Gluck: Paride ed Elena

Christoph Willibald Gluck (Composer), Paul McCreesh (Conductor), Gabrieli Players (Orchestra), Carolyn Sampson (Performer), Gillian Webster (Performer), Magdalena Kozena (Performer), Susan Gritton (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Carolyn Sampson, Gillian Webster, Magdalena Kozena, Susan Gritton
• Orchestra: Gabrieli Players
• Conductor: Paul McCreesh
• Composer: Christoph Willibald Gluck
• Audio CD (June 14, 2005)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Archiv Produktion
• ASIN: B00099BPN8
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #141,748 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Luminous beauty, June 14, 2005

By 

Kicek&Brys (USA/UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gluck: Paride ed Elena (Audio CD)

Gluck's fortunes have risen dramatically over the last decade, with new recordings of almost all his major operas and a few rarities too. "Paride ed Elena", his third and least known Italian "reform" opera, written for Vienna in 1770, is aptly described by Paul McCreesh in the booklet to this new recording as "buried treasure". The opera's relative lack of popularity might be due to the unusual plot. In many ways, "Paride ed Elena" is the polar opposite of Gluck's more famous musical dramas, which are tragic in feeling even if they have happy endings. The tone of the libretto is light and ironic, telling the story of the Trojan prince Paris' visit to Sparta to abduct the Greek princess Helen. Amore (Cupid) plays as big a role as he does in "Orfeo" in bringing the lovers together, but here he comes across as a cheeky, rococo matchmaker. The drama, such as it is, hinges on whether Helen will give in to Paris' seduction and, whatever her hesitations, we're never in much doubt what her final decision will be. Ironically, only in the ending is there any hint of tragedy. The goddess Pallas Athena appears descending on a cloud and angrily announces, not the usual happy resolution of the story, but the great disaster of the Trojan War which will result from Paris and Helen's elopement.

The opera might be virtually unknown but its music has gradually been seeping into public consciousness. In recent years arias from "Paride" have appeared with increasing frequency on opera recital discs, not least Magdalena Kozena's own "Le Belle Immagini" which took its title from one of the finest numbers here. Now we get a chance to hear them in context. From the plot summary, it's clear there's not much dramatic tension but there is plenty of eroticism. "There is a seething passion in 'Paride ed Elena'," says McCreesh, " and it hits all the harder for being understated." His reading reflects that understatement. Magdalena Kozena has a beautiful but delicate voice and she makes a rather restrained Paris, youthful but inward, most at home with the contemplative "Le belle immagini".Susan Gritton's singing is not always so mellifluous but her Helen is more passionate. Carolyn Sampson makes a pretty Amore. McCreesh's conducting tends towards the static; maybe because this was the result of an unstaged performance, it often verges on oratorio. Marc Minkowski might have given us a more dynamic - if wayward - reading and, for my money, no Gluck conductor today can compete with John Eliot Gardiner, who - it must be said - does have the advantage of almost thirty years' experience performing this composer. But the playing of the Gabrieli Consort is excellent and what McCreesh does very well is to bring out the luminous beauty of the score, which contains some truly wonderful moments, as anyone who has heard "Le belle immagini" or "O del mio dolce ardor" might expect. Paris' aria "Quegli occhi belli" is equally fine, a virtuoso seduction piece, accompanied by the harp like Orfeo's invocation to the Furies. The grand finale is another highlight, bringing back music heard in the overture to stunning effect This probably shouldn't be your first Gluck opera. Newcomers would be better to start with "Orfeo", "Iphigenie en Tauride" (Minkowski) and "Alceste" (Gardiner). But anyone who has become addicted to the composer's "beautiful simplicity" will have to have this fine new recording.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Refreshingly Elegant Platform for Fine Singers, June 21, 2005

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gluck: Paride ed Elena (Audio CD)

Gluck is a composer of the late 1700s whose continuing fame rests on his operas 'Orfeo ed Eurydice', 'Alceste' and 'Iphigenie en Tauride', vehicles that require little staging and are usually included in the repertoire for showcasing exceptional singers. Now along comes 'Paride ed Elena" (Paris and Helen) and voila! - more of the lovely pure music this composer wrote so very well.

The plot of the opera is negligible - just the usual Paris/Helen/Troy story - but the writing is quite beautiful. Paul McCreesh conducts the Gabrieli Consort and Players in the style of the period and renders a transparent, beautifully embellished accompaniment for the soloists. Magdalena Kozena continues to impress with her silvery, well-focused voice in the role of Paris with Susan Gritton a light but effective Helen. The Amore (Cupid) of Carolyn Sampson finds just the right playful sound that lends this all female cast a nice balance.

Repeated listenings to this very fine recording will probably result in placing at least two arias ('Le belle immagini' and 'O del mio dolce ardor') in the same category as the 'Che faro' from Orfeo - as performed in the capable singing of Kozena. Though this is not a 'big dramatic' opera, it is a beautiful chamber piece and in the hands of this group of singers and players, 'Paride ed Elena' comes off as an important addition to the baroque repertoire. Recommended. Grady Harp, June 05

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The sounds that launched a thousand ships, May 8, 2006

By 

Ingrid Heyn "No man is an Iland, intire of it... (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gluck: Paride ed Elena (Audio CD)

For several years, I looked at my Gluck recordings with dissatisfaction. I had two recordings of the Paride ed Elena, but neither was first-rate. They suffered either from stodgy conducting or from un-stylistic singing, and both failed to take flight with superb performances to enthrall me. Yet... they were the only two recordings of this opera.

When I saw this new recording, I could feel my breath catch in my throat. The line-up looked fantastic - Kozena and Gritton in the two lead roles, and Sampson in the smaller but important role of Amore! And listening to the recording was as blissful as I'd hoped.

The star of this recording, for me, is Magdalena Kozena. She is ardent, youthful, passionate and irresistible. Her voice has a quality that is difficult to describe - that sound which is often found in Slavic voices of the lighter type. It is not sourness, nor yet is it pain. It is not sorrow, nor tension. It is some astringency that shimmers with beauty and adds a literally terrific quality to the timbre, ensuring that Kozena's voice will not be mistaken for another's. It is a lovely voice, unique and obviously utilised with a great deal of intelligence and well-utilised drama.

Susan Gritton, a favourite singer of mine, is ravishing as the Elena. Her voice is a full-bodied Handelian lyric sound - that is, pure, rich, not overbearing, with a creaminess and purity not often found. It's a voice of considerable range, outstanding beauty, and superb flexibility. With a voice of this quality, it is hard to understand why Ms Gritton is not a household name. She is the finest Handel singer I've heard, and singing Gluck is no less ideal for her.

Carolyn Sampson as the Amore suffers a tad in contrast to these two outstanding singers. She seems to have lightened her voice considerably to sing this role, which is odd - her voice is already a lovely light lyric soprano. I wouldn't have thought it necessary for her to lighten her sound. At any rate, she is charming and often beautiful in the role, but I have heard her sing much more beautifully - in the complete Vivaldi sacred works produced by Hyperion, for instance.

The playing and conducting are magnificent. There is a gracious and elegant spaciousness in this performance which strike the listener as close to ideal as one could wish.

The recording has swiftly taken its place among my favourites. I unhesitatingly recommend it as an exquisite and suprisingly emotional recording of a very beautiful opera indeed.