The pivotal figure in this programme is Jean-Philippe Rameau, who was extremely productive and emerged as the leading French opera composer of the first half of the 18th century. He entered into confrontation with such illustrious predecessors as Jean-Baptiste Lully, the spiritual father of ‘tragédie lyrique’, Marc-Antoine Charpentier and André Campra. Many of the trends seen in their work culminated in his operas. Rameau played a role as an innovator in French ‘tragédie en musique’, in addition to influencing André-Modeste Grétry and Charles-Simon Favart. Without adopting any historical position, Sandrine Piau and Les Paladins have compiled a superb anthology from at least a century of French opera, with alternating scenes of drama, emotion and even humour.