Monteverdi L'Orfeo
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Claudio Monteverdi
Genre:
Opera
Label: EMI
Magazine Review Date: 4/1994
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 104
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 764947-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (L')Orfeo |
Claudio Monteverdi, Composer
Catherine Denley, Speranza, Soprano Chiaroscuro Claudio Monteverdi, Composer David Thomas, Caronte, Bass Emma Kirkby, La Musica, Soprano Geoffrey Shaw, Spirit Guillemette Laurens, Messenger (Silvia), Soprano Helena Afonso, Nymph, Soprano Jennifer Smith, Proserpina, Soprano John Potter, Shepherd III London Baroque Orchestra London Cornett and Sackbutt Ensemble Mario Bolognesi, Shepherd I; Apollo, Tenor Nigel Rogers, Orfeo, Tenor Nigel Rogers, Conductor Patrizia Kwella, Euridice, Soprano Rogers Covey-Crump, Shepherd II Stephen Varcoe, Shepherd IV; Plutone, Bass Terry Edwards, Spirit |
Author: Iain Fenlon
It is now almost ten years since this recording was first issued, but time has not dimmed its appeal or its achievement. The printed score of L'Orfeo, the only source that has come down to us, is often comparatively unclear about details of instrumentation, and until this recording first appeared prevailing nineteenth-century ideas of opera, together with a list of instruments printed at the front of the score, often combined to produce rather grand performances, in opera houses on large stages and with large choruses and instrumental ensembles.
Medlam's innovatory and minimalist approach, which essentially saw the work as a chamber opera, has been highly influential, not least on Philip Pickett whose own recent full-price recording starts from the same position, but reaches rather different conclusions about how instruments should be deployed. In this respect Medlam's interpretation is less interested in the possibility of there being a symbolic system at work, and throws the weight more comprehensively on the voices. And, despite some roughness of intonation from David Thomas, there is some fine singing on this version, notably from Emma Kirkby, lyrically rhetorical in the Prologue, and above all, from Nigel Rogers.
In the end it is ''Possente spirto'' that makes or breaks a performance and Rogers, here at the top of his form, produces an unforgettable reading, beautifully paced and with breathtaking control of the passagework. For that alone this reissue is worth having, but there are many other good things too, all subsumed in a dramatically effective approach marked by a strong sense of style and characterization. This is a serious contender for the prize of best-available recording.'
Medlam's innovatory and minimalist approach, which essentially saw the work as a chamber opera, has been highly influential, not least on Philip Pickett whose own recent full-price recording starts from the same position, but reaches rather different conclusions about how instruments should be deployed. In this respect Medlam's interpretation is less interested in the possibility of there being a symbolic system at work, and throws the weight more comprehensively on the voices. And, despite some roughness of intonation from David Thomas, there is some fine singing on this version, notably from Emma Kirkby, lyrically rhetorical in the Prologue, and above all, from Nigel Rogers.
In the end it is ''Possente spirto'' that makes or breaks a performance and Rogers, here at the top of his form, produces an unforgettable reading, beautifully paced and with breathtaking control of the passagework. For that alone this reissue is worth having, but there are many other good things too, all subsumed in a dramatically effective approach marked by a strong sense of style and characterization. This is a serious contender for the prize of best-available recording.'
Monteverdi L'Orfeo
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