Comédie lyrique (ballet buffon) in a prologue and three acts (1745)
“A marsh queen reigning over a watery empire” or an “absurd Naiad”? Who exactly is Rameau’s strange creature sung by a countertenor and who shatters the conventions of opera?
Delightfully whimsical and joyful, Laurent Pelly's classic Paris Opera staging of Rameau's one-of-a-kind comic jewel returns to Palais Garnier, with renowned Baroque specialist Marc Minkowski conducting his Orchestre les Musiciens du Louvre.
The fantastic cast is led by award-winning American tenor Lawrence Brownlee as the titular Platée, an ugly and conceited water nymph, who falls victim to a machination of the gods of Olympus who make her believe she is loved by Jupiter. Julie Fuchs plays the hilarious role of La Folie.
With this work, composed for the marriage of the Dauphin Louis, son of Louis XV, to the Infanta Maria Teresa of Spain - reputedly a woman of little beauty - Rameau is clearly enjoying himself, and the fun is infectious.