Castor et Pollux, Acte I, Scène 5: “Chantons l’éclatante victoire” (Choeur de Spartiates)
From Rameau – Castor et Pollux (2015)
Released by Harmonia Mundi
Rameau: Castor et Pollux, Acte I, Scène 5: “Chantons l’éclatante victoire” (Choeur de Spartiates)
At the height of the famous Querelle des Bouffons (1754), the elderly Rameau yielded to insistent requests from the Académie Royale de Musique for a major revision of Castor and Pollux, 17 years after the lukewarm reception of its premiere. He deleted the Prologue and made substantial modifications to the dramatic structure, with a completely new first act! But the original has continued to overshadow the revision, unjustly so when one considers the modernity of its orchestration. The inspired direction of Raphaël Pichon shows the extent to which this music heralds the Classical orchestra.
