Rameau's Platée was a hit in its own time, and in the hands of William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, its charms transfer well to modern times. It's less an opera than a satire of one, and it is perhaps Rameau's most purely high-spirited work. The story concerns the hapless titular swamp nymph (countertenor Marcel Beekman), who is convinced that Jupiter is in love with her; he goes along with the game due to one of the marital quarrels of which ancient mythology is full. The choruses are consistently delightful, ...
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Rameau's Platée was a hit in its own time, and in the hands of William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, its charms transfer well to modern times. It's less an opera than a satire of one, and it is perhaps Rameau's most purely high-spirited work. The story concerns the hapless titular swamp nymph (countertenor Marcel Beekman), who is convinced that Jupiter is in love with her; he goes along with the game due to one of the marital quarrels of which ancient mythology is full. The choruses are consistently delightful, sometimes integrated into the action in unexpected ways, sometimes diverting themselves into unusual harmonies or learned counterpoint, and the Arnold Schoenberg Chor responds perfectly to Christie's demands. There are some storms that qualify as hair-raising. In general, the score has a kaleidoscopic quality Rameau never quite matched anywhere else, and Christie is and has always been the conductor who can put this across. The performance heard here has had a frustrating history; it was...
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