Sunday 23 October 2011

And as ENO prepares to stage its first ever Rameau opera...

... Castor et Pollux, opening night tomorrow, here are a couple of excerpts ancient and modern. The first comes from the work's predecessor, Hippolyte et Aricie, conducted by that great pioneer, Roger Désormière:



The second is taken from Castor et Pollux itself, hailing from what may be an unexpected yet welcome quarter. Bruno Procopio conducts the Simón Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela:



As for the staging, let us hope that it will stand closer to Barrie Kosky's brilliant Iphigénie en Tauride than to his dreadful Marriage of Figaro...