You can watch these performances on our website, Facebook-page and YouTube channel.

"What kind of 'Indians' is this all about?” the concert-goer might ask. The American Indians, the original inhabitants of the continent! Paying a visit to Paris in November 1725, Chief Agapit Chicagou and his companions were received by King Louis XV. They also performed their dances at the Théâtre-Italien. In the audience was Jean-Philippe Rameau, who was directly inspired by this experience to compose Les Indes galantes.
The Müpa Budapest audience has for years been an enthusiastic witness to György Vashegyi's mission to conquer the French Baroque repertoire, and in particular, the dramatic works of Rameau. Many pieces of superlative quality have been performed already, ranging from Hippolyte et Aricie and Les fêtes de Polymnie to Platée and Naïs. Now it is the turn of one of the composer's most successful works, which was premièred in Paris in 1735. Classified into the genre of opéra-ballet, the piece is light and elegant in tone. Over the course of a prologue and four acts, the work presents four independent stories, each of them conducting the audience to faraway and peculiar surroundings. The first takes place in the Ottoman Empire, the second among the Incas of Peru, with the third moving to Persia before returning to the New World and the lands of the American Indians in the fourth act. This performance will present the version from 1761, in which the prologue is followed by three acts. The Persians (Les fleurs) is not on the programme. The story in each case - to nobody's surprise - revolves around love, which invariably ends happily. Rameau's exotic subjects gave him the chance to compose extraordinarily colourful and energetic music that was incredibly rich in character; the Purcell Choir and the Orfeo Orchestra's partners on stage are the same internally renowned soloists who have sung, to great acclaim, in previous joint productions by György Vashegyi and the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles.

Co-production of Müpa Budapest and Centre de musique baroque de Versailles with the support of Francine and Arnoul Charoy and Institut Français de Budapest.

Performance material: Opera omnia de Rameau (realised by Sylvie Buissou) Bärenreiter-Verlag Kassel · Basel · London · New York · Praha.

This recording was made at a concert held at Müpa Budapest on 27 February 2018.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest