Also Sprach Rameau

I have very few full opera recordings, in fact discounting Handel oratorios I only have this one and the Magic Flute. This one is triple cd presentation of a baroque opera by Rameau, Zoroastre, by William Christie and Les Arts Florissants. The main "name" amongst the several soloists is Mark Padmore who sings the part of Zoroastre, the founder of the magi. The plot doesn't have much to do with the reality of the ancient religion of zoroastrianism and the composition, of course, pre-dates Nietzsche and Strauss ! By pure coincidence however, their are masonic overtones to the plot as is the case with my only other opera recording. The plot here revolves around magic, lost love, spurned love, revenge and envy, the battle between good and evil priests with matching magic powers. In other words all good stuff but not immediately apparent simply by listening to the music unless you follow the full synopsis throughout ( which is thankfully provided ) Musically, the performances are as ou would expect from these specialiast performers. There are interludes of ballet music which lighten the at times wearing periods of recitative. I think that recitative often suffers when divorced from the visual theatrics.I wouldn't listen to the full two and a half hours plus straight through that often but a good package to have and to dip into in order to complement the disk I have of Rameau and Charpentier ballet music.