Rameau, J P - 3CD-BOX: Zaïs - Rousset, Christophe
Julian Prégardien
Sandrine Piau
Aimery Lefèvre
Benoit Arnould
Amel Brahim-Djelloul
Hasnaa Bennani
Zachary Wilder
Choeur de chambre de Namur
Les Talens Lyriques / Christophe Rousset
In 1745, the king granted Jean-Philippe Rameau the position of Composer du cabinet du roy, which came with a pension. This new period would see productions in a lighter vein, in collaboration with the librettist Louis de Cahusac, and some of the Burgundian musician's most important masterpieces.
'Zaïs', performed in 1748 on the stage of the Académie Royale de Musique, is one of them. This ballet-héroïque gave French music one of its finest works. The entire score is in the image of its famous overture: organising Chaos, surprising in its theatrical timbres and the boldness of the harmony. Although the plot is quite flimsy - a lover (Zaïs) putting his beloved (Zélidie) to the test to cherish her all the more - it is the pretext for innumerable divertissements and dances, whose magic is a veritable enchantment to the ear. 40 years after Gustav Leonhardt, it is the turn of Christophe Rousset to work on this score in a continuing series of recordings, concerts and writings that have made him one of Rameau's leading champions.