Jacopo Peri: L’Euridice (1600) – I Solisti di Milano / Coro Polifonico di Milano / Angelo Ephrikian 2xCD

UPC: 8718247711536 

MPN: 8802153 

Brand Name: Newton Classics

Overview

This 2-CD Newton Classics release presents one of the most important milestones in Western music history — Jacopo Peri’s L’Euridice (1600), widely regarded as the first surviving opera ever composed.

Performed by I Solisti di Milano and the Coro Polifonico di Milano under Angelo Ephrikian, this historic 1967 recording captures the birth of opera in all its humanistic and expressive richness. With a libretto by Ottavio Rinuccini, L’Euridice retells the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice through early Baroque recitative and choral drama that bridges Renaissance madrigal tradition and the new stile rappresentativo.

Product Features

• Format: 2 Compact Discs (ADD Stereo)
• Total Duration: 92′20″
• Recording Dates: 10–19 June 1967
• Recording Location: Villa Litta, Milan, Italy
• Producers: Giovanni Battista Pirelli & Robert de Pieri
• Balance Engineer: Albert Vahan
• Genre: Classical / Early Opera
• Style: Early Baroque / Renaissance Transition
• Label: Newton Classics B.V. (licensed from Arcophon–Rivoalto)
• Country of Manufacture: Netherlands
• Art Direction & Design: Jan Martin Wilschut BNO, Amsterdam Hotsprings
• Cover Image: Courtesy of Erich Lessing / HH

Interesting Facts

• The Birth of Opera Premiered in Florence in 1600 for the wedding of Maria de’ Medici and King Henri IV of France, L’Euridice is the earliest complete opera to survive intact—marking the dawn of a new art form.

• Historical Authenticity Angelo Ephrikian’s Milan recording remains one of the earliest modern reconstructions of this seminal work, faithfully echoing the instruments and vocal style of the early 17th century.

• A Rarely Heard Cast The performance features Rodolfo Farolfi as Orfeo and Nerina Santini as Euridice, supported by a distinguished Italian ensemble that brings warmth and expressive immediacy to Peri’s pioneering recitatives.

Track Listing

CD 1 – 45′52″

Prologue

1. Io che d’alti sospir vaga – 1′56″ Scene I
2. Ninfe ch’i bei crin d’oro – 2′43″
3. Donne, ch’ai miei lamenti – 1′17″
4. Credi Ninfa gentile – 0′49″
5. In mille guise – 4′02″ Scene II
6. Antri, ch’ai miei lamenti – 2′53″
7. Sia pur lodato il ciel – 2′33″
8. Nel puro ardor – 4′06″
9. Per quel vago boschetto – 5′05″
10. Che narri? Ohimé! – 4′35″
11. Sconsolati desir – 8′24″ Scene III
12. Se fato invio, e rio – 7′29″

CD 2 – 46′28″

1. Se de’ boschi i verdi onori – 1′39″ Scene IV
2. Scorto da immortal guida – 4′11″
3. Funeste piagge – 8′18″
4. O degli orridi e neri – 12′03″
5. Trionfi oggi pietà – 7′51″ Scene V
6. Già del bel carro ardente – 6′28″
7. Gioite al canto mio – 3′11″
8. Biond’arcier che d’alto monte – 2′27″

Principal Cast:

• Orfeo – Rodolfo Farolfi, tenor
• Euridice – Nerina Santini, soprano
• Arcetro – Gastone Sarti, baritone
• La Tragedia / Venere / Proserpina – Adele Bonay, contralto
• Tirsi / Aminta – Franco Ghitti, tenor
• Dafne – Elena Barcis, soprano
• Plutone – Federico Davia, bass
• Caronte – Giuseppe Donadoni, bass
• Ninfa del Coro – Karla Schlean, soprano
• Pastore del Coro – Adolfo Filistad, tenor
• Coro Polifonico di Milano, chorus master Giuseppe Bertola
• I Solisti di Milano, conductor Angelo Ephrikian

Publishers

© 1967 Arcophon–Rivoalto © 2012 Newton Classics B.V. under license to STEMRA. Manufactured and printed in the Netherlands. All rights reserved.

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