Orfeo and Eurydice and Franco and Malin (for a few more days)

There're only a few more days to catch this concert version of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice (the Vienna version, with some extras, like the zippy Act 1 finale) on medici.tv. Laurence Equilbey conducts with Franco Fagioli as Orfeo, Malin Hartelius as Euridice, Emmanuelle de Negri as Amore, the accentus choir, and the insula orchestra. How could you go wrong!?

Laurence Equilbey Conducts Mozart, Beethoven, and Weber

Live broadcast on medici.tv: October 11, 2pm (Eastern U.S. time) 

and in archive for a while thereafter.

 I just acquired LE's Mozart Requiem recording. Of course, it's amazing. 

More to follow about that. But meanwhile be sure this concert is on your to do list!

Gratuitous Friday – Malin Hartelius is Eurydice

Sometimes we may forget that Gluck's opera is called Orfeo et Eurydice. In spite of being dead for most of the opera, Orfeo's wife does get some nice stuff to sing, including this scena, which she sings right before she dies–for the second time.

(This "death" photo of Malin Hartelius is from Cosi fan Tutte. Thanks to Earworm, from whom I nicked the screen cap. 

Of course, Fiordiligi isn’t supposed to die in that opera, not even once. And we can’t be entirely sure she is dead, since in a later revival, Alfonso is the one who gets the pellet with the poison.)

But I digress. Here is MH along with Laurence Equilbey and her Insula Orchestra, recorded in Paris in November 2013: 

P.S. Dear Blog Buddies: I'm sorry, but I had to reactivate the word verification feature for comments. As soon as I lifted it, two posts got slammed with spam (see the outliers in the "What's Everyone Reading?" column over there on the right.) I mean, that Schubert post was nice, but can I seriously believe that it was legitimately viewed 430 times in the past seven days?

Speaking of Werner Güra and Laurence Equilbey...

I guess we weren't, but while I was browsing the Toob, looking for performances by LE, I came across these three orchestrated versions of Schubert songs. I personally am not that convinced by these (and other orchestrations) in spite of hearing Anne Sofie von Otter sing a handful of them live. They somehow don't allow the flexibility I listen for in a voice and piano setting. 

LE is quite an interpreter (I've decided after watching the concert I posted yesterday, that I want to sing under her. She gets a bit overwrought perhaps, but she is so expressive, and she communicates effectively with her musicians) and Werner Güra is no slouch in the Lieder department. Somewhere out there lurks a complete concert with some more Schubert, and who knows what else!

A Nifty Noel Concert from Laurence Equilbey and her Merry Band

Here's a classical antidote to "[somebody's] favorite pop starts trash your favorite Christmas songs" programs that are so hard to avoid this time of year. Actually, a lot of this music is not specifically Christmas music, but it's all lovely and lovingly performed. I've posted one of the Pavol Breslik solos before, not realizing it's from this concert. Nathalie Stutzman and Sandrine Piau are also featured in this concert.

If you've never heard of Laurence Equilbey or her chamber choir, Accentus, take an hour to treat yourself to some beautiful music: solos, duets, orchestral, and choral (with and without orchestra) selections make for a nice variety of calm seasonal cheer. 

Special thanks go out to Defintely the Opera for reminding me of Ms. Equilbey and her recordings, and for pointing out that she is also at the helm of my new favorite Orfeo ed Eurydice (which is still available for listening till Boxing Day)!  Not to mention a beautiful performance of Mozart's Mass in C Minor.

Edit 12/25/2017: This little gem of a Christmas concert has disappeared from the Tube of You in it's full-concert form, although individual bits of it are still there. In fact there are many videos of Maestra Equilby's performances. As a holiday consolation, here is a video of a more recent performance of Bach's Christmas Oratorio:

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Concerts Courtesy of France Musique

In case you missed them, francemusique.fr is giving us another chance to hear Werner Güra’s Edinburgh Recital (till Nov. 29) and Christian Gerhaher's all-Schumann program from Salzburg (till Nov. 23).  

I was directed to France Musique, which makes most concert broadcasts available for about 30 days, by Lydia from Toronto, who tweeted me about a very special concert that will be broadcast on November 26, and be available for about 30 days after that: 

Photo courtesy of Eden Jonathan, who was
fortunate enough to attend the concert live.
Thanks Eden!

Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice from l'Opéra Royal de Versailles.

Franco Fagioli,  Orphée

Malin Hartelius, Euridice

Emmanuelle de Negri, Amore

Ensemble vocal Accentus 

Insula Orchestra

Laurence Equilbey, Direction

The France Musique website is a great new (to me) resource for recorded music online! Other program listings can be found for on the Concerts page at francemusique.fr. I just love teh interwebz!!

Sunday Brunch – Pavol Breslik Sings Franck

Christmas concerts are strange beasts. Sometimes musicians program the darnedest things—probably because, "Hey! It's religious, right?" So we get Ave Maria (pray for us now and at the time of our death) and Panis Angelicus (the sacred body, broken for us) mixed in with O Holy-a Night-a*; O, du fröliche; and the Twelve Days of Christmas. But I guess, when else is a tenor going to get to sing this chestnut in a concert setting? 

Sunday Brunch – David Bižić sings Fauré

More warm, reverent, and mellow tones from David Bižić. Here he sings the Libera Me from Fauré’s Requiem with Choeur Accentus and Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, under the directon of Laurence Equilbey. The performance took place in June 2010 at the Basilique Cathédrale.

Faure Requiem: Libera me