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{{Short description|Opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau}}
⚫
{{Rameau operas}}'''''Zoroastre''''' (''[[Zoroaster]]'') is an [[opera]] by [[Jean-Philippe Rameau]], first performed on 5 December 1749 by the [[Paris Opera|Opéra]] in the first [[Salle du Palais-Royal]] in [[Paris]]. The [[libretto]] is by [[Louis de Cahusac]]. ''Zoroastre'' was the fourth of Rameau's ''[[tragédie en musique|tragédies en musique]]'' to be staged and the last to appear during the composer's own lifetime. Audiences gave the original version a lukewarm reception, so Rameau and his librettist thoroughly reworked the opera for a revival which took place at the Opéra on 19 January 1756. This time the work was a great success and this is the version generally heard today.<ref>Holden, p. 842; Sadler, p.19</ref>
{{italic title}}
[[File:Portrait of Jean-Philippe Rameau - Joseph Aved.jpg|thumb|Jean-Philippe Rameau]]
⚫
'''''Zoroastre''''' (''[[Zoroaster]]'') is an [[opera]] by [[Jean-Philippe Rameau]], first performed on 5 December 1749 by the [[Paris Opera|Opéra]] in the first [[Salle du Palais-Royal]] in Paris. The [[libretto]] is by [[Louis de Cahusac]]. ''Zoroastre'' was the fourth of Rameau's ''[[tragédie en musique|tragédies en musique]]'' to be staged and the last to appear during the composer's own lifetime. Audiences gave the original version a lukewarm reception, so Rameau and his librettist thoroughly reworked the opera for a revival which took place at the Opéra on 19 January 1756. This time the work was a great success and this is the version generally heard today.{{sfn|Holden|2001|p=842}}{{sfn|Sadler|1988|p=19}}


==Performance history==
==Performance history==
''Zoroastre'''s premiere in 1749 was not a success; despite the magnificence of the staging, it failed to compete with [[Jean-Joseph de Mondonville|Mondonville]]'s new ''[[opéra-ballet]]'' ''Le carnaval du Parnasse''. Rameau and Cahusac decided to rework the opera completely before offering it to the public again in 1756. Acts 2,3 and 5 were heavily rewritten and there were several modifications to the plot. This time audiences took to the opera, although the critic [[Melchior Grimm]] was withering about Cahusac's libretto: "In ''Zoroastre'' it is day and night alternately; but as the poet...cannot count up to five he has got so muddled in his reckoning that he has been compelled to make it be day and night two or three times in each act, so that it might be day at the end of the play". ''Zoroastre'' was chosen to open the new Paris opera house on January 26, 1770, the old one having burned down in 1763. It was also translated into Italian by [[Casanova]] for a performance in [[Dresden]] in 1752, although some of Rameau's music was replaced by that of the ballet master Adam. Its first modern revival was in a concert version at the [[Schola Cantorum]], Paris in 1903.<ref>Girdlestone pp.278-279</ref> The United States premiere of the opera was staged by [[Boston Baroque]] (then known as Banchetto Musicale) at [[Harvard University]]'s Sanders Theater under conductor [[Martin Pearlman]] in 1983 with [[Jean Claude Orliac]] in the title role and [[James Maddalena]] as Abramane.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/22/arts/opera-zoroastre-by-boston-group.html?scp=4&sq=%22James+Maddalena%22&st=nyt|title=Opera: 'Zoroastre,' By Boston Group|author=[[John Rockwell]]|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 22, 1983}}</ref>
''Zoroastre'''s premiere in 1749 was not a success; despite the magnificence of the staging, it failed to compete with [[Jean-Joseph de Mondonville|Mondonville]]'s new ''[[opéra-ballet]]'' ''Le carnaval du Parnasse''. Rameau and Cahusac decided to rework the opera completely before offering it to the public again in 1756. Acts 2,3 and 5 were heavily rewritten and there were several modifications to the plot. This time audiences took to the opera, although the critic [[Melchior Grimm]] was withering about Cahusac's libretto: "In ''Zoroastre'' it is day and night alternately; but as the poet...cannot count up to five he has got so muddled in his reckoning that he has been compelled to make it be day and night two or three times in each act, so that it might be day at the end of the play". ''Zoroastre'' was chosen to open the new Paris opera house on January 26, 1770, the old one having burned down in 1763. It was also translated into Italian by [[Casanova]] for a performance in [[Dresden]] in 1752, although some of Rameau's music was replaced by that of the ballet master Adam. Its first modern revival was in a concert version at the [[Schola Cantorum]], Paris in 1903.{{sfn|Girdlestone|1969|pp=278–279}} The United States premiere of the opera was staged by [[Boston Baroque]] (then known as Banchetto Musicale) at [[Harvard University]]'s Sanders Theater under conductor [[Martin Pearlman]] in 1983 with Jean-Claude Orliac in the title role and [[James Maddalena]] as Abramane.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/22/arts/opera-zoroastre-by-boston-group.html?scp=4&sq=%22James+Maddalena%22&st=nyt|title=Opera: ''Zoroastre'', by Boston Group|author=John Rockwell|author-link=John Rockwell|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 22, 1983}}</ref>


===Libretto and music===
===Libretto and music===
''Zoroastre'' includes some important innovations: it was the first major French opera to dispense with an allegorical prologue and its subject matter is not drawn from the [[Classical mythology]] of Greece and Rome, as was usual, but from Persian religion. There was good reason for this. As Graham Sadler writes, the opera is "a thinly disguised portrayal of [[Freemasonry]]". Cahusac, the librettist, was a leading French Mason and many of his works celebrate the ideals of the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], including ''Zoroastre''. The historical Zoroaster was highly regarded in Masonic circles and the parallels are obvious between Rameau's opera and an even more famous Masonic allegory, [[Mozart]]'s ''[[The Magic Flute]]'' (1791), with its initiation rites conducted under the auspices of the wise "Sarastro".<ref>Sadler, booklet notes</ref>
''Zoroastre'' includes some important innovations: it was the first major French opera to dispense with an allegorical prologue and its subject matter is not drawn from the [[Classical mythology]] of Greece and Rome, as was usual, but from Persian religion. There was good reason for this. As Graham Sadler writes, the opera is "a thinly disguised portrayal of [[Freemasonry]]". Cahusac, the librettist, was a leading French Mason and many of his works celebrate the ideals of the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], including ''Zoroastre''. The historical Zoroaster was highly regarded in Masonic circles and the parallels are obvious between Rameau's opera and an even more famous Masonic allegory, [[Mozart]]'s ''[[The Magic Flute]]'' (1791), with its initiation rites conducted under the auspices of the wise "Sarastro".{{sfn|Sadler|2001}}


==Roles==
==Roles==
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+{{sronly|Roles, voice types, cast of the premiere and the revised version}}
!Role
!Role
!Voice type
![[Voice type]]
!Premiere cast, 5 December 1749<ref>[https://operabaroque.fr/RAMEAU_ZOROASTRE.htm "''Zoroastre''"], Opéra baroque (in French)</ref><ref>{{Almanacco|dmy=05-12-1749|match=Zoroastre}}</ref><br>Conductor: {{ill|André Chéron (musician)|de|André Chéron (Musiker)|fr|André Chéron (musicien)|lt=André Chéron}}
!Premiere Cast, December 5, 1749<ref>sources: [http://operabaroque.fr/Cadre_baroque.htm ''Le magazine de l'opéra baroque''] and [http://www.amadeusonline.eu/almanacco.php?Start=0&Giorno=&Mese=&Anno=&Giornata=&Testo=Zoroastre&Parola=Stringa Amadeusonline Almanach by Gherardo Casaglia] (accessed 3 Mars 2011)</ref><br>(Conductor: A. Chéron)
!Revised version<br>Premiere Cast, January 19, 1756<ref>source: digitized original libretto, in [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k71865f/f9.image.r=Zoroastre%20rameau%20cahusac.langFR ''Gallica, Bibliothèque nationale de France'']</ref><br>(Conductor: - )
!Revised version<br />19 January 1756<ref>[http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k71865f/f9.image.r=Zoroastre%20rameau%20cahusac.langFR Original libretto], [[Gallica]], Bibliothèque nationale de France</ref><ref>{{Almanacco|dmy=19-01-1756|match=Zoroastre}}</ref>
|-
|-
|Zoroastre
|[[Zoroaster|Zoroastre]]
|''[[haute-contre]]''
|''[[haute-contre]]''
|[[Pierre Jélyotte]]
|[[Pierre Jélyotte]]
Line 56: Line 60:
|A voice from a cloud
|A voice from a cloud
|haute-contre
|haute-contre
|{{ill|Jean-Paul Spesoller de Latour|it|lt=Jean-Paul Spesoller}} called (de) La Tour (or Latour)
|Monsieur La Tour
|No role
|No role
|-
|-
Line 72: Line 76:
|''basse-taille'' ([[en travesti]])
|''basse-taille'' ([[en travesti]])
|François Le Page
|François Le Page
|[[Henri Larrivée]]
|[[Henri Larrivée]]
|-
|-
|A voice from underground
|A voice from underground
|''basse-taille''
|''basse-taille''
|Monsieur Le Febvre
|Monsieur Le Febvre
|Monsieur Desbelles
|Monsieur Desbelles
|-
|-
|Jealousy
|Jealousy
Line 91: Line 95:
|First Fury
|First Fury
|''haute-contre'' (en travesti)
|''haute-contre'' (en travesti)
|François Poireir
|François Poireir
|No role
|No role
|-
|-
Line 122: Line 126:


==Synopsis==
==Synopsis==
''The synopsis is based on 1756 version''
''The synopsis is based on the 1756 version''


=== Act 1 ===
;Act 1
The story takes place in the ancient kingdom of [[Bactria]] and concerns the struggle between the forces of Good, led by [[Zoroaster|Zoroastre]], the "founder of the [[Magi]]", and Evil, led by the sorcerer Abramane. When the opera opens, Bactria is in chaos after the death of its king, who has left behind two daughters: Amélite, the presumptive heir, and Erinice. Both are in love with Zoroastre, who is devoted to Amélite. Abramane has taken the opportunity to send Zoroastre into exile. The sorcerer also plots to seize the throne with Erinice, who wants revenge on Zoroastre for rejecting her love. Abramane conjures up demons to capture Amélite.
:The story takes place in the ancient kingdom of [[Bactria]] and concerns the struggle between the forces of Good, led by [[Zoroaster|Zoroastre]], the "founder of the [[Magi]]", and Evil, led by the sorcerer Abramane. When the opera opens, Bactria is in chaos after the death of its king, who has left behind two daughters: Amélite, the presumptive heir, and Erinice. Both are in love with Zoroastre, who is devoted to Amélite. Abramane has taken the opportunity to send Zoroastre into exile. The sorcerer also plots to seize the throne with Erinice, who wants revenge on Zoroastre for rejecting her love. Abramane conjures up demons to capture Amélite.


===Act 2===
;Act 2
Zoroastre is in exile at the palace of the king of the good [[genie]]s, [[Ahura Mazda|Oromasès]]. Oromasès tells Zoroastre to go and rescue Amélite and destroy the forces of evil. He puts Zoroastre through a magic initiation ritual to prepare him for the task. In the dungeons of the fortress of Bactria, Abramane and Erinice are torturing Amélite to force her to renounce the throne, when Zoroastre suddenly appears. He releases Amélite and destroys the fortress with his magic powers. Amélite is presented as queen to her joyful Bactrian subjects.
:Zoroastre is in exile at the palace of the king of the good [[genie]]s, [[Ahura Mazda|Oromasès]]. Oromasès tells Zoroastre to go and rescue Amélite and destroy the forces of evil. He puts Zoroastre through a magic initiation ritual to prepare him for the task. In the dungeons of the fortress of Bactria, Abramane and Erinice are torturing Amélite to force her to renounce the throne, when Zoroastre suddenly appears. He releases Amélite and destroys the fortress with his magic powers. Amélite is presented as queen to her joyful Bactrian subjects.


===Act 3===
;Act 3
Night. Abramane and Erinice quarrel over the disaster that has befallen their plans. Abramane hides Erinice in a cloud. At dawn, Zoroastre, Amélite and the Bactrian people assemble to worship the Supreme Being then celebrate the marriage of Zoroastre and Amélite. As the wedding ceremony takes place, Abramane arrives on a fiery chariot and kidnaps Amélite. Zoroastre prepares his magic spirits for war.
:Night. Abramane and Erinice quarrel over the disaster that has befallen their plans. Abramane hides Erinice in a cloud. At dawn, Zoroastre, Amélite and the Bactrian people assemble to worship the Supreme Being then celebrate the marriage of Zoroastre and Amélite. As the wedding ceremony takes place, Abramane arrives on a fiery chariot and kidnaps Amélite. Zoroastre prepares his magic spirits for war.


===Act 4===
;Act 4
In the temple of the god [[Angra Mainyu|Arimane]], Abramane receives news that the battle between the spirits of good and evil is going badly for him. He sacrifices to the god and summons up Hate, Vengeance and Despair.
:In the temple of the god [[Ahriman|Arimane]], Abramane receives news that the battle between the spirits of good and evil is going badly for him. He sacrifices to the god and summons up Hate, Vengeance and Despair.


===Act 5===
;Act 5
Erinice, now repentant, warns Zoroastre of Abramane's plan for a new battle. Abramane appears in the fiery chariot once more and reveals Amélite in chains. He calls on Zoroastre to surrender. Instead, Zoroastre calls on the gods, who strike down Abramane and his evil priests with thunderbolts. The opera ends with rejoicing as Zoroastre and Amélite are crowned king and queen of Bactria.
:Erinice, now repentant, warns Zoroastre of Abramane's plan for a new battle. Abramane appears in the fiery chariot once more and reveals Amélite in chains. He calls on Zoroastre to surrender. Instead, Zoroastre calls on the gods, who strike down Abramane and his evil priests with thunderbolts. The opera ends with rejoicing as Zoroastre and Amélite are crowned king and queen of Bactria.


==Recordings==
== Discography ==
{|class="wikitable"
* ''Zoroastre'' (1756 version) [[Collegium Vocale Gent]], [[La Petite Bande]], dir: [[Sigiswald Kuijken]] (4 LPs/3 CDs, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, 1983)
!Year
* ''Zoroastre'' (1756 version) [[Les Arts Florissants (ensemble)|Les Arts Florissants]], [[William Christie (musician)|William Christie]] (3 CDs,Erato, 2002)
!Cast (Amélite, Céphie,<br>Zoroastre, Abramane,<br>La Vengéance
* DVD: ''Zoroastre'' (1756 version) Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset (2 DVDs, 2006)
!Conductor,<br>Opera house and orchestra
!Label<ref name="DM">{{cite web|url=https://www.operadis-opera-discography.org.uk/CLRAZORO.HTM|title=Recordings of ''Zoroastre'' by Jean-Philippe Rameau|website=operadis-opera-discography.org.uk/|access-date=March 24, 2021}}</ref>
|-
|1971
|Lou Ann Wyckoff<br>Nancy Deering<br>Bruce Brewer<br>[[William Workman (baritone)|William Workman]]<br>William Workman
|Richard Knapp<br>Hamburg Chamber Orchestra<ref name="DM"/><br>(1756 version)
|LP: [[Vox Records|Turnabout]]<ref name="DM"/>
|-
|1983
|[[Greta De Reyghere]]<br>[[Agnès Mellon]]<br>[[John Elwes (tenor)|John Elwes]]<br>[[Gregory Reinhart]]<br>Philippe Cantor
|[[Sigiswald Kuijken]]<br>[[Collegium Vocale Gent]], [[La Petite Bande]]<ref name="DM"/><br>(1756 version)
|4 LPs/3 CDs, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, 1983)<ref name="DM"/>
|-
|2001
|[[Gaëlle Méchaly]]<br>[[Stéphanie Révidat]]<br>[[Mark Padmore]]<br>[[Nathan Berg]]<br>[[Mattieu Lécroart]]
|[[William Christie (musician)|William Christie]], [[Les Arts Florissants (ensemble)|Les Arts Florissants]]<ref name="DM"/> (1756 version)
|CD: [[Erato Records]]<ref name="DM"/>
|-
|2006
|[[Sine Bundgaard]]<br>[[Ditte Andersen]]<br>[[Anders Jerker Dahlin]]<br>[[Evgueny Alexeyev]]<br>[[Lars Arvidson]]
|[[Christophe Rousset]], [[Les Talens Lyriques]],<br />Chorus of the [[Drottningholm Palace Theatre]]<ref name="DM"/> (1756 version)
|DVD: [[Opus Arte]]<ref name="DM"/>
|-
|2022
|[[Jodie Devos]]<br>[[Gwendoline Blondeel]]<br>[[Reinoud van Mechelen]]<br>[[Tassis Christoyannis]]<br>[[David Witczak]]
|[[Alexis Kossenko]], {{ill|Les Ambassadeurs (ensemble)|fr|Les Ambassadeurs (ensemble)|lt=Les Ambassadeurs}} – [[La Grande Écurie et la Chambre du Roy|La Grande Écurie]],<br />Chœur de chambre de Namur (1749 version)
|CD: Alpha Classics<ref>{{cite web |title=Rameau: Zoroastre 1749 |url=https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9368464--rameau-zoroastre-1749 |website=Presto Music |access-date=22 October 2022}}</ref>
|-
|}


==References==
==References==
;Notes
;Notes
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist|30em}}
;Sources
;Sources
*[[Cuthbert Girdlestone|Girdlestone, Cuthbert]], ''Jean-Philippe Rameau: His Life and Work'', New York: Dover, 1969 (paperback edition)
* {{cite book|last=Girdlestone|first=Cuthbert|author-link=Cuthbert Girdlestone|title=Jean-Philippe Rameau: His Life and Work|location=New York|publisher=Dover|year=1969|type=paperback edition}}
*Holden, Amanda (Ed.), ''The New Penguin Opera Guide'', New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. {{ISBN|0-14-029312-4}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Holden|editor-first=Amanda|editor-link=Amanda Holden (writer)|title=The New Penguin Opera Guide|location=New York|publisher=Penguin Putnam|year=2001|isbn=0-14-029312-4}}
*Sadler, Graham, (Ed.), ''The New Grove French Baroque Masters'' Grove/Macmillan, 1988
* {{cite book|editor-last=Sadler|editor-first=Graham|title=The New Grove French Baroque Masters|publisher=Grove/Macmillan|year=1988}}
* {{cite AV media notes|last=Sadler|first=Graham|title=Zoroastre|type=notes|year=2001|others=William Christie, Les Arts Florissants}}
*Sadler, Graham, Booklet notes to the Christie recording


==External links==
==External links==
*{{IMSLP|work=Zoroastre, RCT 62 (Rameau, Jean-Philippe)|cname=''Zoroastre'', RCT 62 (Rameau)}}
*[http://perso.orange.fr/jean-claude.brenac/Operabaroque.htm Le magazine de l'opéra baroque by Jean-Claude Brenac (in French)]

{{Jean-Philippe Rameau|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Portal bar|Opera}}


[[Category:Operas]]
[[Category:Operas]]
[[Category:Operas by Jean-Philippe Rameau]]
[[Category:Operas by Jean-Philippe Rameau]]
[[Category:Operas set in the Middle East]]
[[Category:Operas based on real people]]
[[Category:French-language operas]]
[[Category:French-language operas]]
[[Category:Tragédies en musique]]
[[Category:Tragédies en musique]]
[[Category:1749 operas]]
[[Category:1749 operas]]
[[Category:Opera world premieres at the Paris Opera]]
[[Category:Opera world premieres at the Paris Opera]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Zoroaster]]

Latest revision as of 04:45, 25 October 2023

Jean-Philippe Rameau

Zoroastre (Zoroaster) is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau, first performed on 5 December 1749 by the Opéra in the first Salle du Palais-Royal in Paris. The libretto is by Louis de Cahusac. Zoroastre was the fourth of Rameau's tragédies en musique to be staged and the last to appear during the composer's own lifetime. Audiences gave the original version a lukewarm reception, so Rameau and his librettist thoroughly reworked the opera for a revival which took place at the Opéra on 19 January 1756. This time the work was a great success and this is the version generally heard today.[1][2]

Performance history[edit]

Zoroastre's premiere in 1749 was not a success; despite the magnificence of the staging, it failed to compete with Mondonville's new opéra-ballet Le carnaval du Parnasse. Rameau and Cahusac decided to rework the opera completely before offering it to the public again in 1756. Acts 2,3 and 5 were heavily rewritten and there were several modifications to the plot. This time audiences took to the opera, although the critic Melchior Grimm was withering about Cahusac's libretto: "In Zoroastre it is day and night alternately; but as the poet...cannot count up to five he has got so muddled in his reckoning that he has been compelled to make it be day and night two or three times in each act, so that it might be day at the end of the play". Zoroastre was chosen to open the new Paris opera house on January 26, 1770, the old one having burned down in 1763. It was also translated into Italian by Casanova for a performance in Dresden in 1752, although some of Rameau's music was replaced by that of the ballet master Adam. Its first modern revival was in a concert version at the Schola Cantorum, Paris in 1903.[3] The United States premiere of the opera was staged by Boston Baroque (then known as Banchetto Musicale) at Harvard University's Sanders Theater under conductor Martin Pearlman in 1983 with Jean-Claude Orliac in the title role and James Maddalena as Abramane.[4]

Libretto and music[edit]

Zoroastre includes some important innovations: it was the first major French opera to dispense with an allegorical prologue and its subject matter is not drawn from the Classical mythology of Greece and Rome, as was usual, but from Persian religion. There was good reason for this. As Graham Sadler writes, the opera is "a thinly disguised portrayal of Freemasonry". Cahusac, the librettist, was a leading French Mason and many of his works celebrate the ideals of the Enlightenment, including Zoroastre. The historical Zoroaster was highly regarded in Masonic circles and the parallels are obvious between Rameau's opera and an even more famous Masonic allegory, Mozart's The Magic Flute (1791), with its initiation rites conducted under the auspices of the wise "Sarastro".[5]

Roles[edit]

Roles, voice types, cast of the premiere and the revised version
Role Voice type Premiere cast, 5 December 1749[6][7]
Conductor: André Chéron [de; fr] 		Revised version
19 January 1756[8][9]
Zoroastre haute-contre Pierre Jélyotte François Poirier
Abramane basse-taille (bass-baritone) Claude-Louis-Dominique Chassé de Chinais Claude-Louis-Dominique Chassé de Chinais
Amélite soprano Marie Fel Marie Fel
Erinice soprano Marie-Jeanne Fesch, "M.lle Chevalier Marie-Jeanne Fesch, "M.lle Chevalier
Zopire basse-taille Monsieur Person Monsieur Person
Céphie soprano Mlle Duperey Mlle Davaux
Zélize soprano Mlle Jacquet No role
Abenis haute-contre François Poirier No role
A voice from a cloud haute-contre Jean-Paul Spesoller [it] called (de) La Tour (or Latour) No role
A Salamander basse-taille François Le Page No role
A Sylph soprano Marie-Angelique Coupé No role
Vengeance basse-taille (en travesti) François Le Page Henri Larrivée
A voice from underground basse-taille Monsieur Le Febvre Monsieur Desbelles
Jealousy soprano Mlle Dalière No role
Anger soprano Mlle Rollet No role
First Fury haute-contre (en travesti) François Poireir No role
Second Fury taille (en travesti) Louis-Antoine Cuvillier, père No role
Third Fury haute-contre (en travesti) Monsieur La Tour No role
The Furies No roles Mlles Dalière, Dubois and Duval, Mrs Le Roy and Laurent
Oromasès basse-taille No role Monsieur Gelin
Narbanor basse-taille No role Monsieur Cuvillier, fils

Synopsis[edit]

The synopsis is based on the 1756 version

Act 1
The story takes place in the ancient kingdom of Bactria and concerns the struggle between the forces of Good, led by Zoroastre, the "founder of the Magi", and Evil, led by the sorcerer Abramane. When the opera opens, Bactria is in chaos after the death of its king, who has left behind two daughters: Amélite, the presumptive heir, and Erinice. Both are in love with Zoroastre, who is devoted to Amélite. Abramane has taken the opportunity to send Zoroastre into exile. The sorcerer also plots to seize the throne with Erinice, who wants revenge on Zoroastre for rejecting her love. Abramane conjures up demons to capture Amélite.
Act 2
Zoroastre is in exile at the palace of the king of the good genies, Oromasès. Oromasès tells Zoroastre to go and rescue Amélite and destroy the forces of evil. He puts Zoroastre through a magic initiation ritual to prepare him for the task. In the dungeons of the fortress of Bactria, Abramane and Erinice are torturing Amélite to force her to renounce the throne, when Zoroastre suddenly appears. He releases Amélite and destroys the fortress with his magic powers. Amélite is presented as queen to her joyful Bactrian subjects.
Act 3
Night. Abramane and Erinice quarrel over the disaster that has befallen their plans. Abramane hides Erinice in a cloud. At dawn, Zoroastre, Amélite and the Bactrian people assemble to worship the Supreme Being then celebrate the marriage of Zoroastre and Amélite. As the wedding ceremony takes place, Abramane arrives on a fiery chariot and kidnaps Amélite. Zoroastre prepares his magic spirits for war.
Act 4
In the temple of the god Arimane, Abramane receives news that the battle between the spirits of good and evil is going badly for him. He sacrifices to the god and summons up Hate, Vengeance and Despair.
Act 5
Erinice, now repentant, warns Zoroastre of Abramane's plan for a new battle. Abramane appears in the fiery chariot once more and reveals Amélite in chains. He calls on Zoroastre to surrender. Instead, Zoroastre calls on the gods, who strike down Abramane and his evil priests with thunderbolts. The opera ends with rejoicing as Zoroastre and Amélite are crowned king and queen of Bactria.

Discography[edit]

Year Cast (Amélite, Céphie,
Zoroastre, Abramane,
La Vengéance 		Conductor,
Opera house and orchestra 		Label[10]
1971 Lou Ann Wyckoff
Nancy Deering
Bruce Brewer
William Workman
William Workman 		Richard Knapp
Hamburg Chamber Orchestra[10]
(1756 version) 		LP: Turnabout[10]
1983 Greta De Reyghere
Agnès Mellon
John Elwes
Gregory Reinhart
Philippe Cantor 		Sigiswald Kuijken
Collegium Vocale Gent, La Petite Bande[10]
(1756 version) 		4 LPs/3 CDs, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, 1983)[10]
2001 Gaëlle Méchaly
Stéphanie Révidat
Mark Padmore
Nathan Berg
Mattieu Lécroart 		William Christie, Les Arts Florissants[10] (1756 version) CD: Erato Records[10]
2006 Sine Bundgaard
Ditte Andersen
Anders Jerker Dahlin
Evgueny Alexeyev
Lars Arvidson 		Christophe Rousset, Les Talens Lyriques,
Chorus of the Drottningholm Palace Theatre[10] (1756 version) 		DVD: Opus Arte[10]
2022 Jodie Devos
Gwendoline Blondeel
Reinoud van Mechelen
Tassis Christoyannis
David Witczak 		Alexis Kossenko, Les Ambassadeurs [fr] – La Grande Écurie,
Chœur de chambre de Namur (1749 version) 		CD: Alpha Classics[11]

References[edit]

Notes
  1. ^ Holden 2001, p. 842.
  2. ^ Sadler 1988, p. 19.
  3. ^ Girdlestone 1969, pp. 278–279.
  4. ^ John Rockwell (May 22, 1983). "Opera: Zoroastre, by Boston Group". The New York Times.
  5. ^ Sadler 2001.
  6. ^ "Zoroastre", Opéra baroque (in French)
  7. ^ Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Zoroastre, 5 December 1749". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
  8. ^ Original libretto, Gallica, Bibliothèque nationale de France
  9. ^ Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Zoroastre, 19 January 1756". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Recordings of Zoroastre by Jean-Philippe Rameau". operadis-opera-discography.org.uk/. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  11. ^ "Rameau: Zoroastre 1749". Presto Music. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
Sources
  • Girdlestone, Cuthbert (1969). Jean-Philippe Rameau: His Life and Work (paperback edition). New York: Dover.
  • Holden, Amanda, ed. (2001). The New Penguin Opera Guide. New York: Penguin Putnam. ISBN 0-14-029312-4.
  • Sadler, Graham, ed. (1988). The New Grove French Baroque Masters. Grove/Macmillan.
  • Sadler, Graham (2001). Zoroastre (notes). William Christie, Les Arts Florissants.

External links[edit]

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