Christoph Willibald Gluck - Orphee et Eurydice (1774 tenor version in French) - No. 2. Orpheus' First Lament & The Appearance of Eros (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. 3. Scena - "Objet de mon amour". In an interesting touch by the composer, both of Orpheus' important laments are set in the form of rondo, though it is the first of these which represents Gluck's musical invention at its' height, as instead of a continuous musical piece (as in the case of the second lament) the composer utilizes a series of ariosos linked by expressive recitative, strikingly close in approach to arioso (that's one of the reasons why I used the word "scena" to describe the piece), to present the poor man's troubled mind. The highlight here, for me, is the passionate second recitative, featuring a most inspired quiet appeal to the gods (starting at 4:22) accompanied by hushed, flowing string lines. Another point of interest is the rather unusual fact that both of Orpheus' plaints are based on and presented in harmonies not exactly mournful in nature (especially apparent in the final air) but utilized to great effect by Gluck to suggest the introverted, personal torment of the hero.

No. 4. Aria - "Si les doux accords de ta lyre" (first appeared in the 1774 version). Amour's music is perhaps less dramatic that either of the lovers' but it provides much needed lightness and humor to the work. Strikingly, Gluck allows Amour's first aria to be repeated after a shocked "I will see her again" from Orpheus but this sounds completely logical, as if the messenger of the gods is assuring the hero of the gods' blessing.

And again, hope you'll enjoy :).

Category:

Music

Tags:

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

[rosasbarrocas]

can you tell me, who is the painter??

[acerb45666555]

brilliant!

[TheBenLok]

Yes!! Its so sensible.... Great!!

[BernardProfitendieu]

Robert Croft's gentle "Eurydice n'est plus, et je respire encore ... dieux, rendez-lui la vie, ou donnez-moi la mort" is one of the most beautiful points of the whole opera