NPR World of Opera
Platée by Jean-Philippe Rameau

OK, we'll give you fair warning. At the top of this week's NPR World of Opera, we're going to feature a tenor named Kermit the Frog. Yes, it's the Kermit the Frog, with his signature tune, Bein' Green. And no, Kermit is not in this week's opera. Still, playing this particular song before this particular opera is more than just a cheap trick to get your attention. The song is about the difficulties of looking different, and that's what the opera seems to be about, as well - at least in part.

Jean-Phillipe Rameau's Platée was composed as entertainment for a royal wedding. A French prince was marrying a Spanish princess. This was nothing out of the ordinary, really. But, as the wedding drew near, there was a lot of talk about the bride. It seems she was widely regarded as homely, to put it kindly. This begs the question, "What was Rameau thinking about?!"

That's because his opera turned out to be a story about the mock wedding of the god Jupiter to a notoriously ugly, green swamp creature. This hideous marsh-nymph, called Platée, is tricked into thinking Jupiter is in love with her. She's led all the way to the altar before the whole thing is revealed as a scam. Then, Platée is chased back to the swamp in disgrace, with the assembled crowd mocking her all the way.

How Rameau managed to get away with this apparently inappropriate opera is unclear, but the opera was a hit. It could be that the thing is so farfetched - and such beguiling entertainment - that the assembled aristrocrats couldn't help but take it all as good fun.

So we hope that's exactly what you'll do, when you tune in Platée, this week on NPR World of Opera with host Steve Curwood, in a production from the Grand Theater of Geneva.

LINKS:

Commentary on a New York production of Platée
More on Rameau
Grand Theatre of Geneva
NPR At the Opera