John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir - Christoph Willibald Gluck: Alceste (2000)
John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir - Christoph Willibald Gluck: Alceste (2000)
NTSC 16:9 (720x480) | Français (LinearPCM, 2 ch) | (DTS, 5 ch) | 133 min | 7,68 Gb (DVD9)
Classical | Label: EMI Classics | Sub: English, Français, Deutsch | Recorded: 1999
NTSC 16:9 (720x480) | Français (LinearPCM, 2 ch) | (DTS, 5 ch) | 133 min | 7,68 Gb (DVD9)
Classical | Label: EMI Classics | Sub: English, Français, Deutsch | Recorded: 1999
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.–Gary S. Dalkin
Performer:
Alceste - Anne Sofie von Otter
Admète - Paul Groves
High Priest and Hercules - Dietrich Henschel
Esandre - Yann Beuron
A Herald and Apollo - Ludovic Tezier
Corphée - Hjördis Thebauld
Alceste's Alter Ego - Gladys Massenot
Monteverdi Choir
English Baroque Soloists
Conductor - Sir John Eliot Gardiner
Stage Director - Robert Wilson
John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir - Christoph Willibald Gluck: Alceste (2000)
John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir - Christoph Willibald Gluck: Alceste (2000)
John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir - Christoph Willibald Gluck: Alceste (2000)
John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir - Christoph Willibald Gluck: Alceste (2000)
