About the work
Platée is a comic opera (comédie lyrique / ballet bouffon) in a prologue and three acts by Jean-Philippe Rameau, premiered in Versailles in 1745. The libretto, after Jacques Autreau, is among Rameau's rare comic works and one of the few great comedies of French Baroque opera.
Plot
To cure the jealous goddess Juno, Jupiter and Mercury devise a cruel prank: they have Jupiter pretend to want to marry the ugly, vain marsh nymph Platée. The self-infatuated Platée, convinced of her irresistibility, only too gladly believes the farce. When, at the sham wedding, Juno furiously lifts the veil of the supposed bride and beholds the grotesque Platée, she bursts into laughter—cured of her jealousy. The humiliated Platée is left behind as an object of ridicule.
Cultural significance
Platée is a masterpiece of Baroque humour, with the title figure traditionally played by a tenor in a comic travesty role. Rameau's inventive music, full of frog-croak imitations and parodic effects, combines broad comedy with refined artistry. Despite the cruel mockery of its protagonist, the work is regarded as one of the most original and musically brilliant comic operas of the French Baroque and is celebrated in the early-music scene.