Les Boréades was the last of Rameau’s tragédies lyriques. Though apparently it went into rehearsal in 1763, the year before the composer’s death, it does not seem to have been performed in his lifetime, and the premiere was a concert performance in Paris in 1770. But like so much French baroque opera, it was not until the. second half of the 20th century that the score of Les Boréades was heard again; it was eventually staged for the first time in Lyon in 1982, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner.
Gardiner also made the first recording, based upon the stage performances, but until this latest version, there appears to have been only one further CD version of Les Boréades, which appeared four years ago, though a couple of subsequent stagings are available on DVD.
