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| Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie | |
|---|---|
| Title | Hippolyte et Aricie |
| Composer | Jean-Philippe Rameau |
| Librettist | Abbé Simon-Joseph Pellegrin |
| Language | French |
| Premiere | 1 October 1733 |
| Location | Paris, Académie Royale de Musique |
| Genre | Tragédie en musique |
Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie is a tragédie en musique in a prologue and five acts by Jean-Philippe Rameau with a libretto by Abbé Simon-Joseph Pellegrin. The work, premiered in 1733 at the Académie Royale de Musique in Paris, inaugurated Rameau's public career as an opera composer and provoked controversy among partisans and opponents in the French musical world. Its reception implicated figures and institutions across Parisian intellectual life, including the Académie des Sciences, the Académie Française, the court of Louis XV, and contemporaries such as André Campra, Jean-Baptiste Lully, and Jean-Philippe Rameau's contemporaries.
Rameau, previously known for his treatise on harmony and keyboard works connected to Théorie de la Musique and Traité de l'harmonie, composed Hippolyte et Aricie amid debates involving the Querelle des Bouffons precursor controversies, polemics engaging the Académie Royale de Musique and salons of Paris. The commission intersected with patrons like Marquis de Voyer, allies in the Parisian court, and rivals including members of the Philharmonic Academy and adherents of Jean-Baptiste Lully's aesthetic. Composition involved Rameau's orchestration innovations drawing on practice from Italian opera, French tragédie lyrique, and the instrumental techniques favored by orchestras at the Opéra de Paris and the Chapelle Royale.
Pellegrin's libretto adapts episodes from Euripides's Hippolytus and draws on Latin and medieval renditions mediated through translations and dramatizations circulating in Parisian libraries, including versions influenced by Seneca, Ovid, and Philostratus. The narrative reflects themes present in Jean Racine's tragedies and echoes mythological treatments by Pierre Corneille and librettists for earlier works by Marc-Antoine Charpentier and André Campra. Textual choices responded to censorship and taste shaped by the Comédie-Française and the policing authorities of Louis XV's administration.
The premiere on 1 October 1733 at the Académie Royale de Musique provoked the so-called "Battle of the Opera" between supporters of Rameau and defenders of the Lullian tradition, engaging critics like Antoine Bret, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and musicians associated with the Parlement of Paris. Early reviews appeared in periodicals read by subscribers to the Mercure de France and French salons patronized by figures such as Madame de Pompadour, Marquise de la Ferté-Imbault, and intellectuals of the Enlightenment like Denis Diderot. The controversy involved public performances at venues frequented by the Foire Saint-Laurent and commentators from the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres.
Rameau's score introduced harmonic progressions and orchestral colors unprecedented in the French stage repertoire by invoking devices from the Galant style and exploratory use of basso continuo informed by treatises like Rameau's own Traité de l'harmonie. The work's orchestration expanded the role of winds and brass, referencing practices from the Venetian opera tradition and innovations found in works by Antonio Vivaldi, Alessandro Scarlatti, and George Frideric Handel. Rameau's use of dance draws on the ballet conventions of the Académie Royale de Danse and choreographers connected to the Paris Opéra Ballet, incorporating entrées and divertissements that intersect with choreographic models of Pierre Beauchamp and Jean-Baptiste Lully's legacy. Harmonic daring, orchestral color, and scena architecture influenced later composers including François-Joseph Gossec, Hector Berlioz, Giacomo Meyerbeer, and the 19th-century rediscovery by scholars at institutions such as the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
After initial runs at the Opéra de Paris, Hippolyte et Aricie experienced revivals and revisions responding to performers like Marie Le Rochois and Catherine-Nicole Le Maure and conductors associated with the Opéra-Comique and provincial houses in Lyon, Bordeaux, and Marseilles. The 19th-century reception included interest from Hector Berlioz and performances in the context of Historical performance practice movements led by figures at the Conservatoire de Paris and later revivals staged by directors at institutions like the Glyndebourne Festival Opera and the Opéra National de Paris. 20th-century musicologists at the Université de Paris and performers such as William Christie and ensembles like Les Arts Florissants played major roles in the baroque revival.
Principal roles include Hippolyte (tenor or haute-contre in French casting), Aricie (soprano), Phèdre (mezzo-soprano), Theseus (bass), and Diane (soprano), with supporting roles like Panope, Arcas, and the chorus of sailors and Amazons drawn from classical mythology attested in works of Euripides, Seneca, and Ovid. The plot follows Hippolytus' return to Athens, the thwarted love entanglements among Hippolytus, Aricia, and Phaedra, and divine interventions by Diane and Venus culminating in tragedy and resolution, mirroring episodes familiar from the Trojan Cycle and pastoral myths retold across European literature by authors such as Jean de La Fontaine and Nicolas Boileau.
Critical editions have been prepared by editors and institutions including the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Institut de Recherche sur l'Opéra, and scholars at the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles. Notable recordings feature historically informed performances conducted by William Christie, Philippe Herreweghe, and René Jacobs, with casts drawn from specialists in Baroque opera and ensembles like Les Arts Florissants, La Petite Bande, and Concerto Köln. Modern published scores appear from houses tied to the Henle Verlag model and French publishers serving the Conservatoire de Paris and international catalogues used by musicologists and performers.
Category:Operas Category:Baroque operas Category:1733 operas