Les Indes Galantes - Rameau Details

Great Fun !!

This dvd of the well travelled Serban/Christie production is truly great fun ... the piece is in effect a series of short(ish) divertissements (or entrees ) with ( as ever in Rameau ) plenty of dance interweaved with the singing .

The production is at times a little on the cutesy side but manages the spectacle impressively - the shaking mountains , erupting volcano and final crushing to death of Huascar ( the High Priest of the Sun ) are very well managed .

The singing and playing are pretty much beyond reproach - I would have to single out Richard Croft , Nathan Berg , Patricia Petibon and Malin Hartelius for particular praise but everyone is more than up to the demands of their role .

This would be a good starting point for anyone not familiar with Rameau or this era of opera - indeed it could work well being digested in short chunks as each entree separately ( although it works much better as a whole ) . The very end is delightful and worth watching all the way through the curtain calls for a final encore with all the cast ( including the conductor !!!) onstage dancing and singing .