Castor et Pollux

Castor et Pollux - Peter SELLARS

• Conductor

  Teodor Currentzis; Vitaly Polonsky

• Music

  Jean-Philippe Rameau

• Libretto

  Pierre-Joseph Bernard

• Director

  Peter Sellars

• Lead choreographer

  Cal Hunt

• Costume design

  Camille Assaf

• Lighting design

  James F. Ingalls

• Video

  Alex MacInnis

• Dramaturgy

  Antonio Cuenca Ruiz

• Orchestra and Chorus

  Orchestre et Chœur Utopia

A return to its roots for Castor et Pollux, Jean-Philippe Rameau’s lyric tragedy first performed in 1737 at the Académie royale and inspired by the mythological episode of the Gemini.

Rarely performed in its original version – the score was reworked by Rameau himself in 1754 –, this daring work plays on contrasts and expressiveness, as in the famous “Tristes apprêts”. The aria is sung by Télaïre mourning the death of her fiancé Castor, killed in battle, before her twin brother Pollux descends into the Underworld to ask his father, Jupiter, to bring him back to life.

While this opera celebrates brotherly love, its prologue poses an essential question for director Peter Sellars: how do you stop a war and its attendant hatred and resentment?

Orchestre et Choeurs Utopia

Castor et Pollux

Castor et Pollux - Peter SELLARS

• Télaïre

  Jeanine De Bique

• Phébé

  Stéphanie d’Oustrac

• Castor

  Reinoud Van Mechelen

• Pollux

  Marc Mauillon

• Minerve, Une Suivante d’Hébé

  Claire Antoine

• L’Amour, Le Grand-Prêtre, l’Athlète

  Laurence Kilsby