RAMEAU // ’Zoroastre 1749’ by Chœur de Chambre de Namur, Les Ambassadeurs & La Grande Écurie

Release date → October 2022 Stream//Download//Buy → Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) left two very different versions of his tragédie en musique Zoroastre: the first, in 1749, suffered from cabals and the work was withdrawn from the repertory. Rameau gave it a thoroughgoing revision in 1756. At this time, he was at the height of his powers. Melody, harmony, orchestration and choral writing no longer held any secrets for him. Zoroastrebrought still further innovation. For the first time, he dispensed with a prologue, and turned the overture into a philosophical ‘programme’, the struggle between day and night, between good and evil. The 1749 version is entirely governed by avant-garde ideas; Zoroastre resembles Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, but two generations earlier. This disconcerted some of the audience: Zoroastrewas a moral, social and philosophical opera. The 1749 version has never been revived in modern times. Alexis Kossenko takes up the challe