Wigmore Hall Live, 2010
“Conductor, instrumentalists and singers alike make sound the servant of sense, with stylish, eloquent and dramatic music-making of the highest order.” International Record Review
This is a live recording of a concert given at Wigmore Hall on 20 January 2010, and it was selected for Gramophone magazine’s annual Critic’s Choice in 2010.
The programme presents a fascinating survey of Gluck’s operas, ranging from little-known arias from his early operas, including previously unrecorded highlights from La Semiramide riconosciuta, Telemaco and Il re pastore, to more familiar highlights from Orfeo ed Euridice, Alceste and Iphigénie en Aulide. The soloists are sopranos Sophie Bevan and Ailish Tynan and mezzo soprano Anna Stéphany, and Ian Page conducts.
“This is a terrific, unmissable disc.” Gramophone
Track Listing
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
21. Introduction to encore – 00.25
22. Trio ‘Ah, lo veggo’ from Paride ed Elena – 02.18
Running time 79’44
