Rameau: Zais

In 1745, King Louis XV granted Jean-Philippe Rameau the post of Composer du cabinet du roy. During this period, he composed some lighter works, in collaboration with librettist Louis de Cahusac that went on to become some of his most important masterpieces. One of them was Zais, first performed in 1748 on the stage of the Academie Royale de Musique. The plot revolves around a lover (Zais) putting his beloved (Zelidie) to the test in order to cherish her all the more. One of Rameau's leading champions, Christophe Rousset, leads Les Talens Lyriques in a definitive performance of this ballet-heroique.