Vocal Ornamentation in Gluck's Reform Operas – Please Discuss

While looking up the DVD of an Orfeo performance in order to comment on one of my own recent posts, I read a reviewer complaint about the ornaments that countertenor Jochen Kowalski added to "Che faro..." So of course I had to track it down and listen to it (the aria starts at about 3 minutes in): 

I didn't find it too bad. But I understood the reviewer's concern. I had a similar initial reaction while listening to Franco Fagioli in a gorgeous concert performance broadcast not long ago. 

Just as the (in)famous aria (variously known as "Amour, viens rendre," "L'Espoir Renaît Dans Mon Âme," and "Addio, miei sospiri") seems out of place, Mr Fagioli's ornamentation sounded a little anti-Gluck. I found it somewhat jarring. (On rehearing, I find I'm not as bothered by it any more.)

However, I do feel that Che faro really doesn't need any embellishment; it's perfect as is. (Although other singers have added a trill or a few appoggiaturas here and there, which never seemed out of place.) 

So this made me wonder what Gluck, opera "reformists," and other opera lovers would think about these additions.  

• Are these ornaments out of character?
• Are they anti-Reform?
• Are they fine as long as they're tastefully done (a subjective call, at best)?
• Should singers (and conductors) refrain from ornamenting Gluck – ever?
• Should we just relax and enjoy the lovely singing?

Please feel free to discuss. Use other side of paper if necessary.

La Monnaie's Orphee – Some Background

Photo: Bernd Uhlig

After a prompt from Lydia (definitelytheopera), I decided to look up some additional information (in English) on this new, moving production of Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice. The official videos at the La Monnaie site are apparently quite informative; but only if you understand French and/or Dutch better than I do. Thus my Anglo-centric search for more info. 

So, here is notice that appeared in early June in the KULTURKOMPASSET blog that previews the concept of the production. 

Here is an article about Locked-in Syndrome (LiS) or pseudocoma from The Brain Foundation; and an interview with LiS Survivor Richard Marsh

And here are two reviews in English: from the blog londongrip; and from the New York Times.

This is a co-production with the Weiner Festwochen, and it was seen in Vienna in May, sung in Italian. Over at The Opera Critic, you can find links to reviews (in German) of those performances, plus a few reviews (in French) of the current La Monnaie incarnation.

Anja Harteros sings the Final Scene from Capriccio

On June 19th, Anja Harteros joined Phillippe Jordan and the Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Paris in Vienna to sing a bit of Richard Strauss. On July 6^th, Ö1 Radio broadcast a recording of that performance.

Here is the first half of that concert, which contains the Mondscheinmusik and the final scene from Capriccio (starting at about 33 minutes in.) Before welcoming Frau Harteros to the stage, the orchestra presented a sprightly performance of Bizet’s youthful symphony. While orchestral music usually is outside the realm of this blog, I do recommend listening to the Bizet and to the two Ravel Daphnis et Chloé Suites that follow the break.   

More About Orphée – Online Soon from La Monnaie

Opera Cake (the blogger) calls La Monnaie's new Orphée et Eurydice "simply devastating," and says we need to see in person. While OC did not reveal why (but promised a fuller review soon), I've a feeling some of it has to do with the projections (see below, and other photos at La Monnaie's site.)

Unfortunately, many of us in the U.S. can't pop over to Brussels within the next few weeks. So we won't be able see it in person. We will have get by with watching it online. And we can do that on-demand for about 20 days, starting this coming Wednesday, July 9.

© Bernd Uhlig

Orphée et Eurydice 

Christoph W. Gluck/Hector Berlioz

Orphée  Stéphanie d'Oustrac

Eurydice Sabine Devieilhe

Music direction Hervé Niquet

Staging, set design, lighting & costumes  Romeo Castellucci

Watching the Radio – The Baritones-on-Ö1 Edition*

*With a bonus mezzo. Because there should always be a mezzo.

Thomas Hampson: Richard Strauss Orchestral Songs

Gerald Finley: Schubert and Liszt Lieder

Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender and his lovely daughter Brigitte, who is kind of an honorary baritone, since she often "gets the girl" in Operaland. And besides, it's her birthday! (July 3rd – this one airs Thursday night.)