DVD + Blu-Ray:
Rameau: Hippolyte et Aricie / Opéra Comique

A spectacular production of Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie staged by Jeanne Candel and performed by ensemble Pygmalion with a star cast of the soloists.

Tragédie lyrique in five acts (third version, 1757)
Libretto by Abbé Simon-Joseph Pellegrin

Rameau’s first opera Hippolyte et Aricie delivered a lyrical tragedy of such extraordinary intensity it changed the course of French music, stunning and overwhelming its audiences. This breathtaking spectacle involves prince Hippolyte, who asks his mother in law Queen Phédre for help in wooing the beautiful Aricie, little knowing that Phèdre secretly wants Hippolyte for herself. In a single work Rameau re-invented tragédie en musique with dramatic expressiveness and shocking harmonic innovations. It is seen here in an acclaimed Opéra Comique production that personifies Rameau’s assertion that ‘music must speak to the soul, its true aim must be to express thoughts, feelings, and passions’.

Hippolyte – Reinoud van Mechelen, tenor
Aricie – Elsa Benoit, soprano
Phèdre – Sylvie Brunet-Grupposo, mezzo-soprano
Thésée – Stéphane Degout, baritone
Œnone – Séraphine Cotrez, mezzo-soprano
Neptune / Pluton – Arnaud Richard, bass
Diane – Eugénie Lefebvre, soprano
Prêtresse de Diane / Chasseresse / Matelote / Bergère – Lea Desandre, mezzo-soprano

Pygmalion
Conductor – Raphaël Pichon
Stage Director – Jeanne Candel

Film Director – François Roussillon
Filmed on 12 and 14 November 2020 at the Opéra Comique, Paris, without an audience during the Covid-19 pandemic

[2.110707 / NBD0138V]
Total playing time: 140 min
Language: French · Subtitles: French, English, German, Japanese, Korean
DVD: NTSC 16:9 · PCM stereo and DTS 5.1 · DVD 9
BD: HD 16:9 · HD 16:9 · PCM stereo and DTS-MA 5.1 · BD 50