Program description

What happened in Paris in 1737? There was this lighthouse and opera star Jean-Philippe Rameau, who not only virtually reinvented the tragédie lyrique, blending music, dance, and text into dramatic expression. He also advanced the Enlightenment, wrote treatises on harmony and theoretical writings, and composed some truly daring music. In the year of the premiere of his opera Castor et Pollux, we encounter our dear Georg Philipp Telemann again: a star from the north, a virtuoso on the stylistic stage, spending eight months in the city on the Seine, where enthusiasm for Italian music had long since taken hold. This spirit of optimism gives rise to an irresistible mélange of French dance movements, Italian sonority, and German virtuosity. Sit back and enjoy!

Performers
Neue Hofkapelle Graz

Music
by Jean-Philippe Rameau, Georg Philipp Telemann, Françoise Couperin and many more