La Nuova Musica presents a new live recording of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, with countertenor star Iestyn Davies singing the title role. Once created to...

La Nuova Musica presents a new live recording of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, with countertenor star Iestyn Davies singing the title role. Once created to reinstate the “noble simplicity and calm grandeur” of ancient Greek culture, the opera continues to delight audiences with its direct and unpretentious appeal, epitomized by the world-famous aria Che farò senza Euridice. This live recording presents the original 1762 Vienna premiere version of the opera, with Gluck’s exquisite evocation of the Elysian Fields from his 1774 Paris version as a small addition. La Nuova Musica and its artistic director David Bates are among the most exciting young Baroque ensembles of our times. For their first PENTATONE recording, they work together with three exceptional vocalists: countertenor Iestyn Davies and sopranos Sophie Bevan and Rebecca Bottone.

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REVIEW:

The chorus has much to do, and I lost count of the number of times it ravished the ear. The orchestra, too, is extremely accomplished. The soloists are magnificent. Iestyn Davies sings smoothly throughout, while Sophie Bevan comes across powerfully, getting more and more stroppy as she rails at Orfeo for not looking at her. Rebecca Bottone has a perfect voice for Amore (Cupid), light and bright. High praise, then, for David Bates and his ensemble.

– Gramophone

Bates is, like Gluck, wonderfully radical. Where other directors smooth over disjunctions, he revels in rupture. This is directorship at its most alert, and aiding Bates is an optimal cast. Davies radiates Orfeo’s impassioned tenderness, changing vocal colours as the drama demands. Sophie Bevan’s Euridice swings, with blazing bravura and increasing intensity, from anguish to narcissism. It’s the stuff of Gluck’s dreams.

– BBC Music Magazine