Gluck: Orfee Et Euridice – Juan Diego Flórez

   in Opera Now (Feb, 2019)
Another alternative version is Orphée et Euridice, but this time a bona fide reworking by the composer. Gluck revised his original 1762 opera, composed for Vienna to an Italian libretto, to a French version written for Paris 12 years later. One major change was to make Orfeo, a counter tenor, into Orphée, a haute-contre, or high tenor. Few singers today would be better to tackle this role than Juan Diego Flórez, who sails through the vocals unscathed; he is a bit low-key dramatically in Act I, but gets more involved once he hits the underworld. Christiane Karg is an eloquent and tragic Euridice, Fatma Said a sparkling Amor. Michele Mariotti leads …