Here we have a curious mixture: an 'authentic' text—the original Italian version is followed, with none of the additions (even the most famous of them) from the French revision—but a fullbloodedly romantic performance of it. It is a very accomplished performance technically but I do find it quite alien to the work in its style. It is beautifully sung, by its own standards. Agnes Baltsa has a finely controlled, focused voice, capable of conveying strong feeling while preserving the purity of line. It is a reading of rare poise and dignity, free of any sort of emotional artifice. The only really unsatisfactory thing about it is the rendering of ''Che faro'', taken at a very slow tempo quite inconsistent with Gluck's indications and musically, to my taste, static and ineffective. Then there is a lively Amor from Edita Gruberova and a gentle, warmly expressive Eurydice from Margaret Marshall, uncommonly vivid and expressive in Act 3.
But there is a massiveness about the performance that I find disagreeable and unsuited to the work. The chorus is, or at any rate sounds, simply huge. The orchestra is large too, detached, impersonal in its playing and above all heavy. There is no basis here for natural expressiveness; it all sounds external and contrived. Riccardo Muti's tempos are often eccentric, usually ponderously slow. The chorus that ends Act 2, for example, has none of the flow and grace that surely belongs to it. And several of the ballet movements seem oddly judged. But Muti does take care over the orchestral textures; the introduction of ''Che puro ciel'' is truly lovely, the balance between wind and strings finely calculated for the effect he is seeking.
Which version, then, to recommend? Well, for those who want to hear the opera in something reasonably close to its original form and sound, there is no question: the Kuijken version on Accent/Gamut is the only possibility. And I do myself find it very appealing, increasingly so as I have got used to its approach and its sound-world. For a more traditional—that is, modern-style—version, it depends just what you are seeking: the Solti version on Decca listed above, using a composite text, has a good deal to offer, with Marilyn Horne. Or there is the admirable RCA reissue of Shirley Verrett's recording, sympathetically directed by Fasano (who judges the ballet music with such refinement), which has much to be said for it; this last would be my own choice.'