I love the direction on this production by the great Robert Wilson.... I was very excited to see this version of Orphee by Wilson after experiencing his great production of the Black Rider by Tom Waits... yes it is stylized but interesting for it - like German Expressionist cinema.... And Magdelena Kozena - well she is perfection...an excellent rendition of "Amour viens rendre à mon ame".
I agree. The part is supposed to be for a mezzo but she has all the qualities of a full blown Soprano. it is not that I don't enjoy listening to her but personally I am a stickler for exactness. Sorry Folks!!
she is a light lyric mezzo-soprano...a class of voice that is, as it's name implies, light. they share the same range as the typical soprano and their timbre is quite similar ( they are mezzo-SOPRANOS after all). a moot point since that nomenclature didn't exist in gluck's time and roles were written, rather, for specific people, not voice types. also many of these roles were written for castrati. there is also a higher key for tenor...your idea of exactness is akin to ignorance
@Vladarama You are almost right...but this role was written during the 18th century when Berlioz remade the Paris version. In the original version Orphee was sung by a countertenor and in the Paris version by a haute-contre. Berlioz rewrote the whole score for Orphee to make it suitable for an alto with good coloratura qualities (nowadays we call those altos for mezzosopranos I think). And he added this fantastic coloratura aria too!!! Nice, yeah?
No, the first "Orfeo" was written for an alto *castrato*. And this aria (not even originally by Gluck) was added by Gluck himself, for the haute-contre Orphee. But then, it was Maria Malibran (in the Berlioz version) who added even more elaborate ornaments and that crazy awesome cadenza, which is now a standard.
To be more precise, it was late Maria Malibran's sister, Pauline Viardot, assisted by Camille Saint-Saëns, who added the more elaborate ornaments, turning an eighteenth-century Italianate bravura aria into a French-style nineteenth-century coloratura air, which is rather out of its place in an opera by Gluck. Compare Solti/Horne's performance (the aria is sung in Italian: Addio, addio miei sospiri) to value the difference.
She sounds great, but ¿is that stiff acting hers, or an idea from the scene director? does not make her justice at all (and I don't think she is a wonderful actress, but...) this production is too dark for the eyes; musically, it is very good.
The stage director is indeed to be blamed. Robert Wilson who's so enamored of opening with spinning cubes and treating human bodies like barely mobile hieroglyphs. I guess that's his interpretation of Gluck's reforms. Excesses of opera seria and the "vanities of singers" aside, I never knew those reforms were ever meant for opera to be quite so bare of humanity...
She's always billed as a mezzo, but I feel her voice doesn't carry in the lower register. Her singing is not quite sure of itself here, but she's certainly got a gift.
Her acting has always been so weird, not convencing at all. And her voice sounds so inmature, like a student. Her voice gets lost at the Met. I don't like her.
This is the Berlioz version after Gluck's own Paris version. The part of Orphee was transposed back to the treble/mezzo voice for the diva Pauline Viardot, who added further ornaments and "composed" that infamous extended cadenza (reaching up to the high C), now a standard among any mezzo who sings this role.
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Dogaradodia 11 months ago
Does anybody know where I can find the opening aria? A video or anything?
NitrateDream 3 years ago
There is a dvd of the opera and it's really fantastic!
BarGiuli 3 years ago
Yeah, I just found a copy at my library. Yay~ ^^
NitrateDream 3 years ago
I love the direction on this production by the great Robert Wilson.... I was very excited to see this version of Orphee by Wilson after experiencing his great production of the Black Rider by Tom Waits... yes it is stylized but interesting for it - like German Expressionist cinema.... And Magdelena Kozena - well she is perfection...an excellent rendition of "Amour viens rendre à mon ame".
shuunya 3 years ago
she has wonderful voice...but she is SOPRANO!!!!!!!
triolka 3 years ago
mezzo-soprano
delauge 3 years ago
I agree. The part is supposed to be for a mezzo but she has all the qualities of a full blown Soprano. it is not that I don't enjoy listening to her but personally I am a stickler for exactness. Sorry Folks!!
Architect115 3 years ago
she is a light lyric mezzo-soprano...a class of voice that is, as it's name implies, light. they share the same range as the typical soprano and their timbre is quite similar ( they are mezzo-SOPRANOS after all). a moot point since that nomenclature didn't exist in gluck's time and roles were written, rather, for specific people, not voice types. also many of these roles were written for castrati. there is also a higher key for tenor...your idea of exactness is akin to ignorance
Vladarama 2 years ago 2
there's a version for baritone as well funnily enough...
silvr94 2 years ago
@Vladarama You are almost right...but this role was written during the 18th century when Berlioz remade the Paris version. In the original version Orphee was sung by a countertenor and in the Paris version by a haute-contre. Berlioz rewrote the whole score for Orphee to make it suitable for an alto with good coloratura qualities (nowadays we call those altos for mezzosopranos I think). And he added this fantastic coloratura aria too!!! Nice, yeah?
evaeke 2 years ago
@evaeke
No, the first "Orfeo" was written for an alto *castrato*. And this aria (not even originally by Gluck) was added by Gluck himself, for the haute-contre Orphee. But then, it was Maria Malibran (in the Berlioz version) who added even more elaborate ornaments and that crazy awesome cadenza, which is now a standard.
vitellia 1 year ago
@vitellia
To be more precise, it was late Maria Malibran's sister, Pauline Viardot, assisted by Camille Saint-Saëns, who added the more elaborate ornaments, turning an eighteenth-century Italianate bravura aria into a French-style nineteenth-century coloratura air, which is rather out of its place in an opera by Gluck. Compare Solti/Horne's performance (the aria is sung in Italian: Addio, addio miei sospiri) to value the difference.
jeanambr 10 months ago in playlist Magdalena Kozena
@triolka Nope. Mezzo.
LordHettrick 1 year ago
She sounds great, but ¿is that stiff acting hers, or an idea from the scene director? does not make her justice at all (and I don't think she is a wonderful actress, but...) this production is too dark for the eyes; musically, it is very good.
alejandra379 4 years ago
The stage director is indeed to be blamed. Robert Wilson who's so enamored of opening with spinning cubes and treating human bodies like barely mobile hieroglyphs. I guess that's his interpretation of Gluck's reforms. Excesses of opera seria and the "vanities of singers" aside, I never knew those reforms were ever meant for opera to be quite so bare of humanity...
beteltree 3 years ago
Thank you, I have a better perspective now...
alejandra379 3 years ago
No hay como describir esto... no es humano!!!! es demasiadoooo!!!! bravo Gluck, bravo Gardiner, bravo Magadalena... esto me hace feliz!!!
ambarb52 4 years ago
clearly soprano but i think the roles she sings are the problem.She only needs coachimng in the mezzo role.
malloy611 4 years ago
Comment removed
silvr94 4 years ago
could you please post Euridice's air from this production
hillevifan 4 years ago
She's always billed as a mezzo, but I feel her voice doesn't carry in the lower register. Her singing is not quite sure of itself here, but she's certainly got a gift.
gab1279 4 years ago
wonderful!!! she has got an expressive force really amazing!!!
freddina46 4 years ago
I like her but why is she singing mezzo when she's clearly a soprano?
gransasso101 4 years ago
Wow... she is so talented... :D
i love this version :D
Asterionu 5 years ago 2
This is a mezzo? Goodd lord if shes a mezzo I am the queen of england. Its just a darkened voice. This staging is pretty dreadful.
dinacarina88 5 years ago
Her acting has always been so weird, not convencing at all. And her voice sounds so inmature, like a student. Her voice gets lost at the Met. I don't like her.
singthesilences 5 years ago
Is it possible you post the scene with Orphee and the furies in the underworld?I am curious to see how Wilson directed it...
Voilosapete 5 years ago
I am a bit confused...Isn't the Paris version of the opera written for a 'high tenor' in the role of Orphee?Here, sung by a mezzo...
Voilosapete 5 years ago
This is the Berlioz version after Gluck's own Paris version. The part of Orphee was transposed back to the treble/mezzo voice for the diva Pauline Viardot, who added further ornaments and "composed" that infamous extended cadenza (reaching up to the high C), now a standard among any mezzo who sings this role.
vitellia 4 years ago
Thank you for the clarification. Now, it makes sense...
Voilosapete 4 years ago
the role exhists in both keys
Vladarama 2 years ago
Magdaléna Kožená is surely one of the greatest opera singers of our time! She is woonderful, a magnifique voice!
moew99 5 years ago
Wonderful. You post some terrific pieces.
MidwestFan 5 years ago