Platée
Encyclopedia
Platée is an opera
in a prologue and three acts by Jean-Philippe Rameau
with a libretto
by Adrien-Joseph Le Valois d'Orville. Rameau bought the rights to the libretto Platée ou Junon Jalouse (Plataea, or Juno Jealous) by Jacques Autreau
(1657–1745) and had d'Orville modify it. The ultimate source of the story is a myth related by the Greek
writer Pausanias
in his Guide to Greece.
Rameau's first attempt at comic opera, the plot concerns an ugly water nymph
who believes that Jupiter
, the king of the gods, is in love with her. The work was initially called a ballet bouffon, though it was later styled a comédie lyrique, putting it in the same category as Rameau's Les Paladins
. It was written for the celebrations of the wedding of Louis, Dauphin of France, son of King Louis XV of France
, to the Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain
, who, according to contemporary sources, like the title character was no beauty. Instead of getting the composer into trouble, the entertainment at Versailles
seems to have been well received, and Rameau was appointed a few months later to the position of Composer of the King's Chamber Music with a sizable annual pension.
The opera was first performed on 31 March 1745 at the Grande Ecurie, Versailles
.
era in France and the musicologist Cuthbert Girdlestone
expresses his surprise that none of Rameau's contemporaries seem to have remarked on the innovative nature of Platée. Rameau may have been inspired by a revival of an earlier comic opera, Les amours de Ragonde by Jean-Joseph Mouret
, in 1742, or by Joseph Bodin de Boismortier
's comic opera-ballet, Don Quichotte chez la Duchesse
from 1743.
referred to it as "divine". The reason for this praise may be because these critics saw Platée, a comic opera, paving the way for the lighter form of opera buffa
they favoured.
The work received one performance at the marriage festivities at Versailles in 1745. Little is known about this production, except that the title role was taken by the haute-contre
Pierre Jélyotte
, a famous character actor. Rameau revised the opera in collaboration with the librettist Ballot de Sovot and presented it at the Opéra in Paris on 9 February 1749. Its first public run was very successful and it was later revived in 1750 and again in 1754, always starring in the title role the second haute-contre of the Opéra, La Tour. According to Rodolfo Celletti
, the role of Platée performed by La Tour was the highest haute-contre part ever written by Rameau. The 1754 revival was part of the continuing Querelle des Bouffons, pitted against Leonardo Leo
's Italian opera buffa, I viaggiatori. Platée was last performed complete during Rameau's lifetime in 1759.
The next production would not take place until 1901 in Munich
, in a heavily adapted German version by Hans Schilling-Ziemssen. The French version reappeared at a production in Monte Carlo
in 1917 but Platée only returned to France at the Aix-en-Provence
Festival in 1956 with young tenor Michel Sénéchal
as the queen of frogs, a part which Mr Sénéchal took again in the Opéra-Comique in 1977. The opera made its debut in the United Kingdom in 1983 and in the United States in 1987.
Platée came back to the Paris Opera in April 1999 in a version that was to become later a DVD, with Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, then Paul Agnew, in the title part in a production by Laurent Pelly
conducted by Marc Minkowski
. The opera was also presented as a co-production of New York City Opera
and the Mark Morris Dance Group, directed by Mark Morris
during the 1997 Edinburgh Festival, a production that toured often from then in London and the USA. It was also staged by the Santa Fe Opera
as part of the Summer 2007 Festival season in an adaptation of the Paris Opéra production also directed by Laurent Pelly, with many of the same production team, and conducted by Harry Bicket
. Among the singers who were regarded as remarkable in the title role, were Michel Sénéchal, Gilles Ragon, Jean-Paul Fouchécourt
, and Paul Agnew
.
and, when Juno finds them together and about to marry, she will realize that her jealousy is baseless and the couple will be re-united.
After Platée arrives, Mercury leaves to inform Jupiter. While she seems to believe that it is Cithéron who is in love with her - in spite of his denials - she is delighted to hear from Mercury that Jupiter will soon descend from the heavens and declare his love: "The god of thunder, drawn to earth by your beauty, wishes to cast at your feet both his heart and the Universe" A new storm created by Juno bursts forth, but Platée is not put out and the marsh creatures retreat to their watery homes.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
in a prologue and three acts by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era. He replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer for the harpsichord of his time, alongside François...
with a libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by Adrien-Joseph Le Valois d'Orville. Rameau bought the rights to the libretto Platée ou Junon Jalouse (Plataea, or Juno Jealous) by Jacques Autreau
Jacques Autreau
Jacques Autreau, a French portrait painter and dramatic poet, was born in Paris in 1657. He died in 1745. His portrait of himself is in the Musée of Versailles.-References:...
(1657–1745) and had d'Orville modify it. The ultimate source of the story is a myth related by the Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
writer Pausanias
Pausanias (geographer)
Pausanias was a Greek traveler and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece , a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from firsthand observations, and is a crucial link between classical...
in his Guide to Greece.
Rameau's first attempt at comic opera, the plot concerns an ugly water nymph
Nymph
A nymph in Greek mythology is a female minor nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform. Different from gods, nymphs are generally regarded as divine spirits who animate nature, and are usually depicted as beautiful, young nubile maidens who love to dance and sing;...
who believes that Jupiter
Jupiter (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
, the king of the gods, is in love with her. The work was initially called a ballet bouffon, though it was later styled a comédie lyrique, putting it in the same category as Rameau's Les Paladins
Les Paladins
Les Paladins is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau first performed on 12 February 1760. The author of the libretto is unknown, but it has been attributed to Duplat de Monticourt...
. It was written for the celebrations of the wedding of Louis, Dauphin of France, son of King Louis XV of France
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
, to the Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain
Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain
Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain (María Teresa Antonia Rafaela; 11 June 1726 – 22 July 1746, Infanta of Spain, wife of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), son of Louis XV of France. She died in childbirth aged 20, leaving no surviving...
, who, according to contemporary sources, like the title character was no beauty. Instead of getting the composer into trouble, the entertainment at Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
seems to have been well received, and Rameau was appointed a few months later to the position of Composer of the King's Chamber Music with a sizable annual pension.
The opera was first performed on 31 March 1745 at the Grande Ecurie, Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
.
Background to the opera
Comic opera was relatively rare during the BaroqueBaroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
era in France and the musicologist Cuthbert Girdlestone
Cuthbert Girdlestone
Cuthbert Morton Girdlestone was a British musicologist and literary scholar. He was educated at Cambridge and the Sorbonne, and thereafter took up the chair in French in Armstrong College, later to be King's College in Newcastle in 1926, a position he held until 1960...
expresses his surprise that none of Rameau's contemporaries seem to have remarked on the innovative nature of Platée. Rameau may have been inspired by a revival of an earlier comic opera, Les amours de Ragonde by Jean-Joseph Mouret
Jean-Joseph Mouret
Jean-Joseph Mouret was a French composer whose dramatic works made him one of the leading exponents of Baroque music in his country...
, in 1742, or by Joseph Bodin de Boismortier
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier was a French baroque composer of instrumental music, cantatas, opéra-ballets, and vocal music...
's comic opera-ballet, Don Quichotte chez la Duchesse
Don Quichotte chez la Duchesse
Don Quichotte chez la Duchesse is a "comic ballet" by the French baroque composer Joseph Bodin de Boismortier...
from 1743.
Performance history and reception
Platée was one of the most highly regarded of Rameau's operas during his lifetime. It even pleased critics who had expressed hostility to his musical style during the Querelle des Bouffons (an argument over the relative merits of French and Italian opera). Melchior Grimm called it a "sublime work" and even Rameau's bitter enemy Jean-Jacques RousseauJean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
referred to it as "divine". The reason for this praise may be because these critics saw Platée, a comic opera, paving the way for the lighter form of opera buffa
Opera buffa
Opera buffa is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ‘commedia in musica’, ‘commedia per musica’, ‘dramma bernesco’, ‘dramma comico’, ‘divertimento giocoso' etc...
they favoured.
The work received one performance at the marriage festivities at Versailles in 1745. Little is known about this production, except that the title role was taken by the haute-contre
Haute-contre
The haute-contre is a rare type of high tenor voice, predominant in French Baroque and Classical opera until the latter part of the eighteenth century.-History:...
Pierre Jélyotte
Pierre Jélyotte
Pierre Jélyotte was a French operatic tenor, particularly associated with works by Rameau, Lully, Campra, and Destouches.-Life and career:...
, a famous character actor. Rameau revised the opera in collaboration with the librettist Ballot de Sovot and presented it at the Opéra in Paris on 9 February 1749. Its first public run was very successful and it was later revived in 1750 and again in 1754, always starring in the title role the second haute-contre of the Opéra, La Tour. According to Rodolfo Celletti
Rodolfo Celletti
Rodolfo Celletti was an Italian musicologist, critic, voice teacher, and novelist. Considered one of the leading scholars of the operatic voice and the history of operatic performance, he published many books and articles on the subject as well as several novels.-Biography:Rodolfo Celletti was...
, the role of Platée performed by La Tour was the highest haute-contre part ever written by Rameau. The 1754 revival was part of the continuing Querelle des Bouffons, pitted against Leonardo Leo
Leonardo Leo
Leonardo Leo , more correctly Lionardo Oronzo Salvatore de Leo, was an Italian Baroque composer.-Biography:...
's Italian opera buffa, I viaggiatori. Platée was last performed complete during Rameau's lifetime in 1759.
The next production would not take place until 1901 in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, in a heavily adapted German version by Hans Schilling-Ziemssen. The French version reappeared at a production in Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
in 1917 but Platée only returned to France at the Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence
Aix , or Aix-en-Provence to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a city-commune in southern France, some north of Marseille. It is in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, in the département of Bouches-du-Rhône, of which it is a subprefecture. The population of Aix is...
Festival in 1956 with young tenor Michel Sénéchal
Michel Sénéchal
Michel Sénéchal is a French tenor, particularly associated with French and Italian character roles in a repertory ranging from Baroque to contemporary works.- Life and career :...
as the queen of frogs, a part which Mr Sénéchal took again in the Opéra-Comique in 1977. The opera made its debut in the United Kingdom in 1983 and in the United States in 1987.
Platée came back to the Paris Opera in April 1999 in a version that was to become later a DVD, with Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, then Paul Agnew, in the title part in a production by Laurent Pelly
Laurent Pelly
Laurent Pelly is a French opera and theatre director. At the age of 18, he founded the Compagnie Théâtrale du Pélican which, since 1982, has been co-directed by Agathe Mélinand...
conducted by Marc Minkowski
Marc Minkowski
Marc Minkowski is a French conductor of classical music, especially known for his interpretations of French Baroque works. His mother is American, and his father was Alexandre Minkowski, a Polish-French professor of pediatrics and one of the founders of neonatology...
. The opera was also presented as a co-production of New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
and the Mark Morris Dance Group, directed by Mark Morris
Mark Morris
Mark William Morris is an American dancer, choreographer and director whose work is acclaimed for its craftsmanship, ingenuity, humor, and at times eclectic musical accompaniments...
during the 1997 Edinburgh Festival, a production that toured often from then in London and the USA. It was also staged by the Santa Fe Opera
Santa Fe Opera
The Santa Fe Opera is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe in the U.S. state of New Mexico, headquartered on a former guest ranch of .-General history:...
as part of the Summer 2007 Festival season in an adaptation of the Paris Opéra production also directed by Laurent Pelly, with many of the same production team, and conducted by Harry Bicket
Harry Bicket
Harry Bicket is a British conductor, harpsichordist and organist.Bicket was educated at Radley College, Christ Church, Oxford, where he was organ scholar, and the Royal College of Music...
. Among the singers who were regarded as remarkable in the title role, were Michel Sénéchal, Gilles Ragon, Jean-Paul Fouchécourt
Jean-Paul Fouchécourt
Jean-Paul Fouchécourt is a French tenor, mostly as an opera singer. He was born on August 30, 1958, at Blanzy in the Burgundy region. He is best known for singing French Baroque music, especially the parts called in French haute-contre, written for a very high tenor voice with no falsetto...
, and Paul Agnew
Paul Agnew
Paul Agnew is a Scottish operatic tenor.Agnew read music as a Choral Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the Consort of Musicke, the Tallis Scholars, the Sixteen and the Gothic Voices, before embarking on a solo career in the early 1990s.Closely associated with William...
.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast 31 March 1745 (Conductor: - ) |
2nd version cast 9 February 1749 (Conductor: - ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prologue: La Naissance de la Comédie/ The birth of the Comedy | |||
| Thespis Thespis Thespis of Icaria , according to certain Ancient Greek sources and especially Aristotle, was the first person ever to appear on stage as an actor playing a character in a play... , inventor of comedy |
haute-contre Haute-contre The haute-contre is a rare type of high tenor voice, predominant in French Baroque and Classical opera until the latter part of the eighteenth century.-History:... (high tenor) |
La Tour (also spelled Latour) | François Poirier |
| Momus Momus Momus or Momos was in Greek mythology the god of satire, mockery, censure, writers, poets; a spirit of evil-spirited blame and unfair criticism. His name is related to , meaning 'blame' or 'censure'. He is depicted in classical art as lifting a mask from his face.-In classical literature:Hesiod... , god of satire |
bass baritone | Albert | Lamarre (also spelled La Marre) |
| Thalie, muse of comedy | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Marie Fel Marie Fel Marie Fel was a French opera singer, daughter of the organist Henri Fel.Marie Fel was born at Bordeaux. She made her debut at the Paris Opera in 1733 and sang regularly at the Concert Spirituel... |
Marie-Angélique Coupé |
| Amour Cupid In Roman mythology, Cupid is the god of desire, affection and erotic love. He is the son of the goddess Venus and the god Mars. His Greek counterpart is Eros... / Love |
soprano | Marie-Angélique Coupé (also spelled Couppé or Coupée) |
M.lle Rosalie |
| Un satire Satyr In Greek mythology, satyrs are a troop of male companions of Pan and Dionysus — "satyresses" were a late invention of poets — that roamed the woods and mountains. In myths they are often associated with pipe-playing.... /a satyr |
bass baritone | Benoit | Person |
| Vendangeuses/ Vintaging girls | sopranos | M.lles Carrou and Dalman | M.lles Carrou and Chefdeville |
| Ballet (comédie lyrique) | |||
| Cithéron, King of the Mountain | bass baritone | François Le Page (also spelled Lepage) | François Le Page |
| Mercure Mercury (mythology) Mercury was a messenger who wore winged sandals, and a god of trade, the son of Maia Maiestas and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is related to the Latin word merx , mercari , and merces... / Mercury, the messenger god |
haute-contre | Jean Antoine Bérard | François Poirier |
| Platée, a travesti En travesti Travesti is a theatrical term referring to the portrayal of a character in an opera, play, or ballet by a performer of the opposite sex. Some sources regard 'travesti' as an Italian term, some as French. Depending on sources, the term may be given as travesty, travesti, or en travesti... role |
haute-contre | Pierre Jélyotte Pierre Jélyotte Pierre Jélyotte was a French operatic tenor, particularly associated with works by Rameau, Lully, Campra, and Destouches.-Life and career:... |
La Tour |
| Clarine, maidservant to Platée | soprano | M.lle Bourbonnais | Marie-Angélique Coupé |
| Une naiade Naiad In Greek mythology, the Naiads or Naiades were a type of nymph who presided over fountains, wells, springs, streams, and brooks.... / a naiad, another maidservant to Platée |
soprano | M.lle Metz | ? |
| Jupiter Jupiter (mythology) In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon.... , king of the gods |
bass baritone | Claude-Louis-Dominique Chassé de Chinais | Person |
| La Folie/ Folly | soprano | Marie Fel | Marie Fel |
| Junon Juno (mythology) Juno is an ancient Roman goddess, the protector and special counselor of the state. She is a daughter of Saturn and sister of the chief god Jupiter and the mother of Mars and Vulcan. Juno also looked after the women of Rome. Her Greek equivalent is Hera... / Juno, wife of Jupiter |
soprano | Marie-Jeanne Fesch, "m.lle Chevalier | Louise Jacquet |
| Momus | taille (baritenor Baritenor Baritenor is a musical term formed by a blend of the words "baritone" and "tenor". It is used to describe both baritone and tenor voices. In Webster's Third New International Dictionary it is defined as "a baritone singing voice with virtually a tenor range"... ) or bass baritone |
Louis-Antoine Cuvillier (also spelled Cuvilliers or Cuvelier) |
Lamarre |
| Iris | mime Mime artist A mime artist is someone who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art, involving miming, or the acting out a story through body motions, without use of speech. In earlier times, in English, such a performer was referred to as a mummer... |
? | |
| Animals, scholars, chorus, dancers | |||
Prologue
After a night of partying, the Chorus wakes Thespis from a drunken sleep. When Thalie and Momus arrive, they seek Thespis' help in planning the presentation of an entertainment in which they will recreate a long-ago attempt by Jupiter to cure his wife, Juno, of her jealousy. Initially left out of the planning, a furious Love arrives on the scene and proclaims that it will be impossible to stage the event without her: "how could there be a play without the inspiration of love?" she asks. All four then layout the plan.Act 1
In the middle of a raging storm, Mercury comes down from the heavens and explains to Citheron that it is caused by Juno's jealousy and that he has been sent by Jupiter to find a way of taking his mind off the problem. Citheron's solution is to propose the enactment of the plan put together by the four conspirators: Jupiter will pretend to fall in love with the ugly marsh nymph, Platée - who is convinced that everything that comes near her pond is madly in love with her -and, when Juno finds them together and about to marry, she will realize that her jealousy is baseless and the couple will be re-united.
After Platée arrives, Mercury leaves to inform Jupiter. While she seems to believe that it is Cithéron who is in love with her - in spite of his denials - she is delighted to hear from Mercury that Jupiter will soon descend from the heavens and declare his love: "The god of thunder, drawn to earth by your beauty, wishes to cast at your feet both his heart and the Universe" A new storm created by Juno bursts forth, but Platée is not put out and the marsh creatures retreat to their watery homes.
Act 2
Having sent Juno off to Athens, Mercury and Cithéron find a hiding place to observe the proceedings. Accompanied by Momus, Jupiter arrives, revealing himself first as a donkey (to the accompanying sounds of donkey braying from the orchestra), then as an owl, and finally, in person in a clap of thunder and bright light. An extended divertissment proceeds during which a show-stopping highlight has La Folie (Madness) singing the story of Apollo and Daphne as a warning to Platée not to get involved with Jupiter. Dancers and singers alternately praise and mock Platée.Act 3
As people arrive for the marriage of Jupiter and Platée, a furious-at-being-tricked Juno has returned from Athens but she is persuaded to hide until the right moment. Momus appears, poorly disguised as Love, and offers "gifts" to Platée. Jupiter and Platée begin to take part in the wedding ceremony, but, stalling after his initial "I swear", he awaits the arrival of Juno. When she finally sees Platée and removes her veil, she realizes that it was all a joke. The gods ascend back to heaven and the humiliated Platée leaps back into the pond.Recordings
| Year | Cast (Platee,) |
Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra |
Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Michel Sénéchal Michel Sénéchal Michel Sénéchal is a French tenor, particularly associated with French and Italian character roles in a repertory ranging from Baroque to contemporary works.- Life and career :... , Jeanine Micheau, Nicolai Gedda Nicolai Gedda Nicolai Gedda is a Swedish operatic tenor. Having made some two hundred recordings, Gedda is said to be the most widely recorded tenor in history... , Jacques Jansen Jacques Jansen Jacques Jansen was a French baryton-martin singer, particularly associated with the role of Pelléas but also active in operetta and on the concert platform, and later as a teacher.-Life and career:Jansen had a wide musical and artistic education; after studying the violin in Paris, he took lessons... , ? |
Hans Rosbaud Hans Rosbaud Hans Rosbaud , was an Austrian conductor, particularly associated with the music of the twentieth century.... , Orchestre de la Société du Conservatoire |
Audio CD: EMI EMI The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major... Cat: |
| 1989 | Gilles Ragon, Bernard Deletré, Jennifer Smith Jennifer Smith (opera singer) Jennifer Smith is a Portuguese soprano singer.Born in Lisbon, Jennifer Smith graduated from the Lisbon Conservatory of Music and came to London on a Gulbenkian scholarship. Her varied recording career includes opera and recital, from baroque to modern... , Vincent Le Texier, Guy de Mey |
Marc Minkowski Marc Minkowski Marc Minkowski is a French conductor of classical music, especially known for his interpretations of French Baroque works. His mother is American, and his father was Alexandre Minkowski, a Polish-French professor of pediatrics and one of the founders of neonatology... , Les Musiciens du Louvre Les Musiciens du Louvre Les Musiciens du Louvre is a French period instrument ensemble, formed in 1982. Originally based in Paris, since 1996 it has been based in the Couvent des Minimes in Grenoble. The Guardian considers it one of the best orchestras in the world.- History:Founded by Marc Minkowski in 1982, the... |
Audio CD: WEA International ASIN: B000009IU9 |
| 2003 | Paul Agnew Paul Agnew Paul Agnew is a Scottish operatic tenor.Agnew read music as a Choral Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the Consort of Musicke, the Tallis Scholars, the Sixteen and the Gothic Voices, before embarking on a solo career in the early 1990s.Closely associated with William... , Mireille Delunsch Mireille Delunsch Mireille Delunsch is an opera soprano. She was born in Mulhouse, France, and studied musicology and voice at the Conservatoire de Strasbourg. Her debut was at the Opéra du Rhin in Mulhouse, in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov.... , Yann Beuron, Vincent Le Texier, Laurent Naouri Laurent Naouri Laurent Naouri is a French bass-baritone. Initially beginning his education at the École Centrale de Lyon, Naouri decided to concentrate on opera in 1986 and continued his musical studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.His professional career in France began in 1992 with... |
Marc Minkowski Marc Minkowski Marc Minkowski is a French conductor of classical music, especially known for his interpretations of French Baroque works. His mother is American, and his father was Alexandre Minkowski, a Polish-French professor of pediatrics and one of the founders of neonatology... , Opéra National de Paris, Orchestra and Chorus of Les Musiciens du Louvre - Grenoble |
DVD: Kultur Cat: D2919 |