COMPOSERS: Gluck
LABELS: Astrée Audivis
WORKS: Orfeo ed Euridice
PERFORMER: James Bowman, Lynne Dawson, Claron MacFadden; La Grande Écurie et la Chambre du Roy/Jean-Claude Malgoire
CATALOGUE NO: E 8538 DDD
Given the vogue for male Orfeos it is surprising James Bowman has taken so long to record the role – and a pity, for his voice, though still magnificent, is audibly aging, giving it a fragility not always appropriate for a part that demands such ardour. Sensitivity and precision seem to take precedence over emotion in this live recording of the 1762 Vienna version. Both Claron MacFadden (Amore) and Lynne Dawson (Euridice) sing with sublime, if cold, purity of tone and the period-instrument band play with verve, though their sound has a delicacy verging on thinness. Claire Wrathall
Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice
Given the vogue for male Orfeos it is surprising James Bowman has taken so long to record the role – and a pity, for his voice, though still magnificent, is audibly aging, giving it a fragility not always appropriate for a part that demands such ardour. Sensitivity and precision seem to take precedence over emotion in this live recording of the 1762 Vienna version. Both Claron MacFadden (Amore) and Lynne Dawson (Euridice) sing with sublime, if cold, purity of tone and the period-instrument band play with verve, though their sound has a delicacy verging on thinness. Claire Wrathall
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:14 pm