What we badly need is an Orfeo conducted by Gardiner to match the dramatic authenticity of his Iphigenie en Tauride (Philips), and preferably using his own English Baroque Soloists. The new Eurodisc adds little to the already extensive discography of the opera, but the Gorr record is something else, a superb memento of a unique artist.
Hager is to be applauded for choosing the first, 1762 edition, adding only a couple of dances from the Paris version (but not that for the Blessed Spirits), but then uses a choir and orchestra that are obviously unfamiliar with recent practice in returning to authenticity in Gluck. In brief, in spite of the rather intrusive inclusion of a harpsichord, the playing and singing are soft-centred, wanting acute articulation or textural clarity. In both respects, the Muti version on EMI (which also adheres to the 1762 edition), though far from ideal, has more vitality about it, being crisper in execution and more positive in interpretation.
The soloists rather fit in with Hager's concept. Lipvosek is a vibrant, rich-voiced Orfeo, with a slightly Slavic hardness at forte. She sings all the main arias with a deal of power and confidence but in a manner that isn't specifically Gluckian. In a general way she conveys the character's predicament but makes too little of the text. If you are not wanting keen involvement in Orfeo's plight her reading will do well enough, but Baltsa for Muti discloses a more incisive and personal view of the role. I praised Marshall's Euridice highly when the Muti first appeared and I do not feel disposed to alter my opinion of her fine and committed singing. Popp shows similar qualities but not quite such smooth vocalization. Kaufmann is an adequate Amor. But if you want the 1762 edition on a modern-style performance, the Muti is preferable.
If you don't mind the odd Novello conflation following Berlioz's edition prepared for Viardot, then the Baker/Leppard recording on Erato is the one to go for and, I think, at present it is the set that comes closest to realizing Gluck's intentions because Solti's version (Decca), a strange mixture of music, is somewhat too large in scale for the work and Horne, for all her appreciable virtues, doesn't match Baker's peculiar intensity of utterance. The Erato has the great advantage of being recorded straight after performances at Glyndebourne and the extra experience that allows tells in the end.
The Gorr is hors concours, the right phrase as this is a disc of extracts sung in French. Gorr offers just the directly personal accents Lipovsek misses, simply because the French mezzo is singing in her own language. Such a phrase as ''donnez-moi la mort'' is given with the deep desperation the words imply, ''J'accepte votre loi!'' has the authority only a Francophone can truly summon up. But there is more to it than that: Gorr is one of those artists, like Baker, whose timbre and manner are so utterly individual and arresting that, as soon as they start to sing, one sits up and listens with that extra degree of concentration and excitement.
She is here using the Berlioz/Viardot edition and one dares to imagine that this is how the famous daughter of Garcia may well have sounded in the role (including the occasional moments of vocal strain). At any rate I have seldom been so moved by Orphee's appeal to the Furies, no wonder they are themselves so touched by his words. ''Quel nouveau ciel'' has probably never been equalled in grave, calm beauty since the old 78rpm records with Alice Raveau; this is memorable singing by any standard. Again, listen to the particularly eloquent accents on ''Tes regards seduisants''. These very special extracts are crowned by Gorr's recit. and aria in Act 3. The former is full of vivid declamation, the famous ''J'ai perdu mon Eurydice'', taken more slowly than is customary today, a true lament.
Charles Bruck, who conducted the famous Amsterdam performance with another great Orpheus, Ferrier, again shows his understanding of the idiom, so much more alert and flexible than Hager, but Bruck's chorus has its insecure moments. The recording, made at a concert, in mono only, is good enough to let us enjoy Gorr's singing. Indeed her voice has more presence than her rival's on the Eurodisc. This is a 'must' for anyone interested in great singing but be warned, the booklet is a mess, one of the writers seeming to think we are listening to Gorr as Medee!'