Currentzis describes the act of listening to Rameau as a conversation in which 'you are naked and it is painful'. In the dewy pathos of 'Tristes apprets'..., as the string fade into a pale halo around Nadine Koutcher's fragile voice and the pulse slows to nothingness, you can almost see what he means.

This anthology of favourite moments from Rameau's stage music, though eccentric, is quite satisfying…the conviction with which Currentzis and his exceptionally talented orchestra present their unusual interpretations has won me, a crusty purist, over more than a little.

sometimes it is just too extreme...Yet there is highly original thinking here, and you cannot argue with the sophistication of the playing by the orchestra MusicAeterna.

Discerning music lovers who enjoy living on the edge might consider Rameau: The Sound of Light for Christmas. The maverick conductor Teodor Currentzis’s incisive trip through the juicier chunks of Rameau’s operas is delivered with typically extreme tempi and gutsy playing from MusicAeterna.

After several memorable Mozart recordings, they take on the music of Rameau here, bringing the same startling zest for innovation and untamed dynamism to a dazzling selection of vocal and instrumental selections from his operas.