The plot is negligible; characterization and action almost nil; and the arias nondescript. This, surprisingly, doesn’t matter.
136. Naïs (Rameau)
Author: nickfuller
135. Croesus (Keiser)
DER HOCHMÜTIGE, GESTÜRZTE UND WIEDER ERHABENE CROESUS Composer: Reinhard KeiserLibretto: Lukas von Bostel, after Nicolò Minato’s 1678 operaFirst performed: Theater am Gänsemarkt, Hamburg, 1711.Revised: Theater am Gänsemarkt, Hamburg, 6 December 1730 Reinhard Keiser was once hailed as “the greatest opera composer in the world” (Johann Mattheson, writing his obituary in 1740). Thirty years later, one … Continue reading 135. Croesus (Keiser)
134. Dardanus (Rameau)
Tragédie lyrique in 5 actsComposer: Jean-Philippe RameauLibretto: Charles Antoine Le Clerc de la BruèreFirst performed : Académie royale de musique, Paris, 19 November 1739 (revised 23 April 1744) The tragédie lyrique, with its emphasis on text and ballet, bewildered foreigners: Burney considered the form “displeasing to all ears but those of France, which had been nursed … Continue reading 134. Dardanus (Rameau)
133. Serse (Handel)
The appeal of Handel's comic masterpiece is plane for all to see.
132. Arminio (Handel)
Posterity has not been kind to Handel's late opera Arminio.. With my customary perversity, I enjoyed it more than Giulio Cesare.
131. Artaserse (Vinci)
Five countertenors and a tenor in an opera seria masterpiece!
130. Les Indes galantes (Rameau)
Opéra-ballet in a prologue and 4 entréesComposer : Jean-Philippe RameauLibretto : Louis FuzelierFirst performed : Académie royale de musique, Paris, 23 August 1735 "La terre, les cieux, et les mers / nous offrent tour-à-tour cent spectacles divers." Les Indes galantes offers plenty of spectacle : it's an all-singing, all-dancing extravaganza, a round-the-world trip full of ceremonies, storms, shipwrecks, … Continue reading 130. Les Indes galantes (Rameau)
