Episodes
| Series | Episode | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 01 | 20070924 | With Donald Macleod. Remembered today as a composer who reformed the narrow conventions of Italian and French opera, Gluck was a fascinatingly unique composer. He deliberately stood aloof from any school or tradition, declaring he wanted to write 'music belonging to all nations'. Overture (Orfeo ed Euridice) Freiburg Baroque Orchestra Rene Jacobs (conductor) Non vi turbate, no, pietosi dei (Alceste) Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano) The English Concert Trevor Pinnock (harpsichord/director) Iphigenie en Aulide (Act 2, scenes 6-7) Achille - John Aler (tenor) Agamemnon - Jose van Dam (bass-baritone) Orchestra de l'Opera de Lyon John Eliot Gardiner (conductor) Chaconne (Alessandro) Musica Antiqua Koln Reinhard Goebel (conductor) Iphigenie en Tauride (Act 3) Iphigenie - Mireille Delunsch (soprano) Oreste - Simon Keenlyside (baritone) Une Pretresse - Claire Delgado-Boge (soprano) Pylade - Yann Beuron (tenor) Les Musiciens du Louvre Marc Minkowski (conductor). Gluck stood aloof from any tradition, declaring he wrote 'music belonging to all nations'. |
| 2007 | 02 | 20070925 | Donald Macleod traces the young Gluck's journeys across Europe before he settled in Vienna to write his landmark opera Orfeo ed Euridice. Though the Bohemian composer's first language was Czech, he learnt his operatic trade in Milan and once even wowed Londoners with his party trick of performing on tuned wine glasses. Overture (La rencontre imprevue) Orchestre de l'Opera de Lyon John Eliot Gardiner (conductor) Tremo fra' dubbi miei (La clemenza di Tito) Cecilia Bartoli (mezzo-soprano) Akademie fur Alte Musik, Berlin Bernhard Forck (conductor) Larghetto and Allegro non troppo (Don Juan) English Baroque Soloists Orfeo ed Euridice (Act 3) Orfeo - Bernarda Fink (mezzo-soprano) Euridice - Veronica Cangemi (soprano) Amore - Maria Cristina Kiehr (soprano) RIAS Chamber Choir Freiburg Baroque Orchestra Rene Jacobs (conductor). |
| 2007 | 03 | 20070926 | In his lifetime, Gluck's achievements were overshadowed by a fiery debate on the relationship between words and music in opera. Gluck's manifesto, laid out in the preface to his opera Alceste, was to 'restrict music to its true function of serving poetry'. Donald Macleod investigates. Sinfonia and Marche (Alessandro) Musica Antiqua Koln Reinhard Goebel (conductor) Alceste (Act 3, scenes 3-5) Alceste - Theresa Ringholz (soprano) Admeto - Justin Lavender (tenor) Evandro - Jonas Degerfeldt (tenor) Ismene - Miriam Treichl (soprano) Gran sacerdote/Apollo - Lars Martinsson (baritone) Eumelo - Adam Giertz (treble) Aspasia - Emelie Clausen (soprano) Un banditore - Mattias Nilsson (baritone) L'Oracolo - Johan Lilja (bass) Drottningholm Theatre Chorus and Orchestra Arnold Ostman (conductor) Paride ed Elena (Overture; Act 1) Paride - Magdalena Kozena (mezzo-soprano) Amore - Carolyn Sampson (soprano) Gabrieli Consort and Players Paul McCreesh (conductor). Gluck's manifesto for opera was to 'restrict music to its true function of serving poetry |
| 2007 | 04 | 20070927 | Donald Macleod looks at Gluck's decision in 1774 to apply his radical aesthetic ideals within the narrow traditions of French opera. Triumph overcame initial hostility with the Paris premiere of Iphigenie en Aulide and a French version of Orfeo. Air gai (Danse, Act 2, Iphigenie en Aulide) Orchestre de l'Opera de Lyon John Eliot Gardiner (conductor) Orphee et Euridice (Act 2, scenes 1-4) Orphee - Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano) Eurydice - Barbara Hendricks (soprano) Monteverdi Choir Orchestra de l'Opera de Lyon Iphigenie en Aulide (Act 3) Iphigenie - Lynne Dawson (soprano) Arcas - Rene Schirrer (baritone) Achille - John Aler (tenor) Clytemnestre - Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano) Calchas - Gilles Cachemaille (bass-baritone) Diane - Guillemette Laurens (mezzo-soprano) Agamemnon - Jose van Dam (bass-baritone) John Eliot Gardiner (conductor). Gluck's decided in 1774 to apply his radical aesthetics to the traditions of French opera. |
| 2007 | 05 LAST | 20070928 | Donald Macleod concludes his survey of Gluck's rollercoaster operatic career, including his sequel to Iphigenie en Aulide, and a French farce that sent him back to Vienna with his tail between his legs. Chaconne (Alceste, Act 3) English Baroque Soloists John Eliot Gardiner (conductor) Armide (Act 2) Artemidore - Yann Beuron (tenor) Renaud - Charles Workman (tenor) Hidraot - Laurent Naouri (baritone) Armide - Mireille Delunsch (soprano) Une Naiade - Valerie Gabail (soprano) Deux coryphees en echo - Sandrine Rondot, Myriam Sosson (sopranos) Coryphees - Valerie Gabail, Thierry Gregoire, Jean-Christophe Hurtaud, Marcos Loureiro de Sa Une Bergere - Nicole Heaston (soprano) Choeur des Musiciens du Louvre Les Musiciens du Louvre Marc Minkowski (conductor) Iphigenie en Tauride (Act 4) Iphigenie - Diana Montague (mezzo-soprano) Oreste - Thomas Allen (baritone) Une femme greque - Daniella Borst (soprano) Thoas - Rene Massis (bass-baritone) Pylade - John Aler (tenor) Monteverdi Choir Orchestre de l'Opera Lyon John Eliot Gardiner (conductor). Gluck's operatic career included his sequel to Iphigenie en Aulide and a French farce. |
| 2008 | 01 | 20080728 | With Donald Macleod. Remembered today as a composer who reformed the narrow conventions of Italian and French opera, Gluck was a fascinatingly unique composer. He deliberately stood aloof from any school or tradition, declaring he wanted to write 'music belonging to all nations'. Overture (Orfeo ed Euridice) Freiburg Baroque Orchestra Rene Jacobs (conductor) Non vi turbate, no, pietosi dei (Alceste) Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano) The English Concert Trevor Pinnock (harpsichord/director) Iphigenie en Aulide (Act 2, scenes 6-7) Achille - John Aler (tenor) Agamemnon - Jose van Dam (bass-baritone) Orchestra de l'Opera de Lyon John Eliot Gardiner (conductor) Chaconne (Alessandro) Musica Antiqua Koln Reinhard Goebel (conductor) Iphigenie en Tauride (Act 3) Iphigenie - Mireille Delunsch (soprano) Oreste - Simon Keenlyside (baritone) Une Pretresse - Claire Delgado-Boge (soprano) Pylade - Yann Beuron (tenor) Les Musiciens du Louvre Marc Minkowski (conductor). Gluck stood aloof from any tradition, declaring he wrote 'music belonging to all nations'. |
| 2008 | 02 | 20080729 | Donald Macleod traces the young Gluck's journeys across Europe before he settled in Vienna to write his landmark opera Orfeo ed Euridice. Though the Bohemian composer's first language was Czech, he learnt his operatic trade in Milan and once even wowed Londoners with his party trick of performing on tuned wine glasses. Overture (La rencontre imprevue) Orchestre de l'Opera de Lyon John Eliot Gardiner (conductor) Tremo fra' dubbi miei (La clemenza di Tito) Cecilia Bartoli (mezzo-soprano) Akademie fur Alte Musik, Berlin Bernhard Forck (conductor) Larghetto and Allegro non troppo (Don Juan) English Baroque Soloists Orfeo ed Euridice (Act 3) Orfeo - Bernarda Fink (mezzo-soprano) Euridice - Veronica Cangemi (soprano) Amore - Maria Cristina Kiehr (soprano) RIAS Chamber Choir Freiburg Baroque Orchestra Rene Jacobs (conductor). |
| 2008 | 03 | 20080730 | In his lifetime, Gluck's achievements were overshadowed by a fiery debate on the relationship between words and music in opera. Gluck's manifesto, laid out in the preface to his opera Alceste, was to 'restrict music to its true function of serving poetry'. Donald Macleod investigates. Sinfonia and Marche (Alessandro) Musica Antiqua Koln Reinhard Goebel (conductor) Alceste (Act 3, scenes 3-5) Alceste - Theresa Ringholz (soprano) Admeto - Justin Lavender (tenor) Evandro - Jonas Degerfeldt (tenor) Ismene - Miriam Treichl (soprano) Gran sacerdote/Apollo - Lars Martinsson (baritone) Eumelo - Adam Giertz (treble) Aspasia - Emelie Clausen (soprano) Un banditore - Mattias Nilsson (baritone) L'Oracolo - Johan Lilja (bass) Drottningholm Theatre Chorus and Orchestra Arnold Ostman (conductor) Paride ed Elena (Overture; Act 1) Paride - Magdalena Kozena (mezzo-soprano) Amore - Carolyn Sampson (soprano) Gabrieli Consort and Players Paul McCreesh (conductor). Gluck's manifesto for opera was to 'restrict music to its true function of serving poetry |
| 2008 | 04 | 20080731 | Donald Macleod looks at Gluck's decision in 1774 to apply his radical aesthetic ideals within the narrow traditions of French opera. Triumph overcame initial hostility with the Paris premiere of Iphigenie en Aulide and a French version of Orfeo. Air gai (Danse, Act 2, Iphigenie en Aulide) Orchestre de l'Opera de Lyon John Eliot Gardiner (conductor) Orphee et Euridice (Act 2, scenes 1-4) Orphee - Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano) Eurydice - Barbara Hendricks (soprano) Monteverdi Choir Orchestra de l'Opera de Lyon Iphigenie en Aulide (Act 3) Iphigenie - Lynne Dawson (soprano) Arcas - Rene Schirrer (baritone) Achille - John Aler (tenor) Clytemnestre - Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano) Calchas - Gilles Cachemaille (bass-baritone) Diane - Guillemette Laurens (mezzo-soprano) Agamemnon - Jose van Dam (bass-baritone) John Eliot Gardiner (conductor). Gluck's decided in 1774 to apply his radical aesthetics to the traditions of French opera. |
| 2008 | 05 LAST | 20080801 | Donald Macleod concludes his survey of Gluck's rollercoaster operatic career, including his sequel to Iphigenie en Aulide, and a French farce that sent him back to Vienna with his tail between his legs. Chaconne (Alceste, Act 3) English Baroque Soloists John Eliot Gardiner (conductor) Armide (Act 2) Artemidore - Yann Beuron (tenor) Renaud - Charles Workman (tenor) Hidraot - Laurent Naouri (baritone) Armide - Mireille Delunsch (soprano) Une Naiade - Valerie Gabail (soprano) Deux coryphees en echo - Sandrine Rondot, Myriam Sosson (sopranos) Coryphees - Valerie Gabail, Thierry Gregoire, Jean-Christophe Hurtaud, Marcos Loureiro de Sa Une Bergere - Nicole Heaston (soprano) Choeur des Musiciens du Louvre Les Musiciens du Louvre Marc Minkowski (conductor) Iphigenie en Tauride (Act 4) Iphigenie - Diana Montague (mezzo-soprano) Oreste - Thomas Allen (baritone) Une femme greque - Daniella Borst (soprano) Thoas - Rene Massis (bass-baritone) Pylade - John Aler (tenor) Monteverdi Choir Orchestre de l'Opera Lyon John Eliot Gardiner (conductor). Gluck's operatic career included his sequel to Iphigenie en Aulide and a French farce. |