Platée

In the organizer's words:

Comic opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau

Love and madness are known to appear together, as they do in Jean-Phillippe Rameau's mad opera Platée.

In order to cure Junon, the wife of Jupiter, of her terrible jealousy, the friends of the king of the gods come up with a joke: Jupiter is supposed to fall in love with the most ridiculous person they can find in order to make his wife realize the futility of her fears. A suitable victim is found in the swamp nymph Platée, who is not exactly endowed with beauty, but with excessive self-confidence. In fact, the nymph agrees to marry the god and a grotesque marriage of convenience takes place.

Platée is probably one of the most unusual works of music theater of the 18th century. With his brilliant compositional style, Rameau is less oriented towards the operatic comedies of his time and instead creates a wonderfully crazy social satire. Although the daring plot irritated the audience at the premiere in 1745, the music with its rousing dances and onomatopoeic effects quickly made Platée one of Rameau's most popular operas.

The musical director of the production is the internationally sought-after conductor Nicholas Kok, a true expert in early music. Directed by Anja Kühnhold, who has staged many productions at the Staatstheater Karlsruhe and the Dutch National Opera Academy, among others, and set by Julia Katharina Berndt, Rameau's comedy is brought to the stage of Theater Hagen as a shrill and colorful spectacle. The dance divertissements are choreographed by Giovanni De Domenico, who has already worked for musicals and shows all over the world.