BaL 5.07.14 - Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30am Building a Library
Gluck's 'Orfeo ed Euridice' has been performed in many different versions, and for this week's Buiding a Library Simon Heighes investigates recordings of the original, revolutionary score of 1762, and makes a personal recommendation.


Available versions (including revised Paris version (1776) - generally those with male singers for Orfeo):



Roberto Alagna, Serena Gameroni, Teatro Comunale di Bologna Orchestra, Giampaulo Bisanti

Kathleen Ferrier, Greet Koeman, Netherlands Opera, Charles Bruck

Shirley Verrett, Anna Moffo, I Virtuosi di Roma, Renato Fasano

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, RIAS Chamber Choir & Orchestra, Frenc Fricsay

Fedora Barberier, Hilde Guden, La Scala Milan, Wilhelm Furtwangler

Derek Lee Ragin, Sylvia McNair, English Baroque Soloists & Monteverdi Choir, Sir John Eliot Gardiner

Hilde Rossel-Majdan, Sena Jurinac, Vienna State Opera, Michael Gielen

Jochen Kowalski, Gillian Webster, ROH, Hartmaut Haenchen (DVD/Blu-ray)

Runfunkchor Berlin, Hartmut Haenchen

Berbarda Fink, Veronica Cangeni, Freiberger Barockorchester & Rias Kammerchor, Rene Jacobs (BaL choice 2003)

Rene Jacobs, Marianna Kweksilber, La Petite Band & Collegium Vocale, Sigiswald Kuijken

Kerstin Torborg, Jarmilla Novotna, Metropolitan Opera New York, Erich Leinsdorf

Dame Janet Baker,Elisabeth Speisa, Glyndebourne/LPO, Yarmond Leppard (DVD)

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Elizabeth Soderstrome, Cappella Coloniensis, Kolner Rundfunkchor, Ferdinand Leitner

Julia Hamari, Veronika Kincses, Ungarischen Staatsoper, Ervin Lukacs (download)

Bejun Mehta.Eva Liebau, Collegium 1704 & Collegium Vocale 1704, Vaclav Luks (DVD/Blu-ray)

Ewa Podles, Ana Rodrigo, Orquesta Sinfonica de Galacia, Orquesta Sonfonica de Madrid, Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid, Peter Maag

Rise Stevens, Lisa Della Casa, Rome Opera, Pierre Monteux

Grace Bumbry, Anneliese Rothenberger, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Vaclav Neumann

Anita Rachvelishvili, Maite Alberola, Orquesta BandArte, Gordon Nikolic (DVD/Blu-ray)

Kerstin Averno, Ann-Christine Biel, Drottningholm Court Theatre Chorus & Orchestra, Arnold Ostman

Shirley Verrett, Antonietta Stella, RIA Orchestra & Chorus, Seiji Ozawa

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gundula Janowitz, Munich Bach Choir & Orchestra, Karl Richter (download)

Marilyn Horne, Pilor Lorengor, ROH, Sir Georg Solti (download)

Kathleen Ferrier, Ann Ayars, Southern PO & Glyndebourne Festival Chorus, Fritz Stiedry

Huguette Tourangeau, Catherine Malfitano, Residentie Orkest,Nederlands Maerkoor, Has Vonk

[Rolmill]

The Jacobs Freiberger recording is included in the HM Lumieres box so I have only just come across it...and I can see why it "won" back in 2003, as it is a lovely performance in every way. Does the ornamentation become intrusive on repeated listening? I don't think so, though others might.

I also have the Bernius Tafelmusik recording on Sony (with Michael Chance as a coolly ardent Orfeo), which I like a lot, but I think it is (sadly) nla.

[jean]

I also have the Bernius Tafelmusik recording on Sony (with Michael Chance as a coolly ardent Orfeo), which I like a lot, but I think it is (sadly) nla.

But (as I said on the other Gluck thread) Michael Chance is singing the role in Buxton this month:

http://www.buxtonfestival.co.uk/opera-series/orfeo-ed-eurydice/

[LeMartinPecheur]

Alpen: is Lathleen Ferrier the tall thin one?

(Please do keep up the good work and ignore all cheap snipes...)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I'm a little disappointed that Simon Heighes has discarded the Paris version. I prefer it. Having a man singing the part of Orfeo does seem the better option, and although I admire Ferrier in this role, but if restricted to one version, the one I would always choose is DFD with Karl Richter.

[Barbirollians]

Lathleen ? A slim piece of old fashioned internal construction ?

[Beef Oven!]

I'll be sticking with the Rene Jacobs recording that is included on that amazing Lumieres box-set that most of us bought.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

... that most of us bought.

?

[verismissimo]

I'll be sticking with the Rene Jacobs recording that is included on that amazing Lumieres box-set that most of us bought.

All except Alpie, Beefie.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Evidently.

[MickyD]

I've been listening to what I think was the first HIP account of the piece, recorded by La Petite Bande for Accent back in the early 80s. René Jacobs sings the part of Orfeo and his swooping of notes is now hard to take for me...and 'Che faro' is taken at the most incredibly sluggish pace.

[Nick Armstrong]

Alpen: is Lathleen Ferrier the tall thin one?

(Please do keep up the good work and ignore all cheap snipes...)

[Flosshilde]

All except Alpie, Beefie.

and me

[Nick Armstrong]

ignore all cheap snipes...

"Oi... I may be Common but I'm not cheap"

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

"Oi... I may be Common but I'm not cheap"