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The Classical Opera Company

Blessed Spirit: A Gluck Retrospective

Arias, Duets and Recitative from Gluck Operas

About this CD

With a concert of arias and duets entitled Blessed Spirit, Ian Page and his Classical Opera Company gave Wigmore Hall a taste of Gluck exotica.

The Classical Opera Company and founder Ian Page have been presenting the work of Mozart and his contemporaries since 1997. Page describes this recording as

“an overview of Gluck’s work, featuring music from twelve of his operas and demonstrating his dramatic flair and the visceral energy and haunting beauty of his music. I hope that it might stimulate further interest and enthusiasm for this important composer.”

Page, conducting the orchestra of the Classical Opera Company, is joined by three prominent singers, sopranos Ailish Tynan and Sophie Bevan and mezzo-soprano Anna Stéphany.

The audience’s rapturous response at the end of the chronologically arranged programme prompted all three voices to join in an encore: ‘Ah, lo veggo’ from Paride ed Elena, with Paris cajoling Helen to the commentary of scheming Cupid.

The programme starts with one of Gluck’s earliest operas, La Semiramide riconosciuta, premiered in Vienna in 1748. By that stage Gluck was a much-travelled and high-profile figure, and the work was commissioned to celebrate the birthday of Empress Maria Teresa. Four years later La clemenza di Tito was staged in Naples with the celebrated castrato Caffarelli in the role of Sesto - he caused a sensation with his performance of the aria ‘Se mai sento spirarti sul volto’, notable for its adventurous harmonies and orchestration.

Performers

• Sophie Bevan soprano
• Ailish Tynan soprano
• Anna Stéphany mezzo-sopano
• The Classical Opera Company
• Ian Page director

Track Listing

Gluck
1. Aria ‘Il Ciel mi vuol oppresso’ from La Semiramide riconosciuta - 04.42
2. Aria ‘Se povero il ruscello’ from Ezio - 08.07
3. Aria ‘Se mai senti spirarti sul volto’ from La clemenza di Tito - 10.24
4–5. ‘Berenice, che fai?’ – Aria ‘Perché, se tanti siete’ from Antigono - 08.21
6–7. ‘Ombre tacite e chete’ – Aria ‘Dall’ orrido soggiorno’ from Telemaco - 05.28
8–9. ‘Elisa? Aminta? È sogno?’ – Duet ‘Vanne a regnar, ben mio’ from Il re pastore - 06.47
10. Aria ‘Non jamais un tel époux’ from L'ivrogne corrigé - 02.46
11–14. Scene from Act Three of Orfeo ed Euridice - 11.06
15–16. ‘Figli, diletti figli!’ – Aria ‘Ah, per questo già stanco’ from Alceste - 07.15
17. Aria ‘O del mio dolce ardor’ from Paride ed Elena - 02.53
18–19. ‘Dieux puissants’ – Aria ‘Jupiter, lance la foudre’ from Iphigénie en Aulide - 04.39
20. Aria ‘On s’étonnerait moins que la saison nouvelle’ from Armide - 03.36

ENCORE

21. Introduction to encore - 00.25
22. Trio ‘Ah, lo veggo’ from Paride ed Elena - 02.18

Reviews

“Gluck’s journey from the formal opera seria to his mature masterworks … is underappreciated … What emerged most strongly from the Classical Opera Company’s showcase was how organic that development actually was.

"When Anna Stéphany delivered the furies of ‘Il Ciel mi vuol oppresso’ from La Semiramide riconosciuta, here already was a shot of operatic angst in an age of frothy lattes. That Stéphany has a terrific cutting edge to her voice added to the charge of the moment.

"She was in good company, too. Sophie Bevan used her rich and supple soprano with unerring intelligence … Ailish Tynan, a lighter, brighter voice, ploughed sweeter furroughs.” The Times

“...the overwhelming grace and profound simplicity of Gluck's music was tantamount; one could only recall the composer's statement that his work was based on ‘the immutable foundations of beauty and truth’, an evaluation that was brought to light repeatedly throughout the course of the evening.” Opera Britannia

Product Details

• Total time: 79.44
• Cat. Number: WHLIVE0037
• Recorded: 20 January 2010