Rameau: Castor et Pollux

Castor et Pollux is an important baroque opera and many experts considered it Rameau’s finest. This production is fine to view, which is a much nicer way to get into the story compared to try to follow along with a small typeset booklet. While I didn’t find the staging to be exciting, it was not distasteful, trashy or distracting. I was a bit worried and avoided this after reading some of the reviews. Now that I have watched, I can safely say fear not and enjoy. The two guys playing Castor and Pollux play their roles with sincerity. If you are an explorer of the operatic arts, then you should see this at some point in your journey. Also worth seeing are the Les Indes Gallant conducted by William Christie (best encore ever) and Hyppolitr et aricie (the hardcore traditionalist production I previously reviewed).

The staging of this 18th C opera seria, by De Nederlandse Opera with Pierre Audi directing, is suspiciously similar to the 10-year-old Brian Large (correction: Robert Wilson) staging of Gluck's Alceste: the same faded blue ambience, with muted red lighting; similar robes for costumes; odd squares and cubes for sets; super-stately, hieratic poses and movements. I had mixed feelings about that Alceste; in the end, only the music worked for me. Once again, it's the music that makes the show in Rameau's "Castor et Pollux", but there are good things to be said about the staging and five-star raves about the musical delivery.First, the singers. This is an opera about men, and the legendary Twins, Castor and Pollux, are real men, both in their robust voices and in their presences. Finnur Bjarnason (Castor) dominates both physically and vocally whenever he's on stage; that's appropriate to the tale. But Henk Neven (Pollux) sings with an emotional depth that expands and ripens as his character's nobility is revealed. Basso Nicolas Teste (Jupiter) is properly severe and all-potent vocally, though his physical presence seems somewhat less than Olympian. Altogether, the three male characters are superb in their musical balance and ensemble; for once, it's obvious that rehearsal time was adequate for the production. There are also three women in the tale: Telaire, whom both brothers love; her sister Phebe, who lusts for Castor and whose sorcery sets up the tragedy; and the ambiguous Cleone, confidante of both sisters. Veronique Gens (Phebe) steals the show vocally; her voice is never strained, her ornaments are effortlessly graceful, her vocal affect is spot-perfect for the emotional load of each of her recitations. Anna Maria Panzarella (Telaire) and Judith van Wanrou (Cleone) sing very well, with rich ringing timbre; it's only in comparison with Gens that they pale slightly. One of the major virtues of this cast is that all the principals sing with the same "historically informed' vocal technique, as if they'd all studied with the same teacher. Rameau's music per se depends on such unity of ensemble for its grace, and unfortunately such generous togetherness of singers can't always be depended on. This performance would be vocally impressive on a CD also.Then, the singers as actors. The first scenes are stiff. That's what the director called for. It's not quite as tedious as a Bayreuth production of Wagner; nobody sings while staggering backwards a foot a note. But it's scarcely engaging. Then, I think, the singers -- all of them -- begin to become engaged themselves in the meaning of their character's words and in the divine humanity they are enacting. Let's just say that they 'override' their direction and commit themselves to being who their recitations say they are. They generate a lot of drama, a lot of empathy, which builds in the final acts to a theatrical climax. One actually cares about their fates. Or to be precise, one cares about Castor and Pollux. As I said before, this is an opera about men. The most potent emotion in it is brotherly fidelity. The two brothers are united in immortality. Telaire remains on stage in this production but she's no longer relevant, and Phebe is lost somewhere in gloomy Hades.Les Talens Lyriques, conducted by harpisichordist Christophe Rousset, play with the utmost precision and delicacy throughout. The instrumental writing in this opera seria is restrained and subordinated to the singing, but it has to be elegant, and it is. I agree with other critics that "Castor et Pollux" is Rameau's masterpiece in the genre of opera seria. It's far more than the usual French Baroque suite of arias and dances; it's a taut, coherent, complete piece of music.Finally, back to the staging. Hmmm. It "grew" on me. Or perhaps I began to see and hear through it. My wife thought it was "beautiful" and for once I didn't have to wake her up for the last act.

I'll tell you. It was the choreographer. He insisted on assigning each character a dancer who would double as themselves. The dancer's role was to do all the acting through the awkward and laborious dancing. This means that while the events are actually happening to the singers, they can't act out about it. This was a grave error which manifested in a tedious, monotonous staging. You don't get to see any of the rage by those that have been crossed, nor do you get to see any sort of real jealousy or insanity by the one doing the crossing. The best scene is the funeral scene with the popular aria Tristes aprez. Under the proper direction, this opera could move you to tears. I love Rameau and all his work and this production put me to sleep. I so badly wanted to like this. If this was any one's first experience with a Rameau opera they would certainly be put off. The saving grace of this production is the perfect performance by the orchestra. Get the CD instead. Forget this and buy Platee by Rameau. It's the most entertaining piece of work that I own and everyone I've shown it to agrees.

Perfect trade!

Rameau's music for this opera is wonderful and it is well-performed by Les Talens Lyriques under Christophe Rousset. The vocal performances are very good, except that Panzarella screeches from time to time.The problem with this production is that the sets are extraordinarily ugly. Yes, they're minimalist, but they're also just plain ugly and add nothing to the merits of the opera. The costumes are mediocre at best. Worst of all, the choreography is ugly. The acting is quite weak as well. In every visual respect, this production detracts from Rameau's music rather than illuminating it.If you haven't already seen Rameau's Les Indes Galantes, get that instead, or try a CD version of this opera. I recommdend skipping this monstrosity.

I've seen this opera twice in the theatre, most recently in Barrie Kosky's exciting staging at the English National Opera. This version, from Amsterdam, is altogether more restrained, more classical, perhaps more in the spirit of Rameau. One element missing is the extended dance sequences that characterise so much of Rameau's dramatic work. Instead we get some odd writhing ans arm-waving from the chorus, which for me was an irritant.The decor is geometric, cold and functional. The costumes are fairly dull - everyone, men included, wears long skirts or skirt-like trousers, and the long hair sported by all makes it difficult to distinguish male from female chorus members, and, occasionally, soloists.Overall, the effect is coherent, if rather unexciting.The soloists are another matter. I greatly admired the level of French enunciation from the non-francophone singers, a pretty rare event these days. The titular brothers are extremely well sung by Henk Neven and Finnur Bjarnason, both of whom also act convincingly. The two ladies are outstanding. Veronique Gens brings the French Classical style to her interpretation of Phebe, singing with great beauty of tone. Her opposite, Telaire, is sung by the Swiss soprano Anna Maria Panzarella, again with a sense of style, and perhaps some edginess in the upper register, but a real feeling for Rameau. Others in the cast perform well, especially the tenor Anders J. Dahlin.To sum up, this DVD is visually sometimes disappointing, but aurally, under the direction of Christophe Rousset, a thrilling experience.

servizio e prodotto impeccabili

A clear objective production of one of Rameau's best known operas. Veronique Gens is excellent.

Apart from this, I've bought four other DVDs of Rameau operas (Christie's Les Indes Galantes, Les Boreades, Les Paladins, and Minkowski's Platee). Of the five, I like Castor et Pollux the least. This is mainly due to the staging which, though grand in scale, and expensive-looking, seems a bit cold and dull. The designer was going for a stark, ancient Greek look, presented in a modernist way,and may have achieved just that. This is a serious story, of course, so that may have led to some restraint, but even the light-hearted parts of the score are accompanied by grim visuals.Veronique Gens, who has famously sung Apres triste (sp?), used in the movie 'Marie Antoinette, is in the cast here, but she has to watch someone else sing her famous aria, which seems like a bit of a waste. Apart from that, is was wonderful musically; and if you're looking to buy Rameau DVDs, I think this is the only Castor and Pollux to choose from, so for that reason I recommend it to Rameau enthusiasts.

Il est toujours intéressant de trouver une mise en scène d'opéra baroque en DVD. La partie musicla est réussie, mais la mise en scène un peu "raide" sans grande invention, on est un peu frustré de ce qui peut faire la grâce de Rameau.