Paris, October 1737. Rameau’s third opera, Castor et Pollux, is premiered in Paris, and notches up 21 performances. While that might sound like a success for an opera nowadays, standards were quite different back then – and these numbers were nothing compared to the run of 64 outings given to the French composer’s Les Indes Galantes. That’s despite an emotionally intense plot in which the immortal Pollux heads to the underworld in order to rescue his murdered, mortal half-brother, Castor. Both are in love with Telaira; Castor was betrothed to her. Fraternal love, sacrifice, tragedy: it’s all there.

Nonetheless, Castor et Pollux was shelved until 1754, when, revised and reshaped, suddenly it became a hit that saw it stay in the repertory until 1785, a good 20 years after the composer’s death. Revived in 1908 in France, it has since been brought to modern ears in recordings by Nicholas Harnoncourt and William Christie. And now, as part of his Rameau series, it’s been recorded by the conductor György Vashegyi in its original version. 

Where John Eliot Gardiner sees...