With Hippolyte et Aricie, Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) debuted his first opera in 1733. Before this, he was best known as an organist, author of influential works on music theory, and composer of piano music, but it was not until his fifties that Rameau mustered the courage to venture into opera.
Today, Rameau is considered one of the leading French Baroque composers but in his time he was not beyond reproach. Hippolyte et Aricie is a typical 'tragédie en musique' in the tradition of illustrious founding fathers such as Jean-Baptiste Lully, but it was also criticised for Rameau's innovative writing, rich in dissonance and coloured by excessive orchestration.
Our students from the Historical Music Department, led by the renowned Belgian tenor and KCB alumnus Reinoud Van Michelsen, will work with fragments of Rameau's debut opera performed in a concert version in the historical setting of the Sint-Jacob-op-de-Koudenberg church. Experience for yourself the power of this reactionary work caught between tradition and innovation.
With thanks for the text to Matthias Heyman, Research Department KCB.
