Rameau's Singers Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) Episode 3 of 5 AVAILABILITY:3 DAYS LEFT TO LISTEN Duration: 1 hour First broadcast: Wednesday 10 September 2014 Donald Macleod continues his series marking the 250th anniversary of Jean-Philippe Rameau's death by taking a look at the roles Rameau created for his favourite singers.
Controversy was never far away from Jean-Philippe Rameau. He lived a long life, amid the lively cultural and aesthetic debates that erupted in France after music was freed from Jean-Baptiste Lully's artistic monopoly. An octogenarian at his death in 1764, Rameau was by then a prosperous and successful opera composer. Unlike his contemporaries, Bach, Handel and Scarlatti, Rameau was something of a later starter. Born in Dijon, he spent the first part of his life in the provinces, working in relative obscurity. He didn't make his name until the age of 50 when he conquered the stage in Paris. What followed was a remarkable burst of creativity, amounting to about a hundred works, in addition to the prolific publication of original theoretical writing.
Today Donald reflects on the considerable vocal challenges Rameau set his singers and discusses the close relationship between music and dance in his stage works, with Dr. Jonathan Williams, founder of The Rameau Project at the University of Oxford, whose activities this year include preparing and performing two of Rameau's operas, Zaïs and Anacréon. SHOW LESS
Add "Composer of the Week, Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764), Rameaus Singers" to FavouritesAdd to Favourites Share Facebook Twitter QR code Music Played 5 items Add music you love and enjoy it with BBC Playlister Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes Image for Jean-Philippe Rameau 00:01 Jean-Philippe Rameau Les Indes galantes - opera-ballet (Les Fleurs) [3rd entree] vers. orig. [1735] Singer: Carolyn Sampson. Conductor: Jeffrey Skidmore. Choir: Ex Cathedra Choir. HYPERION : CDA-67447, HYPERION, 1 Add "Jean-Philippe Rameau || Les Indes galantes - opera-ballet (Les Fleurs) [3rd entree] vers. orig. [1735]" to PlaylisterAdd to Playlister Image for Jean-Philippe Rameau 00:09 Jean-Philippe Rameau Dardanus - Quels son Melodieux? - Viens ecouter rwsvoeux Ensemble: Ensemble Baroque Pygmalion. Singer: Joao Fernades. Conductor: Raphaël Pichon. Singer: Bernard Richter. ALPHA : 951, ALPHA, 11-13 Add "Jean-Philippe Rameau || Dardanus - Quels son Melodieux? - Viens ecouter rwsvoeux" to PlaylisterAdd to Playlister Image for Jean-Philippe Rameau 00:24 Jean-Philippe Rameau Dardanus Ensemble: Ensemble Baroque Pygmalion. Conductor: Raphaël Pichon. ALPHA : 951, ALPHA, 14-15 Add "Jean-Philippe Rameau || Dardanus" to PlaylisterAdd to Playlister Image for Jean-Philippe Rameau 00:29 Jean-Philippe Rameau La Guirlande, ou Les fleurs enchantees - ballet Choir: Les Arts Florissants Chorus. Orchestra: Cappella Coloniensis. Director: William Christie. Singer: Paul Agnew. Singer: Sophie Daneman. ERATO : 8573-85774-2, ERATO, 10-14 Add "Jean-Philippe Rameau || La Guirlande, ou Les fleurs enchantees - ballet" to PlaylisterAdd to Playlister Image for Jean-Philippe Rameau 00:50 Jean-Philippe Rameau Les Boreades or Abaris - tragedie lyrique in 5 acts Ensemble: Les Ambassadeurs. Director: Alexis Kossenko. Singer: Sabine Devieilhe. ERATO : 50999-9341492-0, ERATO, 7 Add "Jean-Philippe Rameau || Les Boreades or Abaris - tragedie lyrique in 5 acts" to PlaylisterAdd to Playlister Broadcasts BBC Radio 3 Wed 10 Sep 2014 12:00 BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 Wed 10 Sep 2014 18:30 BBC Radio 3