European American Music Distributors Company is a member of the Schott Music Group

Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Les Fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour with Opera Lafayette

Oct. 10, 2014

Jean-Philippe Rameau’s <em>Les Fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour</em> with Opera Lafayette

On October 6, Opera Lafayette opened its 20th season at the Kennedy Center with the first modern staged performance of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Les Fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour, ou Les Dieux d'Égypte (The Celebration of Marriage and Love, or the Gods of Egypt) using Bärenreiter’s new critical edition edited by Thomas Soury. The two-act opera, with a libretto by Louis de Cahusac, was composed in 1747 in celebration of the royal wedding of the Dauphin of France to Maria-Josèpha of Saxony. Artistic director Ryan Brown conducted the international cast of singers, chorus and three dance companies in two performances. 

Les Fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour, ou Les Dieux d'Égypte is the last of Rameau's large-scale opéra-ballets to be revived and performed in recent times. Opera Lafayette’s production highlights grace and movement throughout, as each act was directed by one of the company's three contributing choreographers: Catherine Turocy of the New York Baroque Dance Company, Anuradha Nehru of Kalanidhi Dance, and Seán Curran of the Seán Curran Company. Co-presented with the Cultural Service of the Embassy of France, the production received its New York premiere on October 9 at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall.

Also this month, North American audiences are treated to two productions of Handel’s Alcina, both brought to life using Bärenreiter’s Halle Händel Edition, edited by Siegfried Flesch. From October 23 through November 1, Toronto-based Opera Atelier presents a production at the Elgin Theatre, with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra led by David Fallis. On October 26, Harry Bicket leads The English Concert in a performance at Carnegie Hall, featuring Joyce DiDonato and Anna Christy as soloists.

For details on Opera Lafayette, visit www.operalafayette.org.

Information on the Alcina productions can be found at www.operaatelier.com and www.carnegiehall.org.

For more information on Bärenreiter’s critical editions, visit www.baerenreiter.com.

Jean-Philippe Rameau
Les Fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour, ou Les Dieux d'Égypte (1747)
Libretto (Fr) by Louis de Cahusac
Complete edition edited by Thomas Soury
for 6 sopranos, 2 mezzo-sopranos, 5 altos, 4 basses, mixed chorus (SATB), ballet and orchestra
pic.fl.bsn.musette-tpt-kettledrum-vn.vielle.va.vc.db–b.c.
120’

Georg Friedrich Händel
Alcina HWV 34 (1735)
Libretto (It) by Antonio nach Ludovico Ariosto Fanzaglia
Complete edition edited by Siegfried Flesch
for 3 sopranos, mezzo-soprano, alto, tenor, bass, choir, ballet and orchestra
pic.2treble recorder.2ob.bsn-hn-vn.vc-str-b.c.
195’

News