Rameau, Benda: Pygmalion

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Editor's info:
Of all the myths in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the story of Pygmalion has always particularly resonated with artists – with sculptors, painters, writers and composers alike. This recording presents – coupled for the first time – two dramatic musical settings of the myth by two truly unique eighteenth-century composers. The contrast could hardly be greater. Rameau's acte de ballet appealed to Parisian tastes, while Benda's Melodrama, written thirty years later, was designed for a German-speaking audience. However, together, the two settings make for a fascinating dialogue. Adopting the latest musical-dramatic forms available to their respective composers and experimenting with mixed media, each brings fresh insights to Ovid’s tale.