Search - Gluck, Stich-Randall, Mackerras :: Orfeo & Euridice

Absolutely the top performance

Lammert Mesken | Netherlands | 04/28/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I had this recording taped already for 7 years, and tried to get the CD. I ordered it now and , really this one outperforms everything what is now currently on the market.
Its not available anymore trough the normal channels, but hope that it will be distributed soon again."

Mackerras's Orfeo

Robin Friedman | Washington, D.C. United States | 10/10/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice changed opera forever by its integration of music and drama and its reduction of musical superfluities. Gluck's opera, which celebrates the power of love and art to overcome death, has long been dear to me. I return to the music when I need a source of inspiration.



I found this recording of Orfeo in a cut-out bin some years ago. In its passion and depth, this is one of the finest versions of Gluck's masterwork. It is unfortunate that this recording has been deleted from the catalogue. The recording dates from 1966 with the Australian conductor Sir Charles Mackerras conducting the Vienna State Opera and chorus. The role of Orfeo is sung, unusually, by a contralto, Maureen Forrester. She brings a burnished deep intensity to this role. The late American soprano Teresa Stich-Randall sings Euridice, while soprano Hanny Steffek sings the light and elusive role of Amor.



There are a bewildering number of versions of Gluck's opera. Gluck first composed the work in Vienna in 1762 with a libretto in Italian and the title role sung by a castrato. This initial version, in its austerity, was the work that changed the course of opera. In 1774, Gluck rewrote Orfeo to meet the tastes of Paris audiences. The work became longer and lost some of its harder edges. In the late 1830s, Gluck's great admirer and follower, Hector Berlioz, prepared his own version of Gluck's score. Performances of Orfeo tend to draw from several versions, with the cuts or changes that the conductor deems appropriate. There is no definitive score for Gluck's opera.



Mackerras's recording uses the original Vienna version as its base. But Gluck composed some beautiful music for the Paris version that was not in the original, most importantly the Dance of the Furies, the Dance of the Blessed Spirits, with its beautiful flute solo, and an aria for Euridice between the first and second scenes of Act II. Mackerras adds this, and other material, to the Viennese version. Otherwise, Mackerras tries to follow Gluck's 1762 text closely. In 1966, the interest in period-instrument performances was just beginning. This is not a performance on period instruments, but Mackerras studied 18th century performances practices in detail and followed them in this recording. The liner notes that Mackerras prepared for this recording detailing his approach to the score are illuminating.



Tempos in this recording are slow and stately. This is one of the longer Orfeo's with which I am familiar. Orfeo's great aria, "Che faro senza Euridice?" is sung with passion, as Forrester's low contralto is accompanied by the angular theme in the high strings. Forrester also brings out the wonder of Orfeo upon his entering the Elysian fields in "Che puro ciel" with its accompaniment in the oboe. The duets between Orfeo and Euridice as they attempt their journey from the underworld are filled with tragedy. Euridice's aria, interpolated from the Paris version, is frequently cut; but Stich-Randall and the chorus show that it is lovely indeed. I enjoyed the ballet music before the finale, and the flute solo in the "dance of the blessed spirits" was otherworldly. I hear something new in Orfeo each time I revist the work.



There are many outstanding recordings of Orfeo available and many ways to hear the score. I feel fortunate that I had the opportunity to find and enjoy this now rare recording.



Robin Friedman

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