Search - Ferdinando Bertoni, Claudio Scimone, Delores Ziegler :: Bertoni: Orfeo / Scimone, I Solisti Veneti

Standing in the shadow of Gluck

Simon | Auckland, NZ | 07/08/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"When two composers set the same text inevitable one is deemed better than the other and the other is forgotten. In this case, Gluck's opera Orfeo ed Euridice won out over Bertoni's Orfeo. They are both set to the same libretto by Calzabigi. This recording helps to shed some light on Bertoni's forgotten opera. The performance is very good indeed. Dolores Ziegler makes an ardent Euridice, partnering well with the beautiful Euridice of Cecilia Gasdia. Gluck's soprano role of Amor is now set as a tenor role, and is wonderfully filled by the great bel canto tenor Bruce Ford. In many ways the performance is more than the opera deserves. The opera itself is musically uninventive, with very few outstanding numbers. A duet for Orfeo and Euridice is one of these. The opera itself is very short: Bertoni speeds through the text and the story goes ridiculously fast. In conclusion, 4 stars for the performance, 2 for the opera itself. For early classical period enthusiasts only"