Rameau - Naïs

The Guardian 80

Purcell Choir / Orfeo Orchestra / Vasheygi
(Glossa, two CDs)

First performed in 1749, Naïs was the second of four “pastorales héroiques” that Rameau wrote around the turn of the 1750s. This one was his “Opéra pour la paix”, commissioned to celebrate the end of the war of the Austrian succession, which had been resolved with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle the previous year. The premiere of Naïs at the Palais-Royal in Paris was evidently a lavish affair, with spectacular sets, elaborate stage machinery and even pyrotechnics, while Rameau was allowed to add an extra trumpet to the standard opera orchestra. It was performed again with revisions in 1764, but the score was never published in the composer’s lifetime, and did not appear in print until the 1920s. This Hungarian recording, using a modern critical edition of the score, now seems to be the only one currently available on disc.

The libretto of Naïs was written by Louis de Cahusac, who provided the texts for six more of Rameau’s stage works (including what is perhaps his greatest achievement, Les Boréades). The narrative of the three main acts is a straightforward retelling of the god Neptune’s love for the nymph Naïs, who eventually becomes queen of his submarine kingdom. But it’s the prologue, with its grand, celebratory choruses, and vivid martial music, that seems to be the real point of the work, telling the story of how Jupiter mobilised the gods to defeat the Giants and the Titans who were attempting to invade Mount Olympus, and then divided the earth into kingdoms with Jupiter himself ruling over all of them. It’s a thinly disguised allegory, designed to celebrate the role of the French king, Louis XV, in restoring peace to Europe.