Best Orfeo recording in Italian?

[Jeff]

I would like to buy a recording of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, the
Italian version. I believe this is sometimes referred to as the
original 1762 version. There are a number of them out there . . . but
would love a suggestion. Any suggestion would be appreciated. Thank
you.

[Mimas]

Così parlò Jeff:

Are you only interested in recent recordings or in vintage ones too?

I have "Il teatro d'Opera in disco" by Rodolfo Celletti, published in
Italy in 1988, a thick book about ALL opera recordings from 1950 to
1987. According to his author (renowned vocalism expert) the best is:

DECCA 1969
orch. Covent Garden London
dir. Georg Solti
Marilyn Horne (Orfeo)
Pilar Lorengar (Euridice)
Helen Donath (Amore)

The opinion about Marilyn Horne is enthusiastic.

I know nothing about recordings after 1987.

HTH

--
/***********************************************
Mimas (Reply-To valido)
***********************************************/

[Jeff]

Thanks so much. This is one of the more difficult operas to choose a
seminal recording. After reading my old Penguin Guide (from 1992) and
my edition of "Guide to Recorded Opera" from the Met, you have to make
a bunch of decisions before even looking for what you want. If you
decide that you want the Italian version -- which is what I want since
that's what I think the Met is performing next month -- there are more
choices to make. Do you want a modern orchestra, or period
instruments? A mezzo (like Marilyn) or a counter tenor? An old or
recent recording? The original 1762 version or the Berlioz edition?
Who has time for all this hand wringing? I can't even decide what to
read in the newspaper. The Penguin guys like the Horne recording, as
your Italian guide does, but they seem to prefer a recording led by
Gardiner using the Berlioz edition. However the Met "Recorded Opera"
guide prefers a 1981 recording led by Muti with Gruberova, Margaret
marshall and Agnes Baltsa. I'm confused. Wonder if there are any
recent recordings that trump both of those. -Jeff

[Stephen Jay-Taylor]

Strictly speaking, if you want the work in Italian, you should only be
listening to the 1762 original, written for Guadagni, the greatest castrato
of his day, and without most of the familiar dance-music. All subsequent
re-writes, either by Gluck himself, or others - most notably Berlioz - were
for the Parisian stage, and are therefore in French, either for a high tenor
or a mezzo. The Solti conflation on Decca is basically Berlioz,
back-translated into Italian, with Bertati's big exit-aria at the end of Act
I to allow La Horne to show off.

I would have thought finding out what the Met plan to perform would be a
good place to start, since you can bet your socks it won't be the unadorned
and quite short Viennese original. But if that's what you're after, there
are two recordings, in Italian, of what Gluck originally wrote, one of which
deals with the "How do you solve a problem like castratos" difficulty by
casting Derek Lee Ragin, a counter-tenor [ falsettist ] in the title role -
the second Gardiner recording, on Philips - and the other by casting a
mezzo, Bernarda Fink - the René Jacobs on Harmonia Mundi. I like the latter
a lot : it sounds "clasical", where the Gardiner sounds "radical".

Bonne chance !

Or rather, buona fortuna !

SJT

[Jeff]

On Apr 22, 10:09 pm, "Stephen Jay-Taylor" <sjaytay...@btinternet.com>
wrote:

Stephen- This is exxxxxxcellent. Sounds like you are more than a
casual listener to Gluck, a composer I have not studied. You are
right, I don't know exactly what the Met is presenting, but I do know
that it's in Italian and it will last all of an hour and a half. So I
am assuming it is close to the 1762 version. Haven't bought an
opera recording in a few years. Now that Tower Records is gone, where
does one go in person or online to find one of the recording you
mentioned? The Apple iTunes store is convenient but, of course,
doesn't offer a libretto. Thanks so much for your intelligent and
knowledgeable help. -Jeff

[Stephen Jay-Taylor]

"I do know that it's in Italian and it will last all of an hour and a half."

Oh well, there you go : that's 1762 Vienna tout court, with no Dance of the
Blessed Spirits or the balletic antics for the Furies.

So : my original suggestions are rather more relevant than I thought they
would be, the Met, not formerly at least, being noted for its purist
musicological approach. There are other recordings of the 1762 original,
including the famous/notorious Jochen Kowalski one that was staged here in
London at the ROH with Orfeo as a tight-trousered rock-singer drug-addict
wandering around some neon-lit urban Hell clutching his electric guitar
looking for Euridice, as one would. It used to be on DVD as well, top shelf
stuff past question. There is also one conducted by Sigiswald Kuijken, with
René Jacobs singing the title role very well indeed.

But I really think the one CONDUCTED by Jacobs is the one to go for, though
the Gardiner is bracing stuff, with a superior Euridice [ Sylvia MacNair,
rather than Veronica Cangemi for Jacobs ]

As to where to get them, well, as you may imagine, this is tricky for
someone 3,500 miles away to advise on. However, nil detered by mere
mileage...

http://www.amazon.com/Gluck-Orfeo-ed-Euridice/dp/B00006469J/ref=sr_1_2/104-8585050-1234351?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1177297875&sr=1-2

and

http://www.amazon.com/Gluck-Orfeo-Euridice-Christoph-Willibald/dp/B00005O7Z4/ref=sr_1_3/104-8585050-1234351?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1177297930&sr=1-3

SJT

[Terry Simmons]

In article <1177267177.0...@o5g2000hsb.googlegroups.com>,
Jeff <jlin...@yahoo.com> wrote:

The three recordings I own are sung in Italian, but are the "Vienna version" of
1762. The part of Orfeo is sung by a counter-tenor in all three recordings. I
enjoy them all.

1. Accent ACC48223/24D -- Sigiswald Kuijken.

2. Decca 470424-2 -- John Eliot Gardiner.

3. Sony SX2K48040 -- Frieder Bernius.

--
Cheers!

Terry