Opera Scotland

Boréades Les Boréades; The Sons of Boreas

Music

Jean-Philippe Rameau (born Dijon, September 1683; died Paris, 12 September 1764)

Text

Louis de Cahusac

Source

Classical mythology.

 

Premieres

Composed 1763.

First Performance (concert): London (Queen Elizabeth Hall)14 April 1975.

First Performance (staged): Aix-en-Provence (Théâtre de L'Archevêche), 21 July 1982.

 

Background

As with Rameau's earlier full-length operas, Les Boréades has a plot derived from classical mythology, with a requirement for grand scenic effects and lots of ballet sequences. It must therefore have seemed slightly old-fashioned when composed. Whatever the reason, it was rehearsed intensively but not performed at the time. Rameau died a few months later.

There seems no prospect of this lovely work being seen in Scotland in the near future, but much of the dance music appears in a concert programme at the 2015 Edinburgh International Festival, with the SCO conducted by William Christie.