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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply stunning!! A Rosette record., 26 Jan 2005
There have been many fine Orfeos on record, most notably those from Gardiner. This one from Minkowski is of the Paris version (1774) and like Gardiner is performed on period instruments but unlike most other performances calls upon the "haut-contre" (or high tenor) voice Gluck re-wrote Orfeo for in '74.The American tenor Richard Croft (who will be fondly remembered by Baroque enthusiasts from Minowski's recordings of Handel's Ariodante and Hercules) is so successful in the role that he sweeps away memories of the counter-tenors and contraltos who have inhabited Orfeo on record. He has an exciting voice that, whilst moderately high is still definitely and distinctively male. For me, this adds a dimension of depth and realism to the love story and to the important Orfeo-Eurydice duets in Act 3. He is superbly matched by Mirielle Delunsch as E. and Marion Harousseau as Amor in singing of drama and passion, rather than merely (as so often) of stately grace. Delunsch is familiar to me on record only from Rameau's Dardanus and from a couple of other Gluck recordings. She has the range to make it in anything, and I'd very much like to hear her in Mozart. I haven't heard the very youthful (only 18) Ms Harousseau on record before but she does enough here to suggest a long career as a lyric soprano. Even with all that talent, and the skills of the always superb Musiciens du Louvre, the star of the show is undoubtedly Minkowski, who conducts a performance of hyper-excitement, "punch", dramatic contrast and both vocal and emotional depth that just blew me away. None of the langours of Leppard/Baker here, nor the over-ripeness of Solti (attractive though it is), but an incisiveness that is thoroughly theatrical as well as "real". This is a stunning dramatic and musical achievement that, to my mind, surpasses that of Gardiner. Gardiner is 5-star but Minowski is that plus a Rosette for that extra, special, "something". No matter how many recordings or which versions of Orfeo you have, get this stunning performance now. It also gives me great pleasure to report that, for once, DG/Archiv's house style for SACD is just about perfect for the performance, being incisive and forward, and helping stengthen (as if it needed it!) Minkowski's urgency and panache. The surround SACD layer seems to be genuine surround, adding ambience without overwhelming the performance's musical values. The recording was made in live performance in the Theatre de Poissy and is the best live opera recording I've heard, adding presence, ambience and depth to the soundstage. And it's only 44.1 khz/24 bit, even less than the resolution of some other DG SACDs. Imagine how good it could have been in DSD!!! Nonetheless, bravo to the DG engineers (no matter how misguided they are about PCM vs DSD) and please, if you must record in mid-res 44.1/24 bit, do it this well more often. All in all, a stellar disc, a set to live with and love for many years to come.
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~ Dunedin Consort
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