The text here is one of the compromises between French and Italian, with an Orpheus at contralto pitch (in place of the French high tenor) but a good deal of music from the Paris version. It is largely the Berlioz text, with no ballet in Act 3, the chorus from Echo et Narcisse that Berlioz wanted in place of the final chorus, but with the trio “Tendre amour” restored. Regular readers will know that I feel that the original versions – one or the other – for this opera work better than these compromises, however distinguished their pedigree. However, it is really on one’s reactions to the Orpheus that everything turns in this opera. Ewa Podles is a Polish mezzo whose startling voice has earned her a good deal of praise, though not usually without qualifications. It is the same here. The voice is a formidable instrument, as you will hear from the cries of “Eurydice!” during the opening chorus; in the scene that follows the depth of tone and brightness, almost the glare, of the top of her voice are very much in evidence. And the virtuoso ariette at the end of Act 1 (possibly by Bertoni), which Gluck – shelving his reformist principles – admitted to the Paris performances, is dispatched in vigorous, almost hectic fashion, with rather hard and violent tone at the top and a huge final cadenza. Her Act 2 pleas to the Furies are predictably rather free and romantic in tone; and I missed the sense of rapt wonderment that “Quel nouveau ciel” ought surely to call forth as Orpheus steps into the Elysian Fields. The account of “J’ai perdu mon Eurydice” is grand and moving, rather rhetorical in feeling; the slow sections seem perhaps exaggeratedly held back, but the main tempo moves well. Her articulation of consonants is often weak and the words are not easily heard. As an interpretation, this fruity, unashamedly female voice – many contralto interpreters aim for a more male sound – lies outside the prevalent tradition for mezzos today, stylistically typified by, say, Horne or Baker or von Otter, with regard more to Gluck than to Berlioz. It is certainly arresting and I am sure there must be many listeners who will find its passion and its richness quite rewarding.
For the rest, the Eurydice, Raphaelle Farman, sings her Elysian air with a proper sense of gentle bliss and brings some passion to the Act 3 duet and especially to her recitative: a pleasing and natural performance. Marie-Noelle de Callatay offers a light and graceful Amour. Patrick Peire draws strong and assured singing from his choir; sometimes, I thought, he tended to overnuance the dance music (the “Dance of the Blessed Spirits”, in particular, though the flute movement is happily done), and the final chorus of Act 2, “Viens dans ce sejour”, seemed static and lifeless. This isn’t one of my favourite recordings of the work, but if you are seeking a strong and characterful projection of the central role, it may possibly be yours. '