"Gluck's 'Orfeo' came about thanks to a happy meeting of artistic collaborators in Vienna in the early 1760s. Count Giacomo Durazzo, the impresario of the city's Burgtheater, had a mind to modernise 'opera seria': this was the conventional style of operas by composers such as Handel, Vivaldi and Pergolesi, dictated to a great extent by the librettos written by Metastasio, using a formulaic pattern of recitative interspersed the 'da capo' arias. Durazzo's plan involved reconciling the schools of Italian and French music. The heavy French influence on Gluck's 'Orfeo' shows; Gluck is in many ways the successor to Lully and Rameau.
"Durazzo had in 1760 already brought together several artists sympathetic to his reformist ideas: besides the composer Gluck there was the choreographer Gasparo Angiolini, the set designer Giovanni Maria Quaglio and the writer Ranieri de' Calzabigi. Together they created 'Don Juan', a 'balletpantomime' notable for its dramatic coherence and its revival of what was believed to be 'le goût des Anciens'.
"Opera had always sought to revive the art of the ancients - this had been the stimulus behind the earliest experiments in the genre around 1600. But now, after excavations of the ruins of the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum had begun in earnest during the 1730s and 1740s, the resurgence of interest in the classical world had a different slant. The archaeologist Johann Joachim Winckelmann, a contemporary of Gluck, published his 'Thoughts on the Imitation of Greek Works' in 1755: 'the one way for us to become great, perhaps inimitable, is by imitating the ancients'. Gluck similarly sought to return to ancient, uncorrupted ways, rescuing 'opera seria' from 'abuses [...] which have too long disfigured Italian opera'. In fact, the phrase Winckelmann had used to describe the ideals he deemed worth imitating in Greek art - 'a noble simplicity and a calm grandeur' - became a motto for the age, and was paraphrased by Gluck in his writings on music. It is perhaps our key to understanding a piece such as 'Orfeo ed Euridice'.
"The artistic team behind the new 'Orfeo' was armed in various ways for the task of reforming opera: the librettist Calzabigi was an expert on the works of Metastasio, having produced a complete edition of his libretti during the 1750s, but viewed the older man's work with a critical eye and saw how it could be adapted using knowledge of French operatic style. Gluck's music reflects this: the opera combines arias, duets, dances and numerous chorus numbers in a way that is infinitely more fluid than the strict pattern of alternating 'secco' (unaccompanied) recitatives and arias that prevailed in 'opera seria'. And a significant addition to the team was the castrato singer Gaetano Guadagni - the 'primo uomo' of operas and oratorios by Handel and others. His interpretation of the role of Orfeo was informed by the training he received in London from the celebrated Shakespearean actor David Garrick, who promoted realistic acting, rather than the bombastic style which dominated the stage in the first half of the 18th century. Together with the new, narrative choreography of Angiolini (perhaps influence by his French contemporary Noverre) and the set designs of Quaglio, the creative team was to set new standards for musical drama.
"After a buoyant overture, we are plunged into a scene of lamentation at the death of Euridice; this opening scene is reminiscent of the scene of mourning which opens Rameau's 'Castor et Pollux', one of the most popular operas in France at the time. The sound of the cornett (frequently used in Viennese churches during the 18th century) is a coincidental reminder of the instruments that had accompanied Monteverdi's 'Orfeo' 150 years before.
"Above the chorus, Orfeo can be heard crying out the single word 'Euridice', in an arresting departure from the formal utterances of Italian 'opera seria'. This is followed by a recitative, but this too is surprising: the Italian text is accompanied by the orchestra, not just the customary harpsichord continuo. Orfeo's first aria, 'Chiamo il mio ben così', is not the traditional 'da capo' aria of 'opera seria' but a 'rondeau' - a form, used throughout the opera, that alternates lyrical refrains with section of more direct dramatic expression.
"The aria culminates in a dramatic recitative 'Numi! Barbari Numi!' as Orfeo vows to rescue his bride from the underworld. He is interrupted by a character familiar from almost every French opera of the period: Amore, or Cupid, who offers to help our hero in a coquettish triple-time aria, 'Gli sguardi trattieni'.
"Act II opens with a dance and chorus for furies and spectres in the underworld. Their threatening chanting is juxtaposed magically with the sound of the harp, evoking Orfeo's lyre. Again, Gluck is attempting dramatic and structural devices utterly foreign to 'opera seria'. Just as the opera's opening chorus had been punctuated by Orfeo's dramatic cries of 'Euridice', so here Orfeo's plaintive pleas for leniency are interrupted by violent 'No's' from the chorus as they refuse to cooperate.
"Finally, however, the gentle plucking of the harp makes the furies relent, and by the second scene of Act II, Orfeo has been admitted to the Elysian fields, where he finds himself surrounded by a dancing 'chorus of heroes and heroines'; one can imagine Angiolini's new style of dramatically expressive choreography set in Quaglio's Arcadian stage designs.
"The chorus finally ushers in Euridice, ready to be led back to the world above. In Gluck's characterisation, Euridice reveals a far more feisty personality than in Monteverdi's opera. Indeed, Cupid's injunction that Orfeo may neither look at his wife nor explain to her the reason why he may not, leady to a fully-fledged lover's tiff. During a vigorious duet ('Vieni, appaga il tuo consorte'), Euridice exclaims to Orfeo that she would rather stay dead, than live with her apparently unfeeling husband. Her aria which follows ('Che fiero momento') is one of rage.
"The tension mounts in the succeeding recitative to the story's climax - the moment where Orfeo turns to look at Euridice. Unlike Monteverdi's version, where Orfeo acts on romantic impulse alone, Gluck's protagonist here is responding to something deeper, more empathetic: a desire to assuage his lover's insecurities, even if it means he will lose her once more. Monteverdi's Orfeo had been condemned by the chorus for his weakness. In contrast, Gluck's Ordeo responds to his wife's bewilderment with strength of character and stoic resolution: it is, in fact, an act of noble self-sacrifice typical of Metastasian 'opera seria'.
"Orfeo's famous aria, 'Che farò senza Euridice', is perhaps the epitome of the 'bella semplicità' (beautiful simplicity) advocated by Gluck and Calzabigi. Here, there are no Metastasian similes, no extravagant roulades, and no opportunities for wild cadenzas by the soloist. Instead, Gluck employed the simple 'rondeau' form, and the purity of diatonic C major.
"Orfeo is saved from suicide by Amore, who rewards him for his devotion by reuniting him with Euridice (understandably bewildered to find herself alive for a third time). The shepherds and shepherdesses who had lamented at the very start now return, dancing and singing in praise of Love. This 'deus ex machina' happy ending would have been expected by Gluck's 18th century audience, who would otherwise by disturbed by the moral implications of undeserved suffering: a divergence from classical tragedy, which had no qualms about horrifically tragic endings.
"Ironically enough, the archaeologist Winckelmann's admiration of the white purity of classical sculpture was a fallacy: we now know that the Arthenian Parthenon would have been covered in colourful paint. Similarly, Gluck's and Calzabigi's vision of the antique world was inescapably a product of the beliefs and constraints of their own time.
"The dramatic and musical innovations in 'Orfeo ed Euridice' had powerful repurcussions: before the end of the 18th century, it had been seen all over Europe, from St. Petersburg to Dublin. Gluck capitalised on the work's French features by making a French-language version for Paris in 1774.
"The opera made a first appearnace in London as early as 1770, featuring once more Guadagni in the title role; but this production proved to be the first of numerous bowdlerisations of the piece: extra music by other composers was added; and over the years new characters were introduced, choruses were cut and in 1792 a version was performed at the Theatre Royal, Coven Garden, where virtually the only part of the original score that survived - amid music by Handel, Bach and Sacchini - was Orpheus's famous 'Che farò'.
"This recording is almost completely true to the original 1762 performance. Only one addition has been made: an exquisite evocation of the Elysian Fields taken from Gluck's Paris version, for solo flute and strings." (James Halliday. From the liner notes.)
Performers: La Nuova Musica, David Bates, Iestyn Davies, Sophie Bevan, Rebeca Bottone
1. Ouverture
2. Atto I, Scena I: 'Ah! Se Intorno A Quest'urna Funesta'
3. Atto I, Scena I: 'Basta, Basta, O Compagni'
4. Atto I, Scena I: Ballo. Larghetto
5. Atto I, Scena I: 'Ah! Se Intorno A Quest'urna Funesta'
6. Atto I, Scena I: 'Chiamo Il Mio Ben Così'
7. Atto I, Scena I: 'Euridice! Ombra Cara, Ove Sei?'
8. Atto I, Scena I: 'Cerco Il Mio Ben Così'
9. Atto I, Scena I: 'Euridice! Ah, Questo Nome San Le Spiagge'
10. Atto I, Scena I: 'Piango Il Mio Ben Così'
11. Atto I, Scena I: 'Numi! Barbari Numi!'
12. Atto I, Scena II: 'T'assiste Amore'
13. Atto I, Scena II: 'Gli Sguardi Trattieni'
14. Atto I, Scena II: 'Che Disse! Che Ascoltai!'
15. Atto I, Scena II: Presto
16. Atto II, Scena I: Ballo
17. Atto II, Scena I: 'Chi Mai Dell'Erebo'
18. Atto II, Scena I: Ballo
19. Atto II, Scena I: 'Chi Mai Dell'Erebo'
20. Atto II, Scena I: Ballo
21. Atto II, Scena I: 'Deh! Placatevi Con Me'
22. Atto II, Scena I: 'Misero Giovine!'
23. Atto II, Scena I: 'Mille Pene, Ombre Moleste'
24. Atto II, Scena I: 'Ah, Quale Incognito Affetto Flebile'
25. Atto II, Scena I: 'Men Tiranne, Ah! Voi Sareste'
26. Atto II, Scena I: 'Ah, Quale Incognito Affetto Flebile'
27. Atto II, Scena II: Ballo
28. Atto II, Scena II: Ballo
29. Atto II, Scena II: 'Che Puro Ciel'
30. Atto II, Scena II: 'Vieni A' Regni Del Riposo'
31. Atto II, Scena II: Ballo
32. Atto II, Scena II: 'Anime Avventurose'
33. Atto II, Scena II: 'Viene Euridice'
34. Atto III, Scena I: 'Vieni, Segui I Miei Passi'
35. Atto III, Scena I: 'Ma Vieni E Taci!'
36. Atto III, Scena I: 'Qual Vita È Questa Mai'
37. Atto III, Scena I: 'Che Fiero Momento!'
38. Atto III, Scena I: 'Ecco Un Nuovo Tormento!'
39. Atto III, Scena I: 'Ahimè! Dove Trascorsi!'
40. Atto III, Scena I: 'Che Farò Senza Euridice!'
41. Atto III, Scena I: 'Ma Finisca, E Per Sempre, Co' La Vita Il Dolor!'
42. Atto III, Scena II: 'Orfeo! Che Fai?'
43. Atto III, Scena III: 'Ballo-Trionfi Amore, E Il Mondo Intero Serva All'impero Della Beltà'
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