PLATÉE

BY RAMEAU

Tickets and Information

CITY RECITAL HALL
Wed 1 Dec 7pm | Thurs 2 Dec 7pm | 
Sat 4 Dec 2pm | Sun 5 Dec 5pm |
Tues 7 Dec 7pm | Wed 8 Dec 7pm

A jewel of French baroque opera, Rameau’s comic masterpiece is brought to the Australian stage for the first time, directed by Neil Armfield

Celebrated Australian director Neil Armfield makes his Pinchgut debut in a deliciously twisted comedy by one of the greatest French baroque composers. Rameau clearly enjoyed himself composing this one-of-a-kind comédie lyrique, for the marriage of the Dauphin Louis XV to the Princess Maria Teresa of Spain – reputedly a woman of very little beauty – telling the story of the irresistibly ugly marsh nymph Platée being tricked into believing that Jupiter is in love and wants to marry her. 

Rameau takes aim at the very nature of French opera itself, turning tradition on its head with music of exceptional brilliance and wit, and sweeping away the studied elegance of set-piece ballets with ravishing melodies and striking shifts of mood and colour. Prepare to be utterly enchanted!

Artists 

Kanen Breen Platée

Cathy-Di Zhang | Amore, La Folie

Peter Coleman-Wright AO Jupiter 

Nicholas Jones Mercury I Thespis 

Adrian Tamburini Cithéron I Satire 

David Greco Momus 

Cantillation Chorus 

Orchestra of the Antipodes 

Erin Helyard conductor and keyboards 

Neil Armfield director