Castor et Pollux
Castor et Pollux is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau, first performed on 24 October 1737 by the Académie royale de musique at its theatre in the Palais-Royal in Paris. The librettist was Pierre-Joseph-Justin Bernard, whose reputation as a salon poet it made. This was the third opera by Rameau and his second in the form of the tragédie en musique. Rameau made substantial cuts, alterations and added new material to the opera for its revival in 1754. Experts still dispute which of the two versions is superior. Whatever the case, Castor et Pollux has always been regarded as one of Rameau's finest works.
Composition history
Charles Dill proposes that Rameau had composed the 1737 opera just after working with Voltaire on the opera "Samson" that was never completed, after which he composed "Castor et Pollux" implementing Voltaire's aesthetics. For example, Voltaire sought the presentation of static tableaus that expressed emotion, as in the first act of the 1737 version which begins at the scene of Castor's tomb with a Chorus of Spartans singing "Que tout gemisse", followed by a recitative between Telaire and Phoebe in which the former is grieving the loss of her lover Castor, and culminating in Telaire's lament aria "Tristes apprets". Dill notes that in contrast, the 1754 version begins with much more background behind the story of Telaire's love for Castor and depicts his death at the end. The events in Act I of the 1737 version appear in Act II of the 1754 version. Dill claims that Voltaire was more interested in music than action in opera. Moreover, Dill notes a difference in the plots between in the two versions. In the 1737 version, the main concern is for the moral dilemma between love and duty that Pollux faces: should he pursue his love of Telaira or rescue his brother? Of course, he chooses the latter. In the 1754 version, Dill remarks that that plot is more concerned with the tests that Pollux must face: he must kill Lynceus, persuade Jupiter not to oppose his journey into the Underworld, and persuade Castor not to accept the gift of immortality.While some scholars have assumed that the 1754 version was superior, Dill argues that Rameau made the changes of 1754 at a different point in his career. In 1737, he was testing the limits of tragedie lyrique; where in 1754, he had done more work with ballet-oriented genres in which he included striking musical compositions that delighted audiences. Thus, Dill proposes that there may have been some commercial concerns behind the change in aesthetic in 1754, as the revised version conformed more to the traditional Lullian aesthetic. He comments that while many see the revision as more innovative, in actuality the 1737 version was the more daring.
Performance history and reception
Castor et Pollux appeared in 1737 while the controversy ignited by Rameau's first opera Hippolyte et Aricie was still raging. Conservative critics held the works of the "father of French opera", Jean-Baptiste Lully, to be unsurpassable. They saw Rameau's radical musical innovations as an attack on all they held dear and a war of words broke out between these Lullistes and the supporters of the new composer, the so-called Rameauneurs. This controversy ensured that the premiere of Castor would be a noteworthy event.Rameau had not altered the dramatic structure of Lully's tragédie lyrique genre: he retained the same five-act format with the same types of musical numbers. He had simply expanded the musical resources available to French opera composers. While some welcomed Rameau's new idiom, more conservative listeners found it unappealing. On the one hand, Rameau's supporter Diderot remarked: "Old Lulli is simple, natural, even, too even sometimes, and this is a defect. Young Rameau is singular, brilliant, complex, learned, too learned sometimes; but this is perhaps a defect on the listeners." On the other hand, the complaint of the Lullistes was that Rameau's musical idiom was far more expressive that Lully's and went so far as to call it distastefully "Italianate". For example, where Lully has contained musical expression, Rameau's recitative style included much wider melodic leaps in contrast to Lully's more declamatory style. This can be heard clearly, for example, in the opening recitative between Phoebe and Cleone in Act I, scene 1 of the 1754 revised version. Additionally, he added a richer harmonic vocabulary that included ninth chords. Rameau's more demanding vocal style led to the remark that while Lully's operas required actors, his required singers. Over time, these changes became more and more acceptable to the French audience.
As it turned out, the opera was a success. It received twenty performances in late 1737 but did not reappear until the substantially revised version took to the stage in 1754. This time there were thirty performances and ten in 1755. Graham Sadler writes that "It was ... Castor et Pollux that was regarded as Rameau's crowning achievement, at least from the time of its first revival onwards."
Revivals followed in 1764, 1765, 1772, 1773, 1778, 1779 and 1780. The taste for Rameau's operas did not long outlive the French Revolution but extracts from Castor et Pollux were still being performed in Paris as late as 1792. During the nineteenth century, the work did not appear on the French stage, though its fame survived the general obscurity into which Rameau's works had sunk; Hector Berlioz admiringly mentioned the aria Tristes apprêts.
The first modern revival took place at the Schola Cantorum in Paris in 1903. Among the audience was Claude Debussy. The first UK performance, organised by Ronald Crichton, was given by the Oxford University Opera Club in the early 1930s at Magdalen College in November 1934.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 24 October 1737 |
| Castor | haute-contre | Monsieur Tribou |
| Pollux | bass | Claude Chassé |
| Télaïre | soprano | Mlle Pélissier |
| Phébé | soprano | Marie Antier |
| Jupiter | bass | Monsieur Dun |
| Vénus | soprano | Mlle Rabon |
| Mars | bass | Monsieur Le Page |
| Minerve | soprano | Mlle Eremans |