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Gluck: Orfeo Ed Euridice / Rachvelishvili, Alberola, Toledano, Nikolic, bandArt [Blu-ray]

Gluck / Bayer
Release Date: 08/28/2012 
Label:  Kultur Video   Catalog #: 4814  
Composer:  Christoph W. Gluck
Performer:  Anita Rachvelishvili,  Maite Alberola,  Auxiliadora Toledano
Conductor:  Gordan Nikolic
Orchestra/Ensemble:  bandArt
Number of Discs: 1 
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This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the small but ambitious Spanish “Festival Internacional de Música Castell de Peralada”, the Catalan theater collective La Fura dels Baus and its director Carlus Padrissa have staged Gluck’s opera “Orfeo ed Euridice” with three splendid female voices and in a production that wonderfully reflects the Fura’s never-failing imaginativeness.

The most striking aspect of the production is the direct involvement of the musical ensemble in the action.
Read more /> The group, bandArt, is an instrumental ensemble that performs standing, moving about or even dancing, on the stage and without a conductor.

Stage director Padrissa goes so far as to exclaim: “Like Gluck, who with this opera opened the doors to the reformation of the opera 250 years ago, I feel that we are opening up a new path that will let the orchestra rise from the pit to incorporate itself into the action on stage” (Padrissa in El País).

In addition to the visible instrumentalists, Padrissa also makes abundant stage use of the chorus members who depict souls, demons and other creatures in his production.

His staging is fundamentally inspired by sacred medieval iconography and the depiction of mythical animals found in Romanesque and Gothic churches.

Combined with visually stunning effects, expert lighting and large video projections, the production grabs the viewer from the start and doesn’t let go.

What makes or breaks Gluck’s opera is the role of Orfeo. Since Gluck’s original Italian version is performed here, the role of Orfeo is performed by a mezzo, Anita Rachvelishvili of Georgia, a singer who unfailingly commands the stage with her infinite range of expressions both vocal and dramatic.

Maite Alberola’s Euridice and Auxiliadora Toledano’s Amor blend their voices perfectly with that of Rachvelishvili.

Region: ALL
Running Time: 110 minutes
Color: Color
Language: Italian
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Korean
Format: Widescreen, LPCM/DTS 5.1
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Works on This Recording

1. Orfeo ed Euridice by Christoph W. Gluck
Performer:  Anita Rachvelishvili (Mezzo Soprano), Maite Alberola (Soprano), Auxiliadora Toledano (Soprano)
Conductor:  Gordan Nikolic
Orchestra/Ensemble:  bandArt
Period: Classical 
Written: 1762/1774; Vienna, Austria 

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review:  ( 1 Customer Review )
 essential for opera lovers October 15, 2012 By wilson Heriot (Malvern, Vic) See All My Reviews "creativity to make mockery of most other productions is not something that you often think of viewing a long work of art. But the simplicity of a upwardly sloping stage with a featureless planar backdrop belies the extraordinary rich tapestry of visual images that envelop you in the world of Orfeo ed Euridice. The beautiful voices are matched with wonderful characterisation and the musicians make a startling insertion into the story with their physical presence not just the virtuosic playing. A "must see" for opera lovers and most set designers and directors. Architectural alchemy: taking plain wood boards to engrossing visual storytelling." Report Abuse
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