Les Boreades

Les Boreades is an opera in five acts by Jean-Philippe Rameau. It was the last of Rameau's five tragedies en musique. This mythical tale of a young queen, Alphise, determined to abdicate rather than contemplate an enforced marriage to a descendent of Boreas, is nothing less than highly charged. Her forbidden love for Abaris is reciprocated, but seems hopeless until his divine origins are revealed, whereupon darkness is turned to light and Boreas' dingy domain is suffused with glowing colors, both literally and metaphorically. In addition, included is an extra feature, the Triumph of Love, which is a 60-minute documentary including interviews with Robert Carson, William Christie, Barbara Bonney, Paul Agnew and Laurent Naouri.