Monteverdi – L’Orfeo (Gardiner, Archiv Produktion) 2 CDs

UPC: 028941925022

MPN: 419 250-2 

Brand Name: Archiv Produktion / Universal Music Group

Overview

Claudio Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (1607) is often hailed as the first true masterpiece of opera. In this landmark 1987 Archiv Produktion recording, John Eliot Gardiner conducts The Monteverdi Choir, The English Baroque Soloists, and His Majesties Sagbutts & Cornetts in a historically informed performance that combines authenticity with dramatic vitality. Featuring Anthony Rolfe Johnson as Orfeo and Anne Sofie von Otter, Willard White, and Julianne Baird among a stellar cast, this production remains one of the definitive interpretations of Monteverdi’s revolutionary work.

Product Features

• Format: 2 Audio CDs
• Playing Time: [Approx. 2 hours – opera complete]
• Genre: Classical – Early Baroque Opera
• Label: Archiv Produktion / Universal Music Group
• Release Year: 1987
• Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner
• Ensembles: The Monteverdi Choir, The English Baroque Soloists, His Majesties Sagbutts & Cornetts
• Language: Italian (with booklet & libretto)
• Recording Type: Digital Stereo

Interesting Facts

• L’Orfeo premiered in Mantua in 1607 and is considered a cornerstone of the operatic tradition, blending myth, poetry, and music in a new dramatic form.
• Gardiner’s interpretation is praised for its energy, rhythmic precision, and stylistic fidelity, marking a milestone in the early music revival.
• The cast includes leading interpreters of Baroque repertoire, such as Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Anne Sofie von Otter, Willard White, and Michael Chance.
• The inclusion of period instruments by The English Baroque Soloists and His Majesties Sagbutts & Cornetts captures the authentic sound world of Monteverdi’s Mantua.
• This Archiv recording remains a reference for both scholars and enthusiasts, embodying the ideals of historically informed performance practice.

Cast & Roles

• Orfeo – Anthony Rolfe Johnson
• Euridice – Julianne Baird
• La Musica / Ninfa – Lynne Dawson
• Messaggiera – Anne Sofie von Otter
• Speranza – Nancy Argenta
• Proserpina – Diana Montague
• Plutone – Willard White
• Caronte – John Tomlinson
• Pastori & Spiriti – Mark Tucker, Nigel Robson, Michael Chance, Simon Birchall, Howard Milner, Nicolas Robertson, Mary Nichols

Publishers

• Publisher: Archiv Produktion (Polydor International GmbH, Hamburg)
• Year: 1987
• Country of Manufacture: West Germany (original edition)

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