Christoph Willibald Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice

Description

Star countertenor Philippe Jaroussky continues his exploration of operatic settings of the Orpheus myth with the most famous of the many operas inspired by the story of the Greek poet who searches for his dead wife in the Underworld: Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice. It contains one of the world's best-loved operatic arias, Orfeo's restrained, but moving lament, 'Che faro senza Euridice'.

Conducted by Diego Fasolis, his is the world premiere recording of a version of the opera that was performed at the Royal Palace in Naples in 1774, 12 years after Orfeo ed Euridice was staged in Vienna as the first of Gluck's 'reform operas'. In these works Gluck emphasised simplicity of form and directness of expression, consciously rejecting the extravagances of opera seria, which dominated the early 18th century and was typified by convoluted plots and extended showpiece arias.