This week, we’ll survey the trials and tribulations of mortals and immortals, brought to life by the likes of Berlioz, Gluck, and Handel. Bill muses on works inspired or generated by myths, with emphasis on the many symphonic and operatic works telling the stories of Orpheus (aka Orphee, L’Orfeo, or Black Orpheus) who was the first musician, the mortal to whom the gods gave the gift of music. We will listen to Monteverdi’s opera L’Orfeo performed by The English Baroque Soloists and His Majesty’s Sagbutts & Cornetts. Bill also takes a close look at works about Troilus and Cressida, Dido and Aeneas, and Venus and Adonis.
Hit or Myth
Playlist
Episode 1
Philip Glass: Interlude from Orphee
Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra/ Davies
Symphony No. 2
Nonesuch 79496; 2:24
Claudio Monteverdi: L’Orfeo (excerpts)
English Baroque Soloists/ Monteverdi Choir/His Majesty’s Sagbutts &
Cornetts/ Gardiner; Johnson, Baird, von Otter, soloists
L’Orfeo
Archiv 419250; 22:10
Christoph Willibald Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice (excerpts)
Orchestra & Chorus of the San Francisco Opera/ Runnicles; Larmore, Upshaw & Hagley, soloists
Orphée Et Eurydice
Teldec 4509-98418; 3:33, 6:04
Igor Stravinsky: Orpheus (excerpts)
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Stravinsky: Orpheus; Danses concertantes
DG 459 644; 10:06
Luiz Bonfa: “Manha de Carnaval” from Black Orpheus
Paula Robison and friends
Brasileirinho
Omega 3016; 2:45
Episode 2
Antonio Carlos Jobim: “A Felicidade” from Black Orpheus
Paula Robison and friends
Brasileirinho
Omega 3016; 3:36
Franz Liszt: Symphonic Poems / Sinfonische Dichtung / Poèmes Symphoniques – 4 Orpheus No. 4
Gewandhaus Leipzig/ Masur
Symphonic Poems
EMI 69022; 9:34
Claudio Monteverdi: L’Orfeo Act IV
English Baroque Soloists/ Monteverdi Choir/His Majesty’s Sagbutts &
Cornetts/ Gardiner; Johnson, Baird & von Otter, soloists
Monteverdi: L’Orfeo
Archiv 419250; 15:49
Christoph Willibald Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice (excerpts)
Orchestra and Chorus of the San Francisco Opera/ Runnicles; Hagley, Upshaw & Larmore, solists
Orphée Et Eurydice
Teldec 4509-98418; 6:16, 7:26
Igor Stravinsky: Pas de deux & Apotheosis from Orpheus
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Danses concertantes
DG 459 644; 5:16, 1:35
Episode 3
William Walton: Prelude and Seascape & Scherzo from Troilus and Cressida
London Phil/ Thomson
Walton: Symphony No. 2
Chandos 8772; 16:32
Hector Berlioz: Royal Hunt and Storm from The Trojans
LSO/Davis
Berlioz: Les Troyens
LSO 0010; 9:07
Henry Purcell: Dido and Aeneas – Act III
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment/Jacobs; Dawson, Joshua & Finley, soloists
Dido & Aeneas
HM 901683; 23:09
Episode 4
George Frideric Handel: “Where Shall I Fly?” from Hercules
Lausanne Chamber Orchestra/ Lopez-Cobos; Larmore, mezzo-soprano
Jennifer Larmore – Where Shall I Fly
Teldec 4509-96800; 6:25
Samuel Barber: Medea’s Meditation and Dance of Vengeance
St. Louis Symphony/ Slatkin
Music of Samuel Barber
EMI 49463; 13:02
César Franck: Psyche and Eros (excerpts)
RSO Berlin/ Ashkenazy
Franck: Symphony, Psyché, Djinns
London 425432; 10:33
John Blow: Venus and Adonis (excerpts)
London Baroque/ Medlam; Argenta, Dawson & Varcoe, soloists
Blow: Venus & Adonis
HM 901276; 18:47
Episode 5
Claude Debussy: Syrinx
Galway, flute
Clair De Lune – Music Of Debussy
RCA 7173; 2:19
Carl Nielsen: Pastorale, Op. 19, Pan and Syrinx
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/ Rattle
Sibelius: Symphony No 5; Nielsen: Symphony No. 4
EMI 64737; 8:27
Benjamin Britten: Pan, Phaeton and Bacchus from Six Metamorphoses after Ovid
Roy Carter, oboe
Anglo-American Chamber Music Series – Benjamin Britten
EMI 55398; 5:29, 3:00
Albert Roussel: Bacchus and Ariane, Suite II
Orchestre de Paris/Dutoit
Bacchus Et Ariane / Suite En Fa
Era 2292-45278; 18:36
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: “Vivat Bacchus” from Abduction from the Seraglio
Vienna Phil/Solti; Zednik, tenor
Mozart: Die Entführung Aus Dem Serail
London 417402; 1:56
Jacques Offenbach: Overture to Orpheus in the Underworld
New York Phil/ Bernstein
Bernstein Century – Bizet: Symphony No. 1
Sony 61830; 9:42; 1:00