The Opéra-Comique in Paris is a bit like home to William Christie. The American conductor has directed 13 productions there since the historic 1987 exhumation of Jean-Baptiste Lully's lyrical tragedy Atys. For his forthcoming 80th birthday (he was born on December 19, 1944), the founder of Les Arts Florissants – an authoritative ensemble for the Baroque repertoire since 1979 – has treated himself to Jean-Philippe Rameau's Les Fêtes d'Hébé, a gift in the guise of an exploratory voyage, all paid for by the Opéra-Comique, which is staging it until Saturday, December 21.
Completely forgotten since its premiere in 1739, even though it was the composer's greatest success at the time, this opera-ballet has all the makings of a modern-day classic. A gallant plot based on sidekicks from Greek and Latin mythology, verses so uninspired that the librettist wished to remain anonymous, and a hybrid genre in which music and dance, not to mention song, condemn the piece to a fate of odds and ends. In the 18th century, audiences could enter and leave without fear of missing a scene that was important to the understanding of the show, a feature of the entertainment they couldn't care less about.
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