marc Minkowski.