Gluck - The marriage of Hercules and Hebe (Koch) [2000]

1 - Le Nozze d'Ercole e d'Ebe, opera in 2 acts, Wq. 12: Sinfonia
2 - Le Nozze d'Ercole e d'Ebe, opera in 2 acts, Wq. 12: Rezitativ Hebe/Juno: Halte ein
3 - Le Nozze d'Ercole e d'Ebe, opera in 2 acts, Wq. 12: Aria Juno: Torheit istes stets
4 - Le Nozze d'Ercole e d'Ebe, opera in 2 acts, Wq. 12: Rezitativ Hebe: Ich glaube deinen Worten
5 - Le Nozze d'Ercole e d'Ebe, opera in 2 acts, Wq. 12: Aria Hebe: Willst du über den Ozean fahren
6 - Le Nozze d'Ercole e d'Ebe, opera in 2 acts, Wq. 12: Rezitativ Hebe/Herkules: Du wirst mich nicht bezwingen
7 - Le Nozze d'Ercole e d'Ebe, opera in 2 acts, Wq. 12: Duett Hebe/Herkules: Laßt mich in Frieden
8 - Le Nozze d'Ercole e d'Ebe, opera in 2 acts, Wq. 12: Rezitativ Hebe/Juno: Ach Mutter, was muß ich leiden
9 - Le Nozze d'Ercole e d'Ebe, opera in 2 acts, Wq. 12: Aria Herkules: Eurilla, wo bist du
10 - Le Nozze d'Ercole e d'Ebe, opera in 2 acts, Wq. 12: Rezitativ Hebe/Herkukes: Allerschöbste Eurilla
11 - Le Nozze d'Ercole e d'Ebe, opera in 2 acts, Wq. 12: Aria Hebe: Holde Lust ein süß' Verlangen
12 - Le Nozze d'Ercole e d'Ebe, opera in 2 acts, Wq. 12: Rezitativ Juno/Herkules: O weh! Ich sehe Juno
13 - Le Nozze d'Ercole e d'Ebe, opera in 2 acts, Wq. 12: Aria Herkules: Zu große Wonne
14 - Le Nozze d'Ercole e d'Ebe, opera in 2 acts, Wq. 12: Rezitativ Juno/Jupiter/Herkules/Hebe: Was seh' ich
15 - Le Nozze d'Ercole e d'Ebe, opera in 2 acts, Wq. 12: Aria Jupiter: Ich will vor wilden Stürmen
16 - Le Nozze d'Ercole e d'Ebe, opera in 2 acts, Wq. 12: Rezitativ Juno: Wir sind am Ziele
17 - Le Nozze d'Ercole e d'Ebe, opera in 2 acts, Wq. 12: Herkules/Hebe/Juno/Jupiter: Zwietracht und Not sind zu Ende

Rosemarie Ronisch – soprano
Jutta Vulpius – soprano
Gertraud Prenzlow – contralto
Peter Schreier – tenor

Berlin Chamber Orchestra
Helmut Koch – conductor

Gluck's "The Marriage of Hercules and Hebe" is the sort of chamber style opera, written on the occasion of a royal aristocratic wedding, with which Gluck lovers should be familiar. For those who cherish the relatively modest number of Gluck's works this is a good straw to grasp at and be happy. Berlin Classics does an extraordinary job of rescuing this performance from the mid 60's and making it sound both natural and as if it could have been recorded yesterday; the same difficult magic that they perform on other recordings ---Carl Martin, amazon.com

Composed quite early in Gluck's career--well before he came to fame as an important reformer of the operatic genre--'Le nozze d'Ercole e d'Ebe' (performed in German on this recording from 1964), is a representative sample of opera between the Baroque and Classical periods. Typical in its musical forms and in its function as aristocratic entertainment, this "opera-serenade" told an allegorical tale of the marriage of Hercules and Hebe, in celebration of a lavish royal wedding in 1747.

Gluck had already had some operatic success in London and Milan, and recycled some arias in conventional da capo form from earlier projects for this brief work. Of drama there is little, but the music is lovely and befitting the pastoral topic. The duets between the lovers, with both parts sung by sopranos, appealingly combine the two equal voices, and Jutta Vulpius as Hercules makes a strong impression. The lone male voice, that of Jupiter as sung by Peter Schreier, enters very near the end to bestow paternal benevolence over the proceedings. Overall, a worthwhile release, especially for listeners curious about the many works Gluck produced prior to his late Parisian masterpieces. ---arkivmusic.com

download: uploaded yandex 4shared mediafire solidfiles mega zalivalka filecloudio anonfiles oboom

back