Anacreon, Le Berger fidele : Minkowski / Les Musiciens du Louvre, Gens, Massis, etc (1995 Stereo)

RAMEAU:
Anacreon
Le Berger fidele

Thierry Felix, Veronique Gens, Rodrigo Del Pozo, Annick Massis
Les Musiciens du Louvre
Marc Minkowski, conductor

Digital Recording: 1995

Although Rameau's creative career spanned six decades, he only turned to opera late in life. His dramatic output all dates from the last 30 years of his life; quite remarkably so, for as he commented: 'I have attended the theatre since I was 12, yet I first worked for the Paris Opera when I was 50, and even then did not think myself capable.'

He wrote two scores titled Anacreon - the first has never been published, and the second (on this recording) dates from 1757. Published as an 'Acte de ballet', a blend of extended dance sequences and arias and vocal ensemble pieces it was also used as an introduction to Les Surprises de l'Amour when it was revived in Paris.

The story centres on a debate between the Maenads (priestesses of Bacchus) and Anacreon on whether drink and love are compatible. The priestesses not surprisingly claim they are, Anacreon, the 5th-century poet, disagrees. ( Brilliant Classics )