Abaris's fight with fate according to Rameau

Jean-Philippe Rameau

Abaris ou
Les Boréades

Sabine Devieilhe (soprano)
Reinoud van Mechelen (tenor)
Benedikt Kristjánsson (tenor)
Philippe Estèphe (baritone)
Thomas Dolié (baritone)
Tassis Christoyannis (baritone)
Gwendoline Blondeel (soprano)
Orfeo Orchestra, Purcell Choir
György Vashegyi (conductor)

Erato (Warner Classics) 2173237273

review by Lukáš M. Vytlačil

In the 1750s, when Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683‒1764) had turned seventy, he was still at the peak of his creative powers. At that time, he was already a renowned composer who had fundamentally shaped the genre of French opera with his work. In the first half of 1759, he completed the first version of one of his major stage works, the opera Abaris ou Les Boréades. However, it was not performed until 1763, because since August 1756, France had been exhausted by its participation in the so-called Seven Years' War. This grand opera in five acts thus became part of the court celebrations of the newly concluded peace, which ended the protracted conflict that concluded a series of wars of Austrian succession. However, the opera was performed only for the royal court and the first public performance did not take place until 1770 in Lille.

The story of the love between Alphise, the Bactrian queen, and Abaris, which was hindered by the God of the North Wind Boreas, was undoubtedly an interesting challenge. The ancient original was adapted into a libretto by Louis de Cahusac (1706‒1759), and Rameau, when subsequently setting it to music, made full use of its dramatic potential. He created an eleven solo roles in the opera and the extraordinary complexity of the singing parts still testifies to the high level of artistry of the singers at the Paris Opera. Rameau's music not only places great technical demands on them, but also requires a deep sense of dramatic presentation of the plot and excellent declamation of the text. Nevertheless, neither the parts of the orchestra players, nor those of the choir are simple. The choir scenes are very effective and play a significant role in the overall dramatization of the plot. That includes the specific form of short entrées into solo arias. The large orchestra contains an almost complete wind section. Rameau also makes extensive use of piccolos, whose sound is one of the characteristic features of his work.

So far, the latest contribution to the small discography of this opera is a recording produced by the Erato label (catalog number 2173237273) from 2024. (For the sake of interest, I would like to mention that the very first recording of Les Boréades was also released by Erato in 1982.) Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, this time the performers are the Hungarian ensembles Purcell Choir and Orfeo Orchestra, conducted by György Vashegyi. However, the recording was made in collaboration with the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles and the very beginning of the overture clearly shows that it is a very successful dramaturgical undertaking.

This is evidenced by the first-class performances of the ensemble of soloists, including soprano Sabine Deveilhe (Alphise), tenors Reinoud van Mechelen (Abaris) and Benedikt Kristjánsson (Calisis), baritones Thomas Dolié (Borée) and Tassis Christoyannis (Adamas and Apollon) and soprano Gwendoline Blondeel (Sémire, Une Nypmhe, L’Amour and Polymnie). Each vocalist displays considerable technical brilliance which is particularly evident in the exceptionally difficult coloratura arias, leaving plenty of room for musical dramatization and portrayal of the characters and their transformations in the course of the opera. Even the quality of the audio recording pleasantly provokes the listener's vivid imagination. I must praise the aforementioned richness in particular in Sabine Deveilhe, whose performance of the role of Queen Alphise is truly one of the pillars of this recording.

Vashegyi’s choir and orchestra also give equally excellent performances. The singing ensemble is superbly well-blended and, above all, perfectly disciplined, which is very important for Rameau's demanding music, so its contributions wonderfully enhance the overall drama and monumentality of the work. The orchestra's performance is equally precise and disciplined, contributing greatly to the overall excellent sound. Perfectly chosen tempos, very plastically constructed dynamics, in which Vashegyi does not hesitate to thoroughly use the full range from pianissimo to fortissimo, and a feeling for Rameau's instrumentation provide wonderful listening. It holds for both the accompaniment of soloists or choir and the purely orchestral parts, intended in most cases as dance numbers. I must also point out that the excellent sound was achieved thanks to the sensitive casting of the orchestra, which reflects the operating practice of the period opera houses for which Rameau wrote. The large orchestra therefore consists of seven players in the first violin group, six in the second violins, six violas, five cellos, four double basses, flutes, oboes and bassoons with four players each (in the tutti parts, the woodwind parts are doubled), two horn players, percussion and harpsichord. The full sound of this large orchestra allows Rameau's colorful instrumentation to shine in its full glory in this performance of Les Boréades.

This opera has already been released twice before, after 2000 – on DVD with Les Arts Florissants in 2004, and on CD with Collegium 1704 in 2020. Yet, the presented new recording offers a top-notch account of this remarkable French opera that cannot be left aside.

The Czech original of the text was published on polyharmonie.cz.

Links

• Disc on the website of the British retailer Presto Music.
• Abarisův souboj s osudem podle Rameaua. Recenze Lukáše M. Vytlačila.
  (The Czech original of the present review.)
• Lukáš M. Vytlačil on Wikipedia.