Rameau, Les Indes galantes

Concert version

First of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s six opera-ballets, Les Indes galantes is one of the absolute masterpieces of Baroque music. According to conductor Leonardo Garcia Alarcon, the work (premiered in 1735) is a prodigious “machine for enchantment.”

“Ballet héroïque”, Les Indes Galantes are Rameau’s second lyrical work and the first of his six opera-ballets. The production is spectacular; its exoticism serves as a pretext for introducing magnificent sets and costumes – completely disconnected from the peoples it evokes. As for the music, it is a true triumph for Rameau: the subtlety and inventiveness of his writing continue to dazzle us; his refined and skillful mastery of harmony, in constant pursuit of perfection, finds its ideal culmination here.”

Constance Clara Guibert