Monteverdi L'Orfeo opera to a libretto by Alessandro Striggio. Co-directed 2017 by Sir John Eliiot Gardiner and Elsa Rooke at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. Stars Krystian Adam (Orfeo), Hana Blažíková (La Musica / Euridice), Lucile Richardot (Messaggiera), Francesca Boncompagni (Proserpina), Gianluca Buratto (Caronte / Plutone), Kangmin Justin Kim (Speranza), and Furio Zanasi (Apollo). Sir John Eliot Gardner conducts the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir. Lighting design by Rick Fisher; costumes by Patricia Hofstede and Isabella De Sabata. Directed for TV by Sébastien Glas. Sung in Italian. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: D
This is a “staged” concert verison of L’Orfeo. It’s not an opera performance. We ran into somethings similar in 2021 with the three Mozart/Da Ponte operas in concert versions presented by Harnoncourt. Concert versions of operas can be thrilling for opera experts. But they would be unsatisfactory if you want to see an actual opera. This website is aimed at folks just getting into the fabulous world of fine arts on HDVDs, so we only review real opera performances. We give a D to the staged concerts. This doesn’t mean the performance is bad. It just means “don’t buy this unless you have a special reason.” I can say that print critics liked this show. So, if you would like to see a concert version of L’Orfeo, this production by Gardiner is probably about as good as it gets. Look at our alphalist and you will find multiple beautiful versions of the actual opera.
Here’s a trailer from the Teatro La Fenice:
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