Gluck: Orphée et Eurydice (Berlioz version) / Larmore, Upshaw, Hagley, Runnicles

Christoph Willibald Gluck (Artist), Jennifer Larmore (Artist), Dawn Upshaw (Artist), Alison Hagley (Artist), Donald Runnicles (Artist), Chorus and Orchestra of San Francisco Opera (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 4, 1996)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Teldec
• ASIN: B000000SR4
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,961 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #4 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Larmore, Jennifer
  • #16 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Upshaw, Dawn
  • #31 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Featured Performers, A-Z > U to Z

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Orphee et Eurydice: Ouverture

2. Orphee et Eurydice: Act I - Scene 1: 'Ah! dans ce bois tranquille'

3. Orphee et Eurydice: Act I - Scene 1: 'Vos plaintes, vos regrets'

4. Orphee et Eurydice: Act I - Scene 1: Pantomime

5. Orphee et Eurydice: Act I - Scene 1: 'Ah! dans ce bois lugubre et sombre'

6. Orphee et Eurydice: Act I - Scene 1: 'Eloignez-vous'

7. Orphee et Eurydice: Act I - Scene 1: Ritournelle

8. Orphee et Eurydice: Act I - Scene 1: 'Eurydice, Eurydice! Ombre chere'

9. Orphee et Eurydice: Act I - Scene 1: 'Objet de mon amour'

10. Orphee et Eurydice: Act I - Scene 1: 'Eurydice, Eurydice, de ce doux nom'

See all 29 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Orphee et Eurydice: Act II - Scene 2: Pantomime (Ballet des ombres heureuses)

2. Orphee et Eurydice: Act II - Scene 2: Ballet: Lent sempre legatissimo

3. Orphee et Eurydice: Act II - Scene 2: Ballet: Air de danse

4. Orphee et Eurydice: Act II - Scene 2: 'Cet asile aimable et tranquille'

5. Orphee et Eurydice: Act II - Scene 2: 'Quel nouveau ciel pare ce lieux?'

6. Orphee et Eurydice: Act II - Scene 2: 'Viens dans ce sejour paisible'

7. Orphee et Eurydice: Act II - Scene 2: Ballet (Pantomime)

8. Orphee et Eurydice: Act II - Scene 2: 'O vous, ombres que j'implore'

9. Orphee et Eurydice: Act II - Scene 2: 'Pres du tendre objet qu'on aime'

10. Orphee et Eurydice: Act III - Scene 2: 'Viens, viens Eurydice'

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Orpheus In Illusion, April 8, 2003

By 

Z. Yang (Hockessin, DE USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gluck: Orphée et Eurydice (Berlioz version) / Larmore, Upshaw, Hagley, Runnicles (Audio CD)

Over the past 240 years, Gluck's Orpheus had experienced many variations. Original Orfeo ed Euridice in 1762 was in Italian and Orfeo was in the voice of an alto castrato. In 1774 during Gluck's five-year sojourn in Paris, much due to the Parisian's disapproval of castrati, he rewrote the opera and recast the protagonist as a French haute-contre - a particular kind of light and high tenor, along with expanding the opera into a full three acts, adding some numbers and a ballet. This Paris version and also the best version Orph'e et Eurydice, which has provided the base for the other versions to follow, is brilliant in every aspect provided that a French haute-contre is available to tackle the higher-than-regular-tenor (about one third higher) music range of Orph'e's, for which the chance has always been rare. Almost a century later, in 1859, Berlioz, a Gluck devotee, transposed Orph'e of 1774 Paris version into mezzo-soprano's range. The revival has renewed the life of Gluck's Orph'e et Eurydice by making it a great showpiece for mezzos and contralti, but at the same time, has totally deprived Orpheus of his masculinity. When Orph'e is sung by mezzo or contralto, his/her lamentation at the loss of his/her lover Eurydice is more of an illusion than anything to be affecting, and as one can imagine, watching a mezzo Orph'e on stage could get worse.

Having said all these, this recording of Berlioz version is yet wonderful in terms of its artistic crafting and sound quality. Being the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, the opera is more of Orpheus' show with Orpheus getting the lion's share in singing. Jennifer Larmore has an amazing mezzo voice, sturdy and strong. "Amour, viens rendre ' mon 'me", with much more cadenza than one would expect from Gluck, has showcased her excellent vocal ability. Dawn Upshaw's light soprano is much needed for Eurydice in order to distinguish her in the duet with Orph'e as well as in all-female trios. Her sweet voice delivers a most beautiful "Cet asile aimable et tranquille". L'Amour, who did more work in going-between the lovers than in singing, is but wonderfully sung by Alison Hagley. Chorus and Orchestra of San Francisco Opera, conducted by Donald Runnicles, are distinctive in bringing out the beauty and power and of the music.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The greatest recording of Gluck's masterpiece, July 14, 2007

By 

Juan "Juan" (Canary Islands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gluck: Orphée et Eurydice (Berlioz version) / Larmore, Upshaw, Hagley, Runnicles (Audio CD)

I love this work since I heard this recording. I had Solti's with Horne and Lorengar in italian and Gardiner's with Von Otter and Hendricks but it didn't call my attention. When I heard Jennifer Larmore singing Orphee I fell in love instantly and since then this is one of my favourites works, in french, and one of my favourites recordings. Larmore's voice is... wow!!! full of vitality and you can feel Orphee woes and happinesses.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful singing but not much more, April 10, 2006

By 

Smorgy "Smorgy" (Southern California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gluck: Orphée et Eurydice (Berlioz version) / Larmore, Upshaw, Hagley, Runnicles (Audio CD)

I love the voices on this CD. The extraordinary light lyric soprano of Dawn Upshaw and the beautiful sound of mezzo Jennifer Larmore are very recognizable. The leggiero soprano Alison Hagley is excellent as Amour (probably the best I've heard in the role). They all sing quite well, tho I wonder a bit about Larmore's bottom notes. O.. and quite excellent French diction by all parties.

To my ears, much more care is taken to the melodies than to the message the melodies are supposed to convey. The orchestration doesn't help either. And I find the tempo of this production a bit off. Sometimes it seems a tad slow except for the Amour's arias and duets in the 1st act (thank you, Ms. Hagley!). And then just when the tempo should be slow at the intro to 'J'ai perdue mon Eurydice', Runnicles has the it up so much (and the pacing instruments so loud)that the piece sounds upbeat!! And what the heck is so upbeat about Orphee losing Eurydice the 2nd time anyway? That transgression alone makes me wish I can give this a 3 1/2 rating instead of a 4... (the 4 is by the grace of the singers and not the conductor, since the tempo does slow down after Larmore enters the aria). Also I wish the choir could sing a bit louder and sound more jubilant in the closing 'Le Dieu de Paphos et de Gnide'.

Anyhow, this is still an above average production of Orphee et Eurydice.