- Zéphire
'Zéphire' (or 'Zéphyre') is an
opera byJean-Philippe Rameau in the form of a one-act "acte de ballet". Nothing is known about the date of its composition and in all likelihood it was probably not performed in Rameau's lifetime. The name of its librettist is also unknown but may possibly have beenLouis de Cahusac .Rameau's handwritten score for "Zéphire", like that for "
Nélée et Myrthis ", was entitled "Les Beaux Jours de l'Amour" (The Beautiful Days of Love). ("Nélée et Myrthis" is similarly a one-actopera-ballet .) "Zéphire" and "Nélée et Myrthis" may thus have been two parts of the same work. [http://jp.rameau.free.fr/the_works.htm#Zéphire]The first known performance of "Zéphire" did not take place until modern times when it was performed on
15 June ,1967 at the Jubilee Hall inAldeburgh ,Suffolk ,England . However, there was an earlier recording of the work in 1976 (see below).Roles
elected recordings
*"Zéphyre", sung by Philip Langridge (Zéphyre), Michèle Pena (Cloris), Isabel Garcisanz (Diane) with Maîtrise Gabriel Fauré, Choeur Elizabeth Brasseur, & Ensemble Instrumental de France conducted by Jean-Pierre Wallez, IPG 7465, 1976 (1LP).
*"La Guirlande" & "Zéphyre", sung by Gaëlle Méchaly (Zéphyre), Rebecca Ockenden (Cloris / Flore), Sophie Decaudaveine (Diane) with Cappella Coloniensis des WDR, &
Les Arts Florissants conducted byWilliam Christie , Erato 8573-85774-2, 2000 (2CD).ources
*Girdlestone, Cuthbert, "Jean-Philippe Rameau: His Life and Work", New York: Dover, 1969 (paperback edition)
*Holden, Amanda, ed., "The Viking Opera Guide", New York:Viking, 1993
*Sadler, Graham, ed., "The New Grove French Baroque Masters" Grove/Macmillan, 1988External links
* [http://jp.rameau.free.fr/index.htm Rameau le site] , a site dedicated to Jean-Philippe Rameau (in both French and English)
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