Rameau: Stage Works

View all works by Rameau in the main app

Explore the complete catalog of Stage compositions by Rameau. This curated list includes composition years, historical Wikipedia context, and interactive audio to add specific tracks directly to your listening queue.

Title Year Actions
Acante et Céphise, ou La sympathie

Acante et Céphise, ou La sympathie is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau, first performed on 19 November 1751 at the Opéra in Paris. It takes the form of a pastorale héroïque in three acts. The librettist was Jean-François Marmontel. The opera was written to celebrate the birth of the Louis, Duke of Burgundy, the elder brother of the future King Louis XVI. Although the plot has been described as "puerile....the plot evokes from Rameau a score of remarkable imagination"; it is richly scored and contains the first surviving use of clarinets in a French opera. They appear in the overture, which contains a section imitating the firework display celebrating the birth of the duke.

Anacréon

Jean-Philippe Rameau (; French: [ʒɑ̃filip ʁamo]; (1683-09-25)25 September 1683 – (1764-09-12)12 September 1764) was a French composer and music theorist of the late Baroque era. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer of his time for the harpsichord, alongside François Couperin. Little is known about Rameau's early years. It was not until the 1720s that he won fame as a major theorist of music with his Treatise on Harmony (1722) and also in the following years as a composer of masterpieces for the harpsichord, which circulated throughout Europe. He was almost 50 before he embarked on the operatic career on which his reputation chiefly rests today. His debut, Hippolyte et Aricie (1733), caused a great stir and was fiercely attacked by the supporters of Lully's style of music for its revolutionary use of harmony. Nevertheless, Rameau's pre-eminence in the field of French opera was soon acknowledged, and he was later attacked as an "establishment" composer by those who favoured Italian opera during the controversy known as the Querelle des Bouffons in the 1750s. Rameau's music had gone out of fashion by the end of the 18th century, and it was not until the 20th that serious efforts were made to revive it. Today, his work is frequently performed and recorded.

Castor et Pollux

Castor et Pollux (Castor and Pollux) is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau, first performed on 24 October 1737 by the Académie royale de musique at its theatre in the Palais-Royal in Paris. The librettist was Pierre-Joseph-Justin Bernard, whose reputation as a salon poet it made. This was the third opera by Rameau and his second in the form of the tragédie en musique (if the lost Samson is discounted). Rameau made substantial cuts, alterations and added new material to the opera for its revival in 1754. Experts still dispute which of the two versions is superior. Whatever the case, Castor et Pollux has always been regarded as one of Rameau's finest works.

Daphnis et Églé

Daphnis et Eglé is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau. It was due to appear on 30 October 1753 at Fontainebleau, but the performance was cancelled. It takes the form of a pastorale héroïque in one act. The librettist was Charles Collé.

Dardanus

Dardanus is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau with a French-language libretto by Charles-Antoine Leclerc de La Bruère. It takes the form of a tragédie en musique in a prologue and five acts. Dardanus premiered at the Paris Opéra on 19 November 1739 to mixed success, mainly because of the dramatic weakness of the libretto. This caused Rameau and La Bruère to rework the opera, completely rewriting the last three acts, for a revival in 1744. Only when Dardanus was again performed in 1760 did it win acclaim as one of Rameau's greatest works. The original story is loosely based on that of Dardanus, the son of Zeus and Electra, and ancestor of the Trojans. However, in the opera, Dardanus is at war with King Teucer, who has promised to marry his daughter Iphise to King Anténor. Dardanus and Iphise meet through the intervention of the magician Isménor and fall in love. Dardanus attacks a monster ravaging Teucer's kingdom, saving the life of Anténor who is attempting, unsuccessfully, to kill it. Teucer and Dardanus make peace, the latter marrying Iphise.

Hippolyte et Aricie

Hippolyte et Aricie (Hippolytus and Aricia) was the first opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau. It was premiered to great controversy by the Académie Royale de Musique at its theatre in the Palais-Royal in Paris on October 1, 1733. The French libretto, by Abbé Simon-Joseph Pellegrin, is based on Racine's tragedy Phèdre. The opera takes the traditional form of a tragédie en musique with an allegorical prologue followed by five acts. Early audiences found little else conventional about the work.

La guirlande, ou Les fleurs enchantées

La guirlande (full name: La guirlande, ou Les fleurs enchantées) is an opera by the French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau with a libretto by Jean-François Marmontel. It takes the form of an acte de ballet (a one-act opera with many dance movements). It debuted on 21 September 1751 at the Paris Opéra. The primary theme is faithfulness, as shown by the characters of two shepherds. The story occurs in Arcadia, an idealized area of Greece that was a popular setting in the pastoral literature of the time.

La naissance d’Osiris, ou La fête Pamilie

Jean-Philippe Rameau (; French: [ʒɑ̃filip ʁamo]; (1683-09-25)25 September 1683 – (1764-09-12)12 September 1764) was a French composer and music theorist of the late Baroque era. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer of his time for the harpsichord, alongside François Couperin. Little is known about Rameau's early years. It was not until the 1720s that he won fame as a major theorist of music with his Treatise on Harmony (1722) and also in the following years as a composer of masterpieces for the harpsichord, which circulated throughout Europe. He was almost 50 before he embarked on the operatic career on which his reputation chiefly rests today. His debut, Hippolyte et Aricie (1733), caused a great stir and was fiercely attacked by the supporters of Lully's style of music for its revolutionary use of harmony. Nevertheless, Rameau's pre-eminence in the field of French opera was soon acknowledged, and he was later attacked as an "establishment" composer by those who favoured Italian opera during the controversy known as the Querelle des Bouffons in the 1750s. Rameau's music had gone out of fashion by the end of the 18th century, and it was not until the 20th that serious efforts were made to revive it. Today, his work is frequently performed and recorded.

Le Temple de la Gloire

Le temple de la Gloire (The Temple of Glory) is an opéra-ballet by Jean-Philippe Rameau with a libretto by Voltaire. The work was first performed in a five-act version on 27 November 1745 at the Grande Écurie, Versailles to celebrate the French victory at the Battle of Fontenoy. It transferred, unsuccessfully, to the Paris Opéra on 7 December 1745. A revised version, in a prologue and three acts, appeared at the Opéra on 19 April 1746.

Les Boréades

Les Boréades is the final opera composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764). The work takes the form of a tragédie lyrique in five acts. The libretto, attributed to Louis de Cahusac (1706–1759), is loosely based on the Greek legend of Abaris the Hyperborean and includes Masonic elements; the Boréades are the descendants of Boréas. Though evidently rehearsed in 1763, the work was yet unperformed by Rameau's death in 1764.

Les fêtes d’Hébé, ou Les talents lyriques

Les fêtes d'Hébé, ou Les talens lyriques (The Festivities of Hebe, or The Lyric Talents) is an opéra-ballet in a prologue and three entrées (acts) by the French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. The libretto was written by Antoine Gautier de Montdorge (1707–1768). The work was first performed on 21 May 1739 by the Académie royale de musique at its theatre in the Palais-Royal in Paris.

Les fêtes de l’Hymen et de l’Amour, ou Les dieux d’Egypte

Les fêtes de l’Hymen et de l’Amour, ou Les dieux d'Egypte is an opéra-ballet in three entrées and a prologue by the French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. The work was first performed on March 15, 1747, at the La Grande Ecurie, Versailles, and is set to a libretto by Louis de Cahusac. The opera was originally composed as part of the celebrations for the Dauphin's marriage to Maria Josepha of Saxony. Les fêtes de l’Hymen proved to be a popular work and by the March 1776 it had been performed exactly 106 times. The librettist, Cahusac, was especially pleased with the ways in which he had succeeded in giving especial import to the supernatural elements of the work—the plot is based on Egyptian mythology—and to allow particular use of impressive large-scale stage machinery, which was much admired by the audience. The opera contains seven ballets, a consequence of Cahusac's desire to further integrate dance and drama, which grew from the typical French devotion to ballet, particularly when allied with opera.

Les fêtes de Polymnie

Les fêtes de Polymnie (The Festivals of Polyhymnia) is an opéra-ballet in three entrées and a prologue by Jean-Philippe Rameau. The work was first performed on 12 October 1745 at the Opéra, Paris, and is set to a libretto by Louis de Cahusac. The piece was written to celebrate the French victory at the Battle of Fontenoy in the War of the Austrian Succession. It was revived at the same venue on 21 August 1753. Neither Cuthbert Girdlestone nor Graham Sadler (in the New Penguin Guide) consider this among Rameau's finest works, though both remark on the originality of its overture, which breaks the traditional Lullian mould common to French overtures up to that time.

Les fêtes de Ramire

Les fêtes de Ramire (The Celebrations of Ramiro ) is an opera in the form of a one-act acte de ballet by Jean-Philippe Rameau with a libretto by Voltaire, first performed on 22 December 1745 at the Palace of Versailles. Voltaire wrote a new libretto to make use of music taken from his and Rameau's comédie-ballet La princesse de Navarre, which had been performed earlier in 1745. Since both Rameau and Voltaire were busy writing a new opera, Le temple de la Gloire, the Duke of Richelieu entrusted the job of fitting the music to the new libretto and adjusting the verse accordingly to Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Rousseau, who had not yet won his reputation as a major thinker, was an aspiring musician. In his later autobiographical Confessions, Rousseau wrote he had worked hard on the task but Madame de la Pouplinière, Richelieu's mistress and an ardent champion of Rameau, rejected his efforts out of hand and sent the opera back to Rameau to revise. Rousseau claimed he was responsible for the overture and some recitatives, but that Rameau and Voltaire had stolen all the credit. However, according to the musicologist Graham Sadler, only one "undistinguished" monologue "O mort, viens terminer les douleurs de ma vie" has been positively identified as Rousseau's. Nevertheless, the episode sowed the seeds for Rousseau's unrelenting hatred of Rameau, which would lead to the Querelle des Bouffons in the 1750s.

Les Indes galantes

Les Indes galantes is a ballet héroïque, a type of French Baroque opera-ballet, by Jean-Philippe Rameau with a libretto by Louis Fuzelier. In its final form it comprised an allegorical prologue and four entrées, or acts, each set in an exotic place, the whole being unified around the theme of love. The work dates from 1735 except for the last entrée, which was added the following year. In 1761, however, Rameau dropped the relatively short and mildly contrasted third entrée so as to leave what is now considered the work's definitive form: Prologue; Le turc généreux (The Generous Turk); Les incas du Pérou (The Incas of Peru); and Les sauvages (The Savages of North America). The dropped entrée was Les fleurs (The Flowers of Persia). Famous pieces from Les Indes galantes include the Dance of the Peace Pipe and the Chaconne, both from The Savages of North America.

Les Paladins

Les Paladins is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau first performed on 12 February 1760 at the Paris Opera. The author of the libretto is not known for sure but was probably one of the Duplat de Monticourt brothers. Rameau called Les Paladins a comédie lyrique, putting it in the same category as his earlier work Platée.

Les surprises de l’Amour

Les surprises de l'Amour is an opéra-ballet in two entrées (three or four in later versions) and a prologue by the French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. It was first performed in Versailles on 27 November 1748. The opera is set to a libretto by Gentil-Bernard. According to the usage of the time, it was originally just billed as a ballet and was only later classified by scholars as an opéra-ballet, although its content might more precisely ascribe it to the ballet héroïque genre. The original 1748 version consisted of a prologue and two entrées (acts), "La lyre enchantée" and "Adonis". For its 1757 revival, Rameau cut the prologue and added a third entrée, "Anacréon". The composer had written another opera under the title Anacréon in 1754. The earlier work has a libretto by Louis de Cahusac and a completely different plot. Both are linked by the figure of the ancient Greek lyric poet Anacreon. William Christie and Marc Minkowski have recorded the 1757 Anacréon separately. The complete 1757 Les surprises de l'Amour did not appear on disc until Sébastien d'Hérin's recording in 2013.

Naïs

Naïs is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau first performed on 22 April 1749 at the Opéra in Paris. It takes the form of a pastorale héroïque in three acts and a prologue. The librettist was Louis de Cahusac, in the fourth collaboration between him and Rameau. The work bears the subtitle Opéra pour La Paix, which refers to the fact that Rameau composed the opera on the occasion of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, at the conclusion of the War of the Austrian Succession. Its original title was Le triomphe de la paix, but criticism of the terms of the treaty led to a change in the title. The story concerns the god Neptune, who is in love with the nymph Naïs and disguises himself as a mortal to try to win her over. This takes place at the Isthmian Games at Corinth, coincidentally a festival dedicated to Neptune. The god's rivals for the affections of Naïs are the Corinthian chief Télénus and the leader of the Isthmian shepherds, Astérion. Naïs's father, the blind soothsayer, Tiresias warns Télénus and Asterion to be wary of the sea god, and they interpret it to mean they should sacrifice their rival. They are about to attack the disguised Neptune when he drowns them by summoning huge waves. Neptune reveals his identity to Naïs and takes her to his underwater palace, where he turns her into a goddess.

Platée, ou Junon jalouse

Platée is an opera in a prologue and three acts by Jean-Philippe Rameau with a libretto by Adrien-Joseph Le Valois d'Orville. Rameau bought the rights to the libretto Platée ou Junon jalouse (Plataea, or Juno Jealous) by Jacques Autreau (1657–1745) and had d'Orville modify it. The ultimate source of the story is a myth related by the Greek writer Pausanias in his Guide to Greece. Rameau's first attempt at comic opera, the plot concerns an ugly water nymph who believes that Jupiter, the king of the gods, is in love with her. The work was initially called a ballet bouffon, though it was later styled a comédie lyrique, putting it in the same category as Rameau's Les Paladins. It was written for the celebrations of the wedding of Louis, Dauphin of France, son of King Louis XV, to the Infanta María Teresa Rafaela of Spain, who, according to contemporary sources, like the title character was no beauty. Instead of getting the composer into trouble, the entertainment at Versailles seems to have been well received, and Rameau was appointed a few months later to the position of Composer of the King's Chamber Music with a sizable annual pension. The opera was first performed on 31 March 1745 at the Grande Écurie, Versailles.

Pygmalion

Pigmalion, more commonly today Pygmalion, is an opera in the form of a one-act acte de ballet by Jean-Philippe Rameau first performed on 27 August 1748 at the Paris Opera. The libretto is by Ballot de Sauvot. This work has generally been regarded as the best of Rameau's one-act pieces. He was said to have composed the work in eight days.

Zaïs

Jean-Philippe Rameau (; French: [ʒɑ̃filip ʁamo]; (1683-09-25)25 September 1683 – (1764-09-12)12 September 1764) was a French composer and music theorist of the late Baroque era. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer of his time for the harpsichord, alongside François Couperin. Little is known about Rameau's early years. It was not until the 1720s that he won fame as a major theorist of music with his Treatise on Harmony (1722) and also in the following years as a composer of masterpieces for the harpsichord, which circulated throughout Europe. He was almost 50 before he embarked on the operatic career on which his reputation chiefly rests today. His debut, Hippolyte et Aricie (1733), caused a great stir and was fiercely attacked by the supporters of Lully's style of music for its revolutionary use of harmony. Nevertheless, Rameau's pre-eminence in the field of French opera was soon acknowledged, and he was later attacked as an "establishment" composer by those who favoured Italian opera during the controversy known as the Querelle des Bouffons in the 1750s. Rameau's music had gone out of fashion by the end of the 18th century, and it was not until the 20th that serious efforts were made to revive it. Today, his work is frequently performed and recorded.

Zoroastre

Jean-Philippe Rameau (; French: [ʒɑ̃filip ʁamo]; (1683-09-25)25 September 1683 – (1764-09-12)12 September 1764) was a French composer and music theorist of the late Baroque era. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer of his time for the harpsichord, alongside François Couperin. Little is known about Rameau's early years. It was not until the 1720s that he won fame as a major theorist of music with his Treatise on Harmony (1722) and also in the following years as a composer of masterpieces for the harpsichord, which circulated throughout Europe. He was almost 50 before he embarked on the operatic career on which his reputation chiefly rests today. His debut, Hippolyte et Aricie (1733), caused a great stir and was fiercely attacked by the supporters of Lully's style of music for its revolutionary use of harmony. Nevertheless, Rameau's pre-eminence in the field of French opera was soon acknowledged, and he was later attacked as an "establishment" composer by those who favoured Italian opera during the controversy known as the Querelle des Bouffons in the 1750s. Rameau's music had gone out of fashion by the end of the 18th century, and it was not until the 20th that serious efforts were made to revive it. Today, his work is frequently performed and recorded.