Rameau: Hippolyte et Aricie - a concert performance with dance

"There is enough music in this opera to make ten of them; this man will eclipse us all". So said the composer Andre Campra, at the opening of Rameau's 'Hippolyte et Aricie' in 1733. Rameau, already a successful composer and writer, had waited until his fiftieth year to embark on an opera and went on to revolutionise the form, achieving great success and indeed eclipsing all his contemporaries.The naturalistic writing, more melodious and harmonically daring than the prevailing style set by Lully, his great predecessor, caused huge controversy but the opera ran for forty performances and the genre did not look back.

The story concerns Hippolytus, the son of Theseus by another woman, who loves Arice, daughter of an enemy of his father. Phaedre, the wife of Theseus nurses a secret desire for her stepson and is not entirely disappointed to learn her husband would not be returning from a trip to Hades. The stage is set for emotional turmoil, bad behaviour, self-harming and a sea monster.

This concert performance, edited from the 1757 edition, is played on original instruments and will be accompanied by dance and will be a great introduction to this richly scored, dramatic and exciting music.