Les Arts Florissants – Monteverdi – L’Orfeo, SV 318 (Live) (2021) [FLAC 24bit/48kHz]

Les Arts Florissants was founded by William Christie in 1979, and takes its name from an opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier which the group recorded in 1982. They specialise primarily in French baroque repertoire, and their advocacy of operas by Lully, Rameau and Charpentier was a driving force in the revival of interest in this area from the late 1980s onwards; key recordings include Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie and Les Fêtes d’Hébé, Handel’s Acis and Galatea, and Purcell’s King Arthur (which all won Gramophone Awards in the 1990s), Mozart’s Die Entführung aus de Serail (a Building a Library First Choice in 2014), and a series of Monteverdi’s Madrigals on the ensemble’s own label.

In May 2008, William Christie returned to his first love, with this flamboyant production of Orfeo directed by Pier Luigi Pizzi. This was the first part of the complete Monteverdian trilogy which the pair performed on the famous Madrid stage. At the head of his Arts Florissants, with help from the Sacqueboutiers de Toulouse and some great solo voices, William Christie offers up exquisite timbres and shimmering colours.

This show, which has already been released on DVD, is available here in its audio version alone. That means we miss out on the visual delights provided by Pier Luigi Pizzi, one of the last great Italian aesthetes to grace the lyrical stage before it descended into its present, parlous state. The lack of images brings the music into fuller focus: we can enjoy the high-level cast headed by Dietrich Hensel in the title role. Hensel deploys all of his theatrical skill to bring the character to life, stepping out beyond the beautiful songs and the confines of a purely baroque style: this performance certainly proved controversial among critics.

Around him, a deluxe cast enter and exit the stage, including the subtle and stylistically perfect Euridice (but also La Musica, and, curiously, Proserpina) played by Maria Grazia Schiavo. Note also the smooth performance by Sonia Prina (Messaggiera, La Speranza), Antonio Abete’s splendid Plutone, and the magnificent Cyril Autvity (second Shepherd and first Spirit). This landmark production is now available on Qobuz. – François Hudry

Tracklist

1. Les Arts Florissants – Toccata (Live)
2. Maria Grazia Schiavo – Dal mio permesso amato (Live)
3. Xavier Sabata – In questo lieto e fortunato giorno (Live)
4. Hanna Bayodi-Hirt – Vieni Imeneo, deh vieni (Live)
5. Hanna Bayodi-Hirt – Muse, honor di Parnaso (Live)
6. Hanna Bayodi-Hirt – Lasciate i monti, lasciate i fonti (Live)
7. Cyril Auvity – Ma tu, gentil cantor (Live)
8. Dietrich Henschel – Rosa del ciel, vita del mondo (Live)
9. Maria Grazia Schiavo – Io non dirò qual sia nel tuo gioir (Live)
10. Hanna Bayodi-Hirt – Lasciate i monti (Live)
11. Xavier Sabata – Ma s’il nostro gioir dal ciel deriva (Live)
12. Xavier Sabata – Alcun non sia che disperato (Live)
13. Hanna Bayodi-Hirt – Che poi che nembo rio gravido il seno (Live)
14. Xavier Sabata – E dopo l’aspro gel (Live)
15. Hanna Bayodi-Hirt – Ecco Orfeo (Live)
16. Dietrich Henschel – Ecco pur ch’a voi ritorno (Live)
17. Xavier Sabata – Mira ch’a sé n’alletta (Live)
18. Xavier Sabata – In questo prato adorno (Live)
19. Hanna Bayodi-Hirt – Qui le Napee (Live)
20. Dietrich Henschel – Vi ricorda, o boschi ombrosi (Live)
21. Xavier Sabata – Mira, deh mira, Orfeo (Live)
22. Sonia Prina – Ahi, caso acerbo! (1) [Live]
23. Sonia Prina – In un fiorito prato (Live)
24. Xavier Sabata – Ahi, caso acerbo! (2) [Live]
25. Dietrich Henschel – Tu se’morta (Live)
26. Hanna Bayodi-Hirt – Ahi, caso acerbo! (3) [Live]
27. Sonia Prina – Ma io ch’in questa lingua (Live)
28. Les Arts Florissants – Sinfonia (Live)
29. Xavier Sabata – Chi ne consola, ahi lassi? (Live)
30. Hanna Bayodi-Hirt – Ahi, caso acerbo! (4) [Live]
31. Xavier Sabata – Ma dove, ah dove or sono (Live)
32. Hanna Bayodi-Hirt – Ahi, caso acerbo! (5) [Live]
33. Les Arts Florissants – Sinfonia (1) [Live]
34. Dietrich Henschel – Scorto da te, mio nume (Live)
35. Sonia Prina – Ecco l’atra palude, ecco il nocchiero (Live)
36. Dietrich Henschel – Dove, ah dove te’n vai (Live)
37. Luigi De Donato – Oh tu ch’innanzi morte a queste rive (Live)
38. Les Arts Florissants – Sinfonia (2) [Live]
39. Dietrich Henschel – Possente spirto (Live)
40. Dietrich Henschel – Non viv’io, no (Live)
41. Dietrich Henschel – A lei volt’ho il cammin (Live)
42. Dietrich Henschel – Orfeo son io (Live)
43. Dietrich Henschel – O de le luci mie (Live)
44. Dietrich Henschel – Sol tu, nobile Dio (Live)
45. Luigi De Donato – Ben mi lusinga alquanto (Live)
46. Les Arts Florissants – Sinfonia (3) [Live]
47. Dietrich Henschel – Ei dorme (Live)
48. Cyril Auvity – Nulla impresa per huom si tenta invano (Live)
49. Maria Grazia Schiavo – Signor, quell’infelice (Live)
50. Antonio Abete – Benché severo ed immutabil fato (Live)
51. Cyril Auvity – O de gli habitator de l’ombre eterne (Live)
52. Maria Grazia Schiavo – Quali grazie ti rendo (Live)
53. Cyril Auvity – Pietade oggi e amore trionfan ne l’inferno (Live)
54. Dietrich Henschel – Qual honor di te fia degno (Live)
55. Dietrich Henschel – Ma mentre io canto, ohimè (Live)
56. Dietrich Henschel – O dolcissimi lumi (Live)
57. Maria Grazia Schiavo – Ahi, vista troppo dolce e troppo amara (Live)
58. Dietrich Henschel – Dove te n’ vai, mia vita? (Live)
59. Cyril Auvity – È la virtute un raggio (Live)
60. Les Arts Florissants – Ritornello (Live)
61. Dietrich Henschel – Questi i campi di Tracia (Live)
62. Dietrich Henschel – Ma tu, anima mia se mai ritorna (Live)
63. Les Arts Florissants – Sinfonia (Live)
64. Augustín Prunell-Friend – Perch’a lo sdegno ed al dolor in preda (Live)
65. Dietrich Henschel – Saliam cantando al cielo (Live)
66. Xavier Sabata – Vanne Orfeo, felice a pieno (Live)
67. Les Arts Florissants – Moresca (Live)

Download:

mqs.link_LesArtsFl0rissantsM0nteverdiL0rfe0SV318Live20212448.part1.rar
mqs.link_LesArtsFl0rissantsM0nteverdiL0rfe0SV318Live20212448.part2.rar

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