Hippolyte et Aricie

In the “making-of” featurette accompanying this 2013 Glyndebourne Festival staging of Jean-Philippe Rameau's 1733 triumph, director Jonthaan Kent says that there are two ways of staging a baroque opera: the austere route, or “throwing the kitchen sink at it.” Kent chose the latter for Hippolyte et Aricie, in which characters are portrayed as items in a gigantic refrigerator in the opening scene (in the freezer, the goddess Diana looks like an icy denizen from Frozen). The underworld is the fridge's filthy backside, while the final act is played out in a modern-appearing morgue. In one of the many dances, the performers are giant ants; in another, they prance about in their underwear. One might reasonably ask what all this has to do with the tragedy of Phaedra, wife of Theseus, whose love for her stepson Hippolytus leads to death. The answer is: not much, but it's definitely colorful and eye-popping, and even (in a weird way) true to the spirit of French baroque, which reveled in spectacle. And the visual hubbub complements a splendid musical performance, with William Christie conducting the original-instrument Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in a crisp, spirited reading of the score, and Sarah Connolly (Phaedra), Stéphane Degout (Theseus), Ed Lyon (Hippolytus), and Christiane Karg (Hippolytus' true love Aricia) all superb. Presented in DTS 5.1 (DTS-HD 5.1 on the Blu-ray release) and LPCM stereo, other extras include a cast gallery. Recommended. (F. Swietek)