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Gluck - Alceste (John Eliot Gardiner, Anne Sofie von Otter, Paul Groves)

Posted By: Sowulo
Gluck - Alceste (John Eliot Gardiner, Anne Sofie von Otter, Paul Groves)

Gluck - Alceste (John Eliot Gardiner, Anne Sofie von Otter, Paul Groves) [2000]
PAL 16:9 (720x576) VBR Auto Pan&Scan, Auto Letterboxed | Francais (LinearPCM, 2 ch) Francais (Dolby AC3, 5 ch) | 6.59 Gb (DVD9)
Classical | ArtHaus | Sub: English, Deutsch, Francais | 135 min | +3% Recovery

Rebelling against the increasingly formulaic operas of the time, Christoph Willibald Gluck's "reformist" opera Alceste (1767) was a successful attempt to return to a purer form of musical drama. It is highly appropriate that this 1999 production of the revised 1776 Paris version should be conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, with the English Baroque Soloists and Monteverdi Choir, the same forces responsible for many fine Bach performances equally emphasizing character and text. In setting the tragic story of the profound love between Queen Alceste and her husband King Admète, Gluck provided a score of austere, rending beauty.
Principals Anne Sofie von Otter and Paul Groves dominate the production as much through the power of their acting as their musical prowess. The major scenes are electrifying in their emotional intensity. Contrasting with this psychological realism are the simple, Greek-inspired designs by Robert Wilson. Silhouetted, geometric shapes glide gracefully through the slow-motion movements of the actors, bringing an hypnotic, dreamlike quality to the work. Near-constant blue lighting adds a sense of late-evening tranquillity, giving the stage a highly distinctive look and a feeling of dislocation in space and time. Both chilling and uplifting, this Alceste is a triumph. By –Gary S. Dalkin

Gluck - Alceste (John Eliot Gardiner, Anne Sofie von Otter, Paul Groves)

Performer:
Alceste – Anne Sofie von Otter
Admete – Paul Groves
High Priest and Hercules – Dietrich Henschel
Evandre – Yann Beuron
A Herald and Apollo – Ludovic Tezier
Oracle and Infernal God – Frederic Caton
Coryphe – Hjordis Thebault
English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Chor
Conductor - Sir John Eliot Gardiner

GCWAJG