Rameau: Une symphonie imaginaire

This is an odd but wonderful recording. As the title suggests, it consists of an “imaginary symphony” created by conductor Marc Minkowski out of selections from Jean-Philippe Rameau’s various celebrated works for the stage. It opens with the overture from the opera Zaïs and then proceeds to bring together pieces of incidental music from many others, including Castor et Pollux, Les Boréades, Dardanus, and Hippolyte & Aricie. Inevitably, the result feels a bit disjointed — but it’s still tremendously enjoyable, especially as performed by Minkowski’s outstanding Musiciens du Louvre.