Haydn: Orfeo ed Euridice

Franz Joseph Haydn (Composer), Richard Bonynge (Conductor), Scottish National Orchestra (Orchestra), Joan Sutherland (Performer), Nicolai Gedda (Performer), John Graham (Performer), Malcolm King (Performer), Spiro Malas (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Joan Sutherland, Nicolai Gedda, John Graham, Malcolm King, Spiro Malas
• Orchestra: Scottish National Orchestra
• Conductor: Richard Bonynge
• Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn
• Audio CD (February 27, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Opera D'oro
• ASIN: B000056PGD
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #233,310 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. L'anima del filosofo (Orfeo ed Euridice), opera, H. 28/13: Overture

2. L'anima del filosofo (Orfeo ed Euridice), opera, H. 28/13: Act 1.: 'Sventurata che fo, dove mi aggiro?'

3. L'anima del filosofo (Orfeo ed Euridice), opera, H. 28/13: Act 1.: 'Ferma il piede, o Principessa!'

4. L'anima del filosofo (Orfeo ed Euridice), opera, H. 28/13: Act 1.: 'Che chiedete da me?'

5. L'anima del filosofo (Orfeo ed Euridice), opera, H. 28/13: Act 1.: 'Filomene abbandonata'

6. L'anima del filosofo (Orfeo ed Euridice), opera, H. 28/13: Act 1.: 'Che miro, oh Dio!'

7. L'anima del filosofo (Orfeo ed Euridice), opera, H. 28/13: Act 1.: 'Rendete a questo seno'

8. L'anima del filosofo (Orfeo ed Euridice), opera, H. 28/13: Act 1.: 'Cara speme, alme di scoglio'

9. L'anima del filosofo (Orfeo ed Euridice), opera, H. 28/13: Act 1.: 'Nume de' miei pensieri'

10. L'anima del filosofo (Orfeo ed Euridice), opera, H. 28/13: Act 1.: 'Ah, chi sa dirmi'

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. L'anima del filosofo (Orfeo ed Euridice), opera, H. 28/13: Act 3.: 'Euridice, Euridice, invan ti chiama'

2. L'anima del filosofo (Orfeo ed Euridice), opera, H. 28/13: Act 3.: 'Ah, sposo infelice'

3. L'anima del filosofo (Orfeo ed Euridice), opera, H. 28/13: Act 3.: 'Che sarà mai d'Orfeo?'

4. L'anima del filosofo (Orfeo ed Euridice), opera, H. 28/13: Act 3.: 'Chi spira e non spera'

5. L'anima del filosofo (Orfeo ed Euridice), opera, H. 28/13: Act 3.: 'Venerata Sibilla, tu che del ciel'

6. L'anima del filosofo (Orfeo ed Euridice), opera, H. 28/13: Act 3.: 'Venerata Sibilla, tu che del ciel'

7. L'anima del filosofo (Orfeo ed Euridice), opera, H. 28/13: Act 3.: 'Costanza a me si chiede?'

8. L'anima del filosofo (Orfeo ed Euridice), opera, H. 28/13: Act 3.: 'La giustizia in cor regina'

9. L'anima del filosofo (Orfeo ed Euridice), opera, H. 28/13: Act 3.: 'Dove mi guidi?'

10. L'anima del filosofo (Orfeo ed Euridice), opera, H. 28/13: Act 4.: 'Infelici embre dolenti'

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Sutherland in Her Prime, But What Awful Sound, March 8, 2001

By 

Eugene G. Barnes (Dunn Loring, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Haydn: Orfeo ed Euridice (Audio CD)

Devotees of Dame Joan will probably want to give this CD set 5 stars because her performance is awesome. But I must be a responsible reporter and tell you that the quality of the sound (my guess is it's an analog tape made on a modest recorder of the time [1967], possibly surreptitiously, during a live performance) is way below the expectations of most listeners today, muffled and verging on distortion. It will simply be too difficult for most people to appreciate the opera given the bad sound. Also, the set doesn't include the customary libretto, and you can't really follow along with the small outline of the story provided.

Nicolai Gedda is a surprisingly game Orfeo, really getting into the role and singing his heart out. The other singers are more than sufficient and professional. Bonynge conducts a rather ragged Scottish Opera Orchestra and Chorus. One other note on Sutherland: Her lower notes are very large and "produced" (for lack of a better term), so she is easily heard throughout her entire vocal range. She never pushed like that in studio recordings of the era.

And if you don't know any Haydn operas yet, it's way past time for you to do so! He wrote many, and they're all delightfully tuneful and meltingly harmonious. Try a modern recording of this opera (Bartoli just released her own version of "Orfeo") or any one of the other operas he wrote. You won't be disappointed. But leave this recording for off-the-deep-end opera buffs and Sutherland afficionados.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the greatest Sutherland triumph, but one for the fans, March 25, 2004

By 

Larry D. Rodriguez (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Haydn: Orfeo ed Euridice (Audio CD)

I agree with the other reviewer that this isn't an ideal live recording; however, I have heard much worse. She dubs this to be only for the "off-the-deep-end" Sutherland fans; where Sutherland is concerned, is there any other choice? I mean, we are only talking about LA STUPENDA!

Anyhow, this isn't the most memorable baroque opera, paling in comparison to Handel's more popular works. However, there is a fair amount of enjoyable music in this opera by Haydn. The funny thing is that it is by far his most recorded opera (live or otherwise), but considered by opera critics to not be his best.

As for the performance, Nicolai Gedda, though in all-around good voice, does ham it up a little too much. As for Sutherland, she is in her droopy/mushy period. It doesn't help that the music for Euridice is written for middle register of the voice, which was never Joan's forte. The result is that, quite frankly, she sounds like a barnyard animal half the time. However, when coloratura is concerned, she rises to the challenge, as she did right up until the very end of her stage career. There is some coloratura in the role of Euridice, but the best (and for which you should get this recording) is in the aria Joan snags from the role of the Genio, "Al Tuo Seno Fortunato". According to the diva's memoirs, she had great difficulty learning the aria, and never really felt that she mastered it. WELL, it would be hard to know that, if you listened to her sing it!!! Sutherland nails it, as only she can, with a number of twists and turns in the fioriture, her voice ringing. Unlike a lot of coloraturas, past and present, Sutherland had a big voice, one that never was pinched or stretched, no matter now high up the scale she went. She could also sing at "warp speed" without getting winded, as if she were superhuman. It's too bad that (to my knowledge) she never recorded this in the studio. For that reason, it's worth it to spend the ten or twelve dollars to buy this live recording.