As was to be expected, György Vashegyi presents again a miraculous work we have not been familiar with. The performers of this opera-ballet from 1745 include international stars, among them Véronique Gens, a popular Baroque soprano who barely needs an introduction. The other contributors are also at home in the world of Baroque opera. Aurélia Legay is regularly featured in Emmanuelle Haïm’s productions, though the operas (and operettas) of later ages are not alien to her either. Nor does Mathias Vidal appear solely in Baroque roles; the very start of his career was marked by Monteverdi and Offenbach. The latest of the many Baroque productions in which he has appeared was Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie, put on stage at Glyndebourne. In their turn, the Purcell Choir and the Orfeo Orchestra demonstrated their abiding interest in Baroque music, including Rameau, most recently at the Hungarian State Opera.

The closing concert of the Budapest Spring Festival offers a modern-day première of an opera first performed in 1745 – but not performed since the 18th century – by the era-defining French Baroque composer Jean-Philippe Rameau, who died 250 years ago. The production is presented as a key event under the aegis of the international Rameau Year in 2014, coordinated by the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, which is playing an important role in bringing the project to fruition. Representatives of the CMBV attended another Rameau opera in Budapest a few years ago, likewise in an outstanding performance by György Vashegyi and his ensembles.
Consisting of a prologue and three acts, the work was written to mark a French victory in the War of the Austrian Succession; it is an opéra-ballet, a genre in which, according to contemporary practice, each act told a separate story. The overture itself is startlingly original, a kind of summary of Rameau’s music rich in eccentricities. Interestingly, the score of the opera was edited by Claude Debussy in 1908 for an old publication of Rameau’s complete works originally published by Camille Saint-Saëns, but for this production the Orfeo Orchestra has prepared its own score based on authentic sources. Having already enriched the Hungarian concert scene with numerous Baroque and pre-Classical discoveries, the ensemble will perform this unusual work with a number of notable French singers, welcoming among them the international star Véronique Gens, a figure as emblematic on the French early music scene as Sophie Marceau is in film.

Collaborating partner: Centre of Baroque Music Versailles

Presented by: Palace of Arts