Rameau: Les Boréades in Bloomington, MN

Among
Rameau
's operas,
Les Boréades
(Boreas is the Greek god of the north wind, and the opera is based on a story of his descendants) is the least heard. It was not performed at all during
's lifetime, received a concert premiere in 1770, and was not staged until
John Eliot Gardiner
led a performance in 1981. This is only the third recording, and it may well be definitive. Conductor
György Vashegyi
is a
specialist who has recorded five of the composer's operas for the
Glossa
label; this one attracted backing from the
Warner Classics
/
Erato
conglomerate, for which it has paid off in the form of an ascent to classical best-seller charts in the summer of 2024. The reason for its success seems to be that few people know the opera, and
Vashegyi
and his
Orfeo Orchestra
give it a zippy performance with lots of momentum and some strong singers, led by soprano
Sabine Devieilhe
in the lead role of Alphise. Her nontraditional romantic choice sets the vague plot in motion, but it is really the orchestra and the chorus (pleasingly fully powered here) who are the stars of the show.
intersperses his set pieces with dances of various kinds; these are probably hard to pull off on stage, but here, they crackle with energy in
's hands. Sample one of the big chorus-soloist pieces, like "Règne, triomphe, tendre amour," from Act II, and one can begin to understand the excitement 18th century French opera might have generated in its time. An important release for lovers of the French Baroque. ~ James Manheim