This is a good Orfeo, an amalgam of the original (1762) version and later, attractive additions. It also includes the bravura, razzle-dazzle aria that ends the first act (that may or may not actually be by Gluck). This last detail is clearly to showcase contralto Ewa Podles, who does not disappoint. Her voice is a force of nature–huge, agile, brilliant from C to C to C. As if the aria itself were not florid enough, Podles gives us a cadenza at the end that would be a parody of a cadenza were it not sung so spectacularly. Elsewhere, Podles is an impassioned Orfeo, but she rarely implies the grief-stricken lover the music asks for: she can imbue her tone with great intensity and urgency, but you’ll miss the pathos many others bring to the part. As pure singing, this is museum-worthy; Podles has to be heard to be believed.
Elena de la Merced isn’t always reliably in tune as Amor, but she actually makes the role vivid, and Ana Rodrigo is an absolutely lovely Euridice. Conductor Peter Maag leads his Spanish orchestra and chorus with nothing anachronistic; this may not be an “early music” performance (Podles’ generous use of vibrato alone removes it from that category), but there’s both elegance and snap when needed. The story unfolds naturally and with feeling, the ballet sequences are handsomely played, and the Furies are furious.
Taped during a live performance (with an audience seemingly absent except for applause at the end), somehow the whole does not add up to a reading that you’d want to hear over and over. The Gardiner recording (with Derek Lee Ragin) is preferable for Orfeo; the Rosbaud (with Leopold Simoneau) is the choice for Orphée. If you want a mezzo, Shirley Verrett on RCA is at her peak, and she has just the limpidness that Podles is missing. I don’t mean to denigrate this set–it’s very good and Podles is a remarkable singer–but the competition is very strong.
