A return to its roots for Castor et Pollux, Jean-Philippe Rameau’s lyric tragedy first performed in 1737 at the Académie royale and inspired by the mythological episode of the Gemini. Rarely performed in its original version – the score was reworked by Rameau himself in 1754 –, this daring work plays on contrasts and expressiveness, as in the famous “Tristes apprêts”. The aria is sung by Télaïre mourning the death of her fiancé Castor, killed in battle, before his twin brother Pollux descends into the Underworld to ask his father, Jupiter, to bring him back to life. While this opera celebrates brotherly love, its prologue poses an essential question for director Peter Sellars: how do you stop a war and its attendant hatred and resentment?
Jeanine De Bique
as Télaïre
Reinoud van Mechelen
as Castor
Marc Mauillon
as Pollux
Stéphanie d'Oustrac
as Phébé
Claire Antoine
as Minerve, Une Suivante d’Hébé
Laurence Kilsby
as L’Amour, Le Grand-Prêtre, un Athlète
Natalia Smirnova
as Vénus, une ombre heureuse
Nicholas Newton
as Mars, Jupiter, un athlète
Teodor Currentzis
as Self – Conductor
Utopia
as Orchestra and Choir
