description Hippolyte et Aricie Overview
Hippolyte et Aricie is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau, composed in 1733. It adapts the Greek myth of Phaedra and represents Rameau’s first foray into operatic composition. The work is a significant example of French Baroque opera, showcasing complex musical structures and dramatic storytelling. It’s primarily studied and performed by scholars, musicologists, and opera companies interested in 18th-century French music and the development of opera seria.
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Why does Hippolyte et Aricie begin with a dispute among the gods?
The prologue shows Diana and Cupid contesting control over the people of the forest. The opera then turns to the mortal tragedy of Phedre's forbidden love for her stepson Hippolyte and his love for Aricie.
How is Rameau's opera related to Racine's Phedre?
Librettist Simon-Joseph Pellegrin drew on Racine's tragedy as well as the older myth found in Euripides. The opera expands the story with gods, monsters, an underworld scene, and the eventual reunion of Hippolyte and Aricie.
Why did Hippolyte et Aricie cause controversy at its premiere?
Rameau's dense harmony, active orchestration, and elaborate dramatic music startled listeners accustomed to the style of Jean-Baptiste Lully. The response helped divide French opera audiences into defenders of Lully and supporters of Rameau.
What kind of opera is Hippolyte et Aricie?
It is a tragedie en musique with a prologue and five acts, the established grand form of French Baroque opera. Rameau filled that structure with dances, choruses, accompanied recitative, and major spectacle, including Thesee's journey through the underworld.
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