Baroque music was born in Italy and was spread by Italians into France. The French Baroque - in contrast to the exuberant passion and virtuosity of the Italian Baroque - is characterised by logic and order, simplicity and compactness, short, clear and comprehensible forms and strict rules. The most important creative works in the lengthy oeuvre of the André Campra are his opéra ballets, and Le carnaval de Venise is an example of this genre. Lully's student Jean-Féry Rebel was also an excellent violinist, which allowed him to play the solo part from such works as Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. This is very likely to have been what supplied the model for the "scenic” or "choreographic symphony” Les éléments, which in 11 movements illustrates the creation of the world through music.
Although Jean-Philippe Rameau only took up the genre of opera at the relatively advanced age of 50, he enriched the operatic literature with numerous works in the more than three decades to follow. The second half of the concert will feature opéra ballet arias and orchestral passages from the irresistibly entertaining comic opera Platée, the one-act Pigmalion, based on Ovid, as well as from the opéra ballet entitled Les Indes Galantes.

Presented by: Budapest Festival Orchestra, Müpa Budapest