Christoph Willibald Gluck - Orphee et Eurydice (1774 tenor version in French) - No. 4. The Furies (Richard Croft, Mireille Delunsch, Marion Harousseau & Claire Delgado-Boge; Marc Minkowski)

Though originally set to an Italian libretto, "Orfeo ed Euridice", Gluck's first step in his reform of the operatic form, owes much to the genre of French opera, particularly in its' extensive use of accompanied recitative and a general absence of vocal virtuosity. In fact, it is generally supposed that Gluck frankly took Rameau's "Castor et Pollux" as his model when he sat down to compose "Orfeo": indeed, the plot of the earlier work, in particular, the rescue of Pollux by Castor from the infernal regions, has much in common with that of "Orfeo", so it is possible that Gluck took many hints from Rameau's musical treatment of the various scenes which the two works have in common. Therefore, it seems quite fitting that twelve years after the 1762 premiere of the original work, in 1774, Gluck presented his work to the Parisian public, readapting it, in the process, to suit the tastes of the audience at the Academie Royale de Musique. This reworking was given the title "Orphee et Eurydice" which is the version of this ever well-known piece that I want to present in this series of uploads.

The recording presented here is Minkowski's 2004 live recording of the work with the following cast:

Richard Croft - Orphee,
Mireille Delunsch - Eurydice,
Marion Harousseau - L'Amour,
Claire Delgado-Boge - Une ombre heureuse.

Finally, here is a link to the complete libretto:

http://opera.stanford.edu/iu/libretti/orphee.html

Hope you'll enjoy :).

No. 7. Scena - "Quel est l'audacieux". The scene between the chorus of Furies and Orpheus is easily the most successful and effective, the barking of Cerberus which sounds through it is another wonderful touch which, though its' naivete may provoke a smile. Orpheus appears and pleads his cause in accents of touching entreaty. Time after time his pathetic song is broken by a sternly decisive "No" but the Furies slowly become more and more sympathetic to the hero who relates his torment in two breathtaking ariosos (6:35 and 8:15). In the end he triumphs, and the Furies grant him passage in a moving chorus (though still using the same angular string effects and a large amount of the first chorus to remind the listener of the Furies' unholy nature).

Again, hope you'll enjoy :).

Category:

Music

Tags:

• gluck
• orfeo
• ed
• euridice
• orphee
• et
• eurydice
• classical
• opera
• minkowski
• orpheus
• complete
• version

[cocorocha1]

I absolutely adore French Baroque!

[coolsnak3]

loves it

[acerb45666555]

cest' magnifique!

[nojstradamus]

i notice that there are little breaks in between some of the songs. i assume that you made this by compiling them together? if u did can you send me the names of all the songs in this act? i want to buy them off amazon but I only want these songs.

thanks

[theulkar]

Grandissimo in questo Ruolo!

[055697]

kewl @ 1:35...........

[cmvana]

This opera is amazing and so is Richard Croft! He ROCKS!!

[xr1983kr]

Grande