In a lonely palace lives Prince Azor who has been transformed by a vengeful fairy into a beastlike form. When a foreign merchant disturbs the palace peace, the creature-occupant demands a human sacrifice as punishment. Zemira, the merchant’s daughter, is ready to give her life but soon discovers Azor's beastly form hides an altogether different soul. Will love save the day?

Phèdre loves Hippolyte, but Hippolyte loves Aricie. And wouldn’t you just know it, Hippolyte is the son of Phèdre's husband Thésée. Rameau tells his story with an expressive force that earned him the reputation of a revolutionary at the premiere in 1733. The richness of his harmonies, rhythms and melodies spans an entire cosmos from the underworld to the heavens, which stage director Lorenzo Fioroni, together with baroque specialist Bernhard Forck, captures in spectacular images fusing music, text, film and dance into a new unity.