Name: Hippolyte et Aricie
Start: 2013-06-29T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2013-08-18T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Opera House

Organization

Singer

Tenor

Ed Lyon

Hippolyte

Soprano

Christiane Karg

Aricie

Mezzo-soprano

Sarah Connolly

Phèdre

Bass

Stéphane Degout

Thésée

François Lis

Pluton

Jupiter

Neptune

Stéphanie d'Oustrac

Diane

Julie Pasturaud

Oenone

Baritone

Samuel Boden

Mercure

Aimery Lefèvre

Arcas

2. Parque

Loïc Félix

Tisiphone

Ana Quintans

L'Amour

Une Matelote

Emmanuelle de Negri

La Grande-Prêtresse de Diane

Une Chasseresse

Mathias Vidal

Un suivant de l'Amour

1. Parque

Callum Thorpe

3. Parque

Conductor

William Christie

Stage director

Jonathan Kent

Set designer

Paul Brown

Choreographer

Ashley Page

Lighting designer

Mark Henderson

Costume designer

Orchestra

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Others

The Glyndebourne Chorus

Glyndebourne

French

Hippolyte et Aricie -  (Hippolytus and Aricia)

United Kingdom

Opera House

Ebert Room

Lewes

In Glyndebourne’s first-ever staging of an opera by Rameau, director Jonathan Kent presents a production which, in his own words, "strives to appeal to every sense and show audiences how engrossing and musically ravishing French Baroque opera can be". Rameau’s inventive take on Racine’s great tragedy Phèdre is brought to life by Paul Brown’s colourful and elegant designs and Ashley Page’s playful choreography. Ed Lyon and Christiane Karg give captivating performances as the titular young lovers, while Sarah Connolly, making a welcome return to Glyndebourne, "invests Phaedra with both grandeur and a desperately human vulnerability" (The Independent). Leading exponent of early music William Christie "sets an exhilarating pace, galvanising the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment to playing of tremendous panache" (The DailyTelegraph).

Rameau was praised as "the Orpheus of our century" after the premiere of Hippolyte et Aricie. Experience the French composer's groundbreaking tragédie en musique in Jonathan Kent's 2013 Glyndebourne re-interpretation, starring Ed Lyon as Hippolytus, Christiane Karg as Aricia, and Sarah Connolly as Phaedra.

Jonathan Kent and William Christie's 2013 Hippolyte et Aricie was Glyndebourne's first-ever French Baroque opera production, and proved to be a smash hit, with critics declaring, "Few nights at the opera will be as rewarding as this one." (The Arts Desk) Kent's incredibly engaging modern staging intertwined with the cast's captivating interpretations of the titular young lovers' story and the masterful performance of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment led by the great William Christie. 

1733 saw the Paris premiere of Rameau's first tragédie en musique, a collaboration with Montclair's librettist Abbé Simon-Joseph Pellegrin based on Racine's tragedy Phèdre. The new work proved incredibly provocative, dividing the musical world of mid-18th century Paris into Rameau's supporters (the "ramistes") and the traditionalist supporters of the old order represented by Lully (the "lullistes"). To 18th century French ears, Rameau's music seemed strange, dissonant, and even inhuman, not to mention unplayable. The controversy defined Parisian musical culture for the next 20 years, reviving each time Rameau produced a daring new opera.

Videos