Rameau: Suites (Zoroastre & Les Indes galantes)

Jean-Philippe Rameau was one of the most important luminaries of the 18th century as a composer and theorist, although he kept his compositional and scholarly activities so carefully separate that his pieces show no trace of the considerations of this “sonic scholar”. The subject matter of his stage works is something else entirely. Les Indes galantes, for example, draws on the latest ethnological explorations of Asia and America, while the grand opera Zoroastre is based on research into the Persian religious founder Zarathustra, who after considerable trials wins the hand of his beloved and the throne of Bactria. One of the most surprising aspects of this fantastic production is how effectively yet discreetly these exotic subjects were incorporated into the established dance forms of the Baroque period, and that Rameau was even able to stage a Native American rain dance.