SUMMARY

Love both amorous and fraternal, solidarity and jealousy, and the finite and infinite are the subjects of one of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s most popular operas, composed to the mythological story of Castor and Pollux and set to a much-praised libretto by Pierre-Joseph Bernard. Consisting of a prologue and five acts, the work was first presented at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris on 24 October 1737. Rameau brought the drama to life with inexhaustible musical ingenuity and, following the conventions of the tragédie en musique, a genre previously associated chiefly with Lully, composed a work of great emotional intensity, and one that is serious in tone.

Rameau’s career as a composer unfolded at an unusual pace: he was over 50 years old by the time he composed his first full-length opera. Castor et Pollux was his third opera and his second work in the genre of tragédie en musique. Although many viewers greeted the new work with reservations in 1737, it still enjoyed a fair number of performances. However, it was only in 1754 that the composer achieved a truly resounding success with the opera, when he presented it again in a revised form after an interval of several years. Just as Castor and Pollux themselves are twins, we can also consider the two versions of the piece to be twins, now taking their place side by side and complementing each other in the opera world. No matter whether they loved it or hated it, there were few who remained unaffected by Rameau’s music. Some declared it to be offensively revolutionary and accused him of betraying Lully’s legacy, while others criticised it for purportedly being overly ‘studied’ and insufficiently natural and heartfelt. Castor et Pollux is an outstanding example of Rameau’s often divisive musical imagination, boundless creativity and aesthetic ambitions. The music forms a perfect unity with the dramatic libretto, bringing out the contrast between the successive scenes and the full spectrum of colours inherent in them.

Guaranteeing the authenticity of the musical experience is György Vashegyi, one of Hungary’s top representatives of historically informed early music performance. Vashegyi’s work rediscovering forgotten French music – primarily operas – from the 18th and 19th centuries has even been recognised by the French Minister of Culture, who in February 2022 named him a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Tonight’s production of Castor et Pollux is a collaboration between Müpa Budapest, the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles and the Haydneum – Hungarian Centre for Early Music Foundation. It features the Purcell Choir and Orfeo Orchestra and stars some of France’s finest Baroque singers, thus symbolising and reinforcing the connection between the French and Hungarian music worlds.

2023. március 8.

Nathan Laube Orgonaestje

2023. március 31.

BARTÓK TAVASZ