Gwendoline

Quelle mouche teutonne a donc piqué Emmanuel Chabrier ? En novembre 1880, à son retour d’un Tristan et Isolde à Munich, cet enragé du wagnérisme (comme ses amis Vincent d’Indy, Charles Lamoureux, Stéphane Mallarmé, etc.) démissionne de son emploi au Ministère de l’Intérieur et ne veut plus être que compositeur.

Les Boréades is an ambitious 10-year Rameau project with the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles. The cast of Sabine Devieilhe, Reinoud Van Mechelen, Tassis Christoyannis, Thomas Dolié, Gwendoline Blondeel, Benedikt Kristjánsson and Philippe Estèphe is joined by the Orfeo Orchestra and Purcell Choir, two ensembles founded by Vashegyi himself. Devieilhe made her Erato debut with a Rameau recital, this time she takes the central role of Alphise, Queen of Bactria, who must defy the traditions of her country if she is to marry the man she loves. The theme of freedom, ‘la liberté’, is important in the opera; conceived in 1763 to mark the end of the Seven Years’ War, it had to wait more than 200 years for its first full staging. When the performers on this recording appeared in a concert version of Les Boréades at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, Concert Classique declared that “Rameau’s genius shines through at every moment.”