Third opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764), Castor and Pollux is the subject of a new production showing at the Palais Garnier, in Paris, until February 23. Unlike many works from the Baroque era inspired by ancient mythology, the plot is relatively simple. It is based on the imbalance decided by Jupiter, the father, between his twins with a heroic destiny.
One, Pollux, benefits from immortal status, unlike Castor, who is called to die in battle. Summoned by various earthly voices to repair this injustice, the god of gods will end up uniting the two brothers in the galactic immortality of a constellation of the zodiac called “Gemini”. However, the story would not be enough to nourish the libretto of a lyrical tragedy without the presence of a real Cornelian knot more or less tight around the two brothers who love the same woman, Télaïre, daughter of the Sun.
-Created in 1737, Rameau’s score was revised in 1754. It was the first version that was selected for his return to the Paris Opera. Mainly because it has a warrior prologue. Peter Sellars treats it as the matrix for the subsequent developments of a dramatic plot based on conflicts, of a moral or sentimental order.
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