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Gluck: Orphée Et Euridice / Fouchécourt, Dubosc, Le Blanc


Release Date: 03/22/2005 
Label:  Naxos   Catalog #: 8660185-86   Spars Code: DDD 
Composer:  Christoph W. Gluck
Performer:  Catherine Dubosc,  Suzie LeBlanc,  Jean-Paul Fouchécourt
Conductor:  Ryan Brown
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Opera Lafayette Orchestra,  Opera Lafayette Chorus
Number of Discs: 2 
Recorded in: Stereo 
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Notes and Editorial Reviews

"The quest for a definitive recording of Gluck’s 1774 Paris version of Orphée et Euridice continues apace with this new entry from Naxos. As a first recording from the Opera Lafayette Orchestra and Chorus and their conductor Ryan Brown, it’s an impressive achievement. Brown has a good feel for this genre, and the Opera Lafayette is not at all outclassed by more celebrated groups, such as the Musiciens du Louvre... For this reviewer, the lack in the Naxos recording of the magnificent concluding ballet and the exquisite “Tendre Amour” trio, both of which are present in every other set of the 1774 Orphée et Euridice, is a serious disqualifier, but nonetheless the set does have an ace up its sleeve. In addition to the good conducting and Read more orchestral playing mentioned above, Naxos offers as its Orphée, Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, a singer who is probably the closest approximation that I’ve heard to a genuine French high tenor (haut-contre). It is an extraordinary pleasure to hear him sing the high-lying tessitura without any strain at all. As the first of his voice type to record Orphée, the tenor’s singing is nothing short of revelatory." - James Camner, FANFARE Read less

Works on This Recording

1. Orfeo ed Euridice by Christoph W. Gluck
Performer:  Catherine Dubosc (Soprano), Suzie LeBlanc (Soprano), Jean-Paul Fouchécourt (Tenor)
Conductor:  Ryan Brown
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Opera Lafayette Orchestra,  Opera Lafayette Chorus
Period: Classical 
Written: 1762/1774; Vienna, Austria 
 Language: French 
Notes: Composition written: Vienna, Austria (1762).
Composition revised: Paris, France (1774). 

Sound Samples

Orphee et Euridice (Paris version): Ouverture
Orphee et Euridice (Paris version): Act I Scene 1: Ah! dans ce bois tranquille et sombre (Chorus, Orphee)
Orphee et Euridice (Paris version): Act I Scene 2: Objet de mon amour (Orphee)
Orphee et Euridice (Paris version): Act I Scene 2: Divinites de l'Acheron (Orphee) / Scene 3: L'Amour vient au secours (L'Amour, Orphee)
Orphee et Euridice (Paris version): Act I Scene 4: Impitoyables Dieux! (Orphee)
Orphee et Euridice (Paris version): Act II Scene 1: Quel est l'audacieux (Chorus, Orphee)
Orphee et Euridice (Paris version): Act II Scene 2: Danses des Ombres Heureuses - Cet asile aimable et tranquille (Euridice, Chorus)
Orphee et Euridice (Paris version): Act II Scene 3: Quel nouveau ciel (Orphee, Chorus) / Scene 4: Pres du tendre objet qu'on aime (Chorus)
Orphee et Euridice (Paris version): Act III Scene 1: Viens, viens, Euridice, suis-moi (Orphee, Euridice)
Orphee et Euridice (Paris version): Act III Scene 1: Ah, puisse ma douleur finir! (Orphee) / Scene 2: Arrete, Orphee! (L'Amour, Orphee, Euridice)

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