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Monica Piccinini, Anna Simboli (soprano), Sara Mingardo (contralto), Furio Zanasi, Luca Dordoli (tenor) & Sergio Foresti, Antonio Abete (bass) Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini This new recording of Monteverdi’s “Orfeo”, a work which is generally considered to be the first true opera in musical history, marks its 400th anniversary. It is performed in a new version developed by one of the world’s leading experts on the composer’s music, Rinaldo Alessandrini and his internationally acclaimed ensemble Concerto Italiano, and presented in a luxurious limited edition of 2 CDs within an illuminating book. “The first opera to survive in the modern repertoire had its premiere in Mantua 400 years ago. It's hard to imagine a finer anniversary present than Alessandrini's superbly theatricl and brilliantly sung version” Sunday Times “…this is unquestionably the most subtle rendering of the Orfeo text that's available on compact disc. Furio Zanasi (Orfeo) is exceptionally good. Simboli (Euridice) is pure-voiced and clear, and Migardo uses the natural vulnerability in her sound movingly to project the distraught feelings of the Messenger.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2007 *****  BBC Music Magazine
Opera Choice - November 2007 |
| | Naive - OP30439 (CD - 2 discs) Normally: $30.49 Special: $24.39 |
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Emanuela Galli (Music, Eurydice); Mirko Guadagnini (Orpheus), Marina De Liso (Messenger); Cristina Calzolari (Persephone), Matteo Bellotto (Pluto); Josè Lo Monaco (Hope); Salvo Vitale (Charon), Vincenzo Di Donato (Pluto); Francesca Cassinari (nymph), Giovanni Caccamo, Makoto Sakurada, Claudio Cavina & Tony Corradini (shepherds, spirits) La Venexiana, Claudio Cavina Recorded at the San Carlo Church, Modena (Italy), from February 2nd to February 6th, 2006 "As in their previous Monteverdi editions, La Venexiana bring a dramatic delivery of the words and a uniquely Italian blend of solo voices to this glorious music, unrivalled on disc." The Sunday Times | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Staged and directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
Philippe Huttenlocher, Dietlinde Turban, Trudeliese Schmidt, Francisco Araiza & Christian Bösch Das Monteverdi-Ensemble des Opernhauses Zürich, Nikolaus Harnoncourt Subtitles: Italian/English/German/French/Spanish/Chinese | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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William Matteuzzi and Sylva Pozzer Early Music Ensemble, Sergio Vartolo | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Simon Keenlyside (Orfeo), Juanita Lascarro (Euridice, la Musica, Eco), Graciela Oddone (la Messaggiera), Martina Dike (Proserpina), Stephen Wallace (la Speranza, Pastore), Tomas Tòmasson (Plutone), Paul Gérimon, Caronte (Pastore), Mauro Utzeri (Apollo), Anne Cambier (Ninfa), Yann Beuron, John Bowen, René Linnenbank (Pastori, Spiriti) Trisha Brown Company
Concerto Vocale, Collegium Vocale Gent, René Jacobs First seen at La Monnaie in Brussels on 13 May 1998, this production of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo seen
through the eyes of Trisha Brown and René Jacobs has become an operatic classic in a few short years.
This is doubtless because it offers a total symbiosis of music, text and movement – described by the
critic of the Daily Telegraph of London as being ‘as close to the perfect dance opera as I have ever seen’.
Or to quote Gilles Macassar in Télérama: ‘In the pit and onstage, the Brussels production has only one
watchword: mobility, nimbleness, dexterity. The singers run, fly, whirl like dancers defying gravity. From
the flies down to the footlights, the whole theatre is under a fantastic spell.’ For Christophe Vetter, on
ConcertoNet: ‘This Orfeo can be seen again and again with immense pleasure. . . . René Jacobs’s
conducting continues to arouse admiration for its precision, its stylistic rigour, its inexhaustible
inventiveness and its feeling for the contrasts so vital to this repertoire.’ "Monteverdi's Orfeo has many rivals and needs special reasons for us to see it again. One is the tremendous vocal cast - especially the lithe and mercurial Orfeo (Simon Keenlyside), the searingly affecting Messenger (Graciela Oddone) and sonorous Simon Gérmon as Caronte." BBC Music Magazine | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Opera Explained - An Introduction to Monteverdi's Orfeo
12-page booklet Written by Thomson Smillie This audiobook series introduces, in words and music, the plot and background of major operas. Using the principal themes and arias, taken from the Naxos recordings of the complete works, the presentation is informative yet entertaining, enabling the listener to get more from this remarkable art form. Monteverdi's Orfeo, first performed in 1607, generates a special excitement because it is the first unquestioned masterpiece of opera. Notable for its precise orchestration and powerful drama it was a groundbreaking work. It concerns the legend of Orpheus, the demi-god whose music had the power to conquer the forces of Hell and to bring his wife back, briefly, to life. The extracts used in this introduction are from Naxos’s full recording; it uses authentic period instruments, which serve to evoke the early Baroque period of the opera’s composition. | 
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Rotraud Hansmann, Lajos Kozma, Cathy Berberian, Kurt Equiluz & Max van Egmond Concentus musicus Wien, Nikolaus Harnoncourt | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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Victor Torres (Orfeo), Adriana Fernandez (Euridice), Gloria Banditelli (Sylvia), Maria Cristina Kiehr (Speranza, La Musica), Antonio Abete (Caronte), Furio Zanasi (Plutone, Pastore IV), Roberta Invernizzi (Proserpina, Ninfa) & Maurizio Rossano (Apollo) Coro Antonio Il Verso & Ensemble Elyma, Gabriel Garrido 2CD's + Catalogue "Garrido's reading of Orfeo is dramatic, lively and committed, and it is well served by a carefully chosen and
well-matched cast. Gloria Banditelli almost steals the show with her highly coloured portrayal of the Messenger's fateful announcement which dramatically and effectively shifts the mood from pastoral bucolic to tragic." Gramophone | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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Gerard Souzay, Judith Raskin, Dris Yarick, Regina Sarfati & Joy Clements New York City Centre Opera, Leopold Stokowski Recorded September 29, 1960 | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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John Mark Ainsley, Brigitte Balleys, Michael Chance, David Cordier, Mario Luperi, Russell Smythe Tragicomedia and Concerto Palatino, Stephen Stubbs, stage direction by Pierre Audi Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch “Simply the most compelling account of L'Orfeo yet produced” BBC Music Magazine, December 2005 BBC Music Magazine DVD Choice - December 2005 |
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