About this opera:
The sculptor Pygmalion has fallen so deeply in love with the statue he himself has created that he abandons his companion Céphise, leaving her alone and unheard. He turns not to reason but to Venus, imploring the goddess to bring his masterpiece to life. The miracle happens: the statue awakens, moves, sings — and declares her love for her creator. Cupid arrives to celebrate the triumph of art and feeling, and even finds a new companion for the forsaken Céphise.

Written in just eight days for the Académie Royale de Musique in Paris and first performed in 1748, Pygmalion became one of Rameau’s greatest and most enduring successes. The libretto, by Ballot de Sauvot, transforms an ancient myth into something more intimate — a meditation on the strange, almost divine power of the artist to breathe life into his own creation. Dance and song are woven together throughout, each carrying a different strand of the story.