Customer Reviews

Rameau - Les Boreades / Bonney, Agnew, Spence, Naouri, Panzarella, Degout, Rivenq, Christie, Les Arts Florissants, Paris Opera

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Rameau never saw Les Boreades staged. He was 80 years old when he wrote it. The planned production at Louis XV's theater in Choisy in 1763 was mysteriously abandoned, perhaps due to court intrigue, and the opera was forgotten until John Eliot Gardiner conducted a concert version of it in London in 1974. This DVD captures the first-ever full performance, by the Opera National de Paris in 2003, in such spectacular fashion that the ghost of Jean-Philippe Rameau might think it was worth waiting for. Every singer is superb, every dancer is lithe and beautiful to behold, every note from Bill Christie's period orchestra is perfect, and the staging is a wonder of creativity. Why anyone wouldn't drool over this production is inexplicable to me.

French Baroque opera was so different from Italian - including the works of that Italo-Saxon Handel - that it constitutes a separate genre. The first difference you'll notice is that it's half ballet, and thus it contains extended movements of purely instrumental music. But the singing is different also; most of it is orchestrally supported recitativo, rather than the Italian succession of dry recitativo and set-piece da capo arias. This though-composed singing, with almost no repetition of text, makes French opera oddly more similar to Puccini than to Handel, though the similarity stops far short of sounding alike. This is a long opera - 218 minutes - and it will take a neophyte a couple of scenes to adjust to the musical style. Stay with it! The musical steam builds up until the fourth and fifth acts, which integrate the orchestra with the cast of 140 singers and dancers!

The story concerns the Queen of the Boreades, who is required by the God of the North Wind to marry one of two suitors of His royal stock. The Queen, sung gorgeously by Barbara Bonney, is in love with a fellow of no known rank named Abaris, sung gloriously by tenor Paul Agnew. The usual set-backs are sung and danced until the denouement, when Apollo arives from above to acknowledge His paternity of Abaris. There are hints in the libretto of "revolutionary" sympathies and Masonic rites, which might have contributed to the suppression of the opera in the tense climate of the faltering ancien regime.

The staging is unabashedly modern, and superbly colorful, literally florid, despite the fact that the Boreades and their Queen are all dressed in long black coats. Abaris and his folk are in white pajamas and assorted underwear. That may not sound picturesque, but in the flesh it's powerfully evocative, as well as allowing the dancers' superb physiques to shimmer. The dance is also unabashedly modern, a blend of classical ballet legs and frenetic hip-hop arms. I've seen enough recreations of French court dance of the 18th Century to declare that it doesn't have the eternal appeal of the original music. Frankly, historically informed music, with original instruments and authentic vocal styles, succeeds more enjoyably in combo with innovative, even bizarre stagings such as the Paris Opera offers. There are several French Baroque operas on DVD now, staged creatively, most of them conducted by William Christie: Les Paladins by Rameau, Les Indes Galantes also by Rameau, Platee by Lully, all delightful as music and as drama. To my ears, Les Boreades is the most potent musical statement, the greatest of Rameau's many long-neglected masterpieces. Paris! Give us more!

Musically crisp, tight and exciting, with extravagant and gorgeous singing. The DVD shows what is show-worthy in Paris these days: minimalist décor, but charming stage gimmicks (e.g., autumn leaves spun out of whirling, upside-down umbrellas); strong dancing (some en pointe) from both the forces of darkness (winds in trenchcoats) and of light (zephyrs in light cotton underwear). The footwork is fantastic and the movement (often against Rameau's metre) sets the music in relief, true to the commentary interviews; some will find the arm and finger movement repetitive and excessive, as this is a work with as much dancing as singing. Amazing that Boréades was written one year after Gluck's Orfeo.

A small group of friends meet regularly at my house to view opera DVDs. We all enjoyed this one very much. The staging worked beautifully, with the flowers, leaves and snow. The voices were quite good, and the baroque music wonderful. None of us was familiar with the music of Rameau, but will look forward to hearing more. Prospective viewers should be aware that there is as much, if not more, dance as singing. The dancing, like the staging, is very modern -- our one complaint was that the female dancers all looked anorexic! All in all, a first rate program. We heartily recommend it.

The voices are all great; Bonney especialy. It takes some getting use too, as this is early and largely unfamiliar opera form, but I found intense drama and developement in the music and the story line gripping. The production is top rate with clever use of snow (it's the north wind afterall) umbrellas and choreographed movement. The latter reflects the French taste for ballet. Yes, it takes getting used to, but is worth the effort.

If your idea of opera involves high drama (divas stabbing villains with knives, or coughing themselves to death in the last act), then maybe Rameau won't be your cup of tea (or goblet of poison). But if you actually like French Baroque music (as I do), then this is some of Rameau's most gorgeous music. Yes, the action is not fast-paced. Yes, the plot is constantly interrupted by dances. But when the stagecraft is as visually stunning as that devised by Robert Carson in this production, and the dancing is by the group La La La Human Steps, well, you really don't want things to happen too quickly: you want to linger on the beautiful stage pictures these artists create. Barbara Bonney and Paul Agnew both sing wonderfully, and Les Arts Florissants directed by Wiliam Christie get the score just right. The costumes, which suggest mid-century Dior (with a touch of S&M), make the work seem oddly contemporary. I also recommend the interviews with the artists: an engaging and informative bonus.

Another great production by The Opera National de Paris, Les Arts Florissants and musical director, William Christie... the other being "Les Indes Gallantes". The two make a nice pair of offerings by Rameau: one being a light comedy and this one being a more serious work [with a deus ex machina happy ending]. These people understand theatre and can put together a great show with stunning visuals and moving, exciting, engaging drama.

The singing and dancing are top notch and the performers make everything seem effortless. No deliberate positioning and glancing at the conductor before standing there working hard to make that aria perfection. Though no doubt the hard work is definitely there, it's invisible. The singers and dancers just act and move and sing and dance their [difficult] music and choreography as if it were just...oh....what's supposed to go on now....just sorta spontaneous. Marvelous!

The stage design is beautiful, not horrible. There is defined two camps...one stiff and rigid, yet elegant, in structured and tailored grey wool; covered up in coats, gloves and turtle necks. Cold [well duh], icy...even to the point of mowing down a carpet of flowers upon their 1st appearance. The other camp is light, diaphanous, unbuttoned, free, in crinkled cottons with lots of skin showing....who literally bring back the flowers at the end.

Some of the best bits are the weather: all the seasons are represented realistically from a summer carpet of flowers at the beginning [its mowing down is a great bit] to a massive fall of autumn leaves, to a clear winter night that turns into a blizzard, ending with a rain soaked spring with flowers emerging again. I love the banquet on that clear winter night [Act III] where the chorus enters marching in rigid single file only to break ranks and change all the place cards before sitting. Also moving is the fantastic image of Cupid, a young man [teenager] in nothing but full cotton drawstring pants, blindfolded holding a long arrow before him, being carried on the shoulders of others. It has almost an Eastern, Hindu feel to the imagery. So too Apollo floating down in white from the rafters.

A show not to be missed whether you just go for the music, or just for the stagecraft or both!

I am an utter Rameau buff. So getting this DVD was a chance to see as well as hear one of Rameau's greatest operas. I initially found the production a little odd. Watching the interviews with the cast and the directors helped. I have watched this DVD now many times and I find it a very satisfying and engaging production. The singing from all concerned is excellent. Barbara Bonney is a once fragile and strong. Paul Agnew is vocally terrific, yet it is a little hard for me to accept the fact that a woman would go ga-ga over him.

The dancing from La La La Human Steps seemed strange to me to begin with - it resembles the "Voguing" seen in Madonna's video clip of her song "Vogue". The dancers react to Rameau's music in a highly stylised and detailed way. I have grown accustomed to it now and I like the dancing in this DVD now. It is a powerful component of what is presented, rather than a fancy diversion (which it could so easily have become).

Les Boréades contains some of Rameau's most challenging and even strange music. Rameau seems to emphasize the horns, clarinets, flutes and bassoons in the orchestration - we hear a great musical work on the very precipice of the Baroque.

Fascinating and entertaining

This DVD is stunning ! The combination of ultra-modern hip-hop dancing with historically informed performances on original instruments and with authentic vocal styles, is simply mesmerizing. The creative, refreshingly bizarre, staging, works so well with Rameau's gorgeous music. Conducted by William Christie, the period orchestra is superb and the huge cast of 140 singers and dancers is spectacular. Gripping intensity, simply fascinating!

Rameau never saw Les Boreades staged. He was 80 years old when he wrote it. The planned production at Louis XV's theater in Choisy in 1763 was mysteriously abandoned, perhaps due to court intrigue, and the opera was forgotten until John Eliot Gardiner conducted a concert version of it in London in 1974. This DVD captures the first-ever full performance, by the Opera National de Paris in 2003, in such spectacular fashion that the ghost of Jean-Philippe Rameau might think it was worth waiting for. Every singer is superb, every dancer is lithe and beautiful to behold, every note from Bill Christie's period orchestra is perfect, and the staging is a wonder of creativity. Why anyone wouldn't drool over this production is inexplicable to me.

French Baroque opera was so different from Italian - including the works of that Italo-Saxon Handel - that it constitutes a separate genre. The first difference you'll notice is that it's half ballet, and thus it contains extended movements of purely instrumental music. But the singing is different also; most of it is orchestrally supported recitativo, rather than the Italian succession of dry recitativo and set-piece da capo arias. This though-composed singing, with almost no repetition of text, makes French opera oddly more similar to Puccini than to Handel, though the similarity stops far short of sounding alike. This is a long opera - 218 minutes - and it will take a neophyte a couple of scenes to adjust to the musical style. Stay with it! The musical steam builds up until the fourth and fifth acts, which integrate the orchestra with the cast of 140 singers and dancers!

The story concerns the Queen of the Boreades, who is required by the God of the North Wind to marry one of two suitors of His royal stock. The Queen, sung gorgeously by Barbara Bonney, is in love with a fellow of no known rank named Abaris, sung gloriously by tenor Paul Agnew. The usual set-backs are sung and danced until the denouement, when Apollo arives from above to acknowledge His paternity of Abaris. There are hints in the libretto of "revolutionary" sympathies and Masonic rites, which might have contributed to the suppression of the opera in the tense climate of the faltering ancien regime.

The staging is unabashedly modern, and superbly colorful, literally florid, despite the fact that the Boreades and their Queen are all dressed in long black coats. Abaris and his folk are in white pajamas and assorted underwear. That may not sound picturesque, but in the flesh it's powerfully evocative, as well as allowing the dancers' superb physiques to shimmer. The dance is also unabashedly modern, a blend of classical ballet legs and frenetic hip-hop arms. I've seen enough recreations of French court dance of the 18th Century to declare that it doesn't have the eternal appeal of the original music. Frankly, historically informed music, with original instruments and authentic vocal styles, succeeds more enjoyably in combo with innovative, even bizarre stagings such as the Paris Opera offers. There are several French Baroque operas on DVD now, staged creatively, most of them conducted by William Christie: Les Paladins by Rameau, Les Indes Galantes also by Rameau, Platee by Lully, all delightful as music and as drama. To my ears, Les Boreades is the most potent musical statement, the greatest of Rameau's many long-neglected masterpieces. Paris! Give us more!

A must-have for Rameau freaks, Les Boreades is a fully staged production, with many incidental ballets and fabulous music by France's greatest Rococo composer. The choreography is amazing...modern ballet, and yet perfectly appropriate to the wildly ornate music. The seasonal theme here is handled nicely. Bonney is the strongest vocalist here. Agnew has that reedy French baroque tenor sound but little force and no ping. But who else would sing these roles? Alagna? Rivenq is great.
My only criticism concerns the dramatic direction. Typical camp mugging creeps in to modern baroque opera productions all the time, because no one knows what to do with all the music or the plot except to render it modern by making it funny. It gets boring. Maybe everyone should just do less. The music isn't boring. And the musical direction is the best there is.
Most excellent direction of a baroque opera I ever saw was Steven Wadsworth's handling of Xerxes by Handel at City Opera.