Monteverdi: L'Orfeo

This page lists all recordings of L'Orfeo, by Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (1567-1643) on CD & DVD. Generally, more recent CDs and DVDs are listed first, but with priority given to items that are in stock.

Recommendations

DVD Choice
December 2005
Opera Choice
November 2007
First Choice
November 2007
Best of Category
Baroque Vocal
Editor's Choice
November 2007
Editor's Choice
May 2004

All recordings

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Monteverdi: L'Orfeo

Monteverdi: L'Orfeo


Rotraud Hansmann, Lajos Kozma, Cathy Berberian, Kurt Equiluz & Max van Egmond

Concentus musicus Wien, Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Warner Classics Das Alte Werk - 2564696458

(CD - 2 discs)

$11.49

In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day.

Monteverdi: L'Orfeo

Monteverdi: L'Orfeo

Staged and directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle


Philippe Huttenlocher, Dietlinde Turban, Trudeliese Schmidt, Francisco Araiza & Christian Bösch

Das Monteverdi-Ensemble des Opernhauses Zürich, Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Subtitles: Italian/English/German/French/Spanish/Chinese

DVD Video

Region: 0

Format: NTSC

DG Unitel - 0734163

(DVD Video)

$26.49

In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day.

Monteverdi: L'Orfeo

Monteverdi: L'Orfeo


William Matteuzzi and Sylva Pozzer

Early Music Ensemble, Sergio Vartolo

Brilliant Classics - 93103

(CD - 2 discs)

$8.99

In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day.

Monteverdi: L'Orfeo

Monteverdi: L'Orfeo


Simon Keenlyside (Orfeo), Juanita Lascarro (Euridice, la Musica, Eco), Graciela Oddone (la Messaggiera), Martina Dike (Proserpina), Stephen Wallace (la Speranza, Pastore), Tomas Tòmasson (Plutone), Paul Gérimon, Caronte (Pastore), Mauro Utzeri (Apollo), Anne Cambier (Ninfa), Yann Beuron, John Bowen, René Linnenbank (Pastori, Spiriti)

Trisha Brown Company Concerto Vocale, Collegium Vocale Gent, René Jacobs

First seen at La Monnaie in Brussels on 13 May 1998, this production of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo seen through the eyes of Trisha Brown and René Jacobs has become an operatic classic in a few short years. This is doubtless because it offers a total symbiosis of music, text and movement – described by the critic of the Daily Telegraph of London as being ‘as close to the perfect dance opera as I have ever seen’. Or to quote Gilles Macassar in Télérama: ‘In the pit and onstage, the Brussels production has only one watchword: mobility, nimbleness, dexterity. The singers run, fly, whirl like dancers defying gravity. From the flies down to the footlights, the whole theatre is under a fantastic spell.’ For Christophe Vetter, on ConcertoNet: ‘This Orfeo can be seen again and again with immense pleasure. . . . René Jacobs’s conducting continues to arouse admiration for its precision, its stylistic rigour, its inexhaustible inventiveness and its feeling for the contrasts so vital to this repertoire.’

"Monteverdi's Orfeo has many rivals and needs special reasons for us to see it again. One is the tremendous vocal cast - especially the lithe and mercurial Orfeo (Simon Keenlyside), the searingly affecting Messenger (Graciela Oddone) and sonorous Simon Gérmon as Caronte." BBC Music Magazine

DVD Video

Region: 0

Format: NTSC

Harmonia Mundi - HMD9909003/04

(DVD Video - 2 discs)

$29.49

In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day.

Opera Explained - An Introduction to Monteverdi's Orfeo

Opera Explained - An Introduction to Monteverdi's Orfeo


Monteverdi:

L'Orfeo

An introduction to the Opera


David Timson (narrator)

12-page booklet

Written by Thomson Smillie

This audiobook series introduces, in words and music, the plot and background of major operas. Using the principal themes and arias, taken from the Naxos recordings of the complete works, the presentation is informative yet entertaining, enabling the listener to get more from this remarkable art form.

Monteverdi's Orfeo, first performed in 1607, generates a special excitement because it is the first unquestioned masterpiece of opera.

Notable for its precise orchestration and powerful drama it was a groundbreaking work. It concerns the legend of Orpheus, the demi-god whose music had the power to conquer the forces of Hell and to bring his wife back, briefly, to life.

The extracts used in this introduction are from Naxos’s full recording; it uses authentic period instruments, which serve to evoke the early Baroque period of the opera’s composition.

Released or re-released in last 6 months

Naxos Educational - Opera Explained - 8558174

(CD)

$6.99

Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days.

Monteverdi: L'Orfeo

Monteverdi: L'Orfeo


Monica Piccinini, Anna Simboli (soprano), Sara Mingardo (contralto), Furio Zanasi, Luca Dordoli (tenor) & Sergio Foresti, Antonio Abete (bass)

Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini

This new recording of Monteverdi’s “Orfeo”, a work which is generally considered to be the first true opera in musical history, marks its 400th anniversary. It is performed in a new version developed by one of the world’s leading experts on the composer’s music, Rinaldo Alessandrini and his internationally acclaimed ensemble Concerto Italiano, and presented in a luxurious limited edition of 2 CDs within an illuminating book.

“The first opera to survive in the modern repertoire had its premiere in Mantua 400 years ago. It's hard to imagine a finer anniversary present than Alessandrini's superbly theatricl and brilliantly sung version” Sunday Times

“…this is unquestionably the most subtle rendering of the Orfeo text that's available on compact disc. Furio Zanasi (Orfeo) is exceptionally good. Simboli (Euridice) is pure-voiced and clear, and Migardo uses the natural vulnerability in her sound movingly to project the distraught feelings of the Messenger.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2007 *****

BBC Music Magazine

Opera Choice - November 2007

20% off Naïve

Naive - OP30439

(CD - 2 discs)

Normally: $30.49

Special: $24.39

Unfortunately, as of December 3rd 2008 the UK distributor for this label is in administration. Although an agreement has already been signed with a new distributor, we expect some delay before stock is available again. You may order this item now but please be aware that it may be early 2009 before we are able to despatch it.

Monteverdi: L'Orfeo

Monteverdi: L'Orfeo


Victor Torres (Orfeo), Adriana Fernandez (Euridice), Gloria Banditelli (Sylvia), Maria Cristina Kiehr (Speranza, La Musica), Antonio Abete (Caronte), Furio Zanasi (Plutone, Pastore IV), Roberta Invernizzi (Proserpina, Ninfa) & Maurizio Rossano (Apollo)

Coro Antonio Il Verso & Ensemble Elyma, Gabriel Garrido

2CD's + Catalogue

"Garrido's reading of Orfeo is dramatic, lively and committed, and it is well served by a carefully chosen and well-matched cast. Gloria Banditelli almost steals the show with her highly coloured portrayal of the Messenger's fateful announcement which dramatically and effectively shifts the mood from pastoral bucolic to tragic." Gramophone

K617 - K617203/2

(CD - 2 discs)

$15.49

Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days.

Monteverdi: L'Orfeo

Monteverdi: L'Orfeo


Emanuela Galli (Music, Eurydice); Mirko Guadagnini (Orpheus), Marina De Liso (Messenger); Cristina Calzolari (Persephone), Matteo Bellotto (Pluto); Josè Lo Monaco (Hope); Salvo Vitale (Charon), Vincenzo Di Donato (Pluto); Francesca Cassinari (nymph), Giovanni Caccamo, Makoto Sakurada, Claudio Cavina & Tony Corradini (shepherds, spirits)

La Venexiana, Claudio Cavina

Recorded at the San Carlo Church, Modena (Italy), from February 2nd to February 6th, 2006

"As in their previous Monteverdi editions, La Venexiana bring a dramatic delivery of the words and a uniquely Italian blend of solo voices to this glorious music, unrivalled on disc." The Sunday Times

GGramophone Awards 2008

Best of Category - Baroque Vocal

GGramophone Magazine

Editor's Choice - November 2007

Building a Library

First Choice - November 2007

Glossa - GES920913

(CD - 2 discs)

$26.49

Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days.

Monteverdi: L'Orfeo

Monteverdi: L'Orfeo


Gerard Souzay, Judith Raskin, Dris Yarick, Regina Sarfati & Joy Clements

New York City Centre Opera, Leopold Stokowski

Recorded September 29, 1960

Ponto - POCD1046

(CD - 2 discs)

$17.99

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days.

Monteverdi: L'Orfeo

Monteverdi: L'Orfeo


John Mark Ainsley, Brigitte Balleys, Michael Chance, David Cordier, Mario Luperi, Russell Smythe

Tragicomedia and Concerto Palatino, Stephen Stubbs, stage direction by Pierre Audi

Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch

“Simply the most compelling account of L'Orfeo yet produced” BBC Music Magazine, December 2005

BBC Music Magazine

DVD Choice - December 2005

DVD Video

Region: 0

Format: PAL

Opus Arte - OA0928D

(DVD Video - 2 discs)

$39.49

Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days.


DVD Video

Region: 0

Format: NTSC

Opus Arte - OA0929D

(DVD Video - 2 discs)

$29.35

Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days.

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