Orfeo in Gluck’s opera Orfeo & Euridice has become a signature role for Jakub Józef Orliński on stages around the world. Now the countertenor embodies the mythical Greek bard in a recording that for him is the realisation of a dream. Made in his native Warsaw, it is conducted by the dynamic Stefan Plewniak and the instrumentalists and chorus are drawn from his ensemble Il Giardino d’Amore. The roles of Orfeo’s wife Euridice and the god Amore are taken by two further rising stars of the opera and concert stage: the sopranos Elsa Dreisig and Fatma Said. Orliński has acted as producer, casting director, and, with Stefan Plewniak, joint artistic director of the recording. “One of my great dreams as a student was to sing the role of Orfeo,” says Orliński, “and now I’ve been lucky enough to perform Orfeo & Euridice in different settings … Working on those different versions I achieved my very own interpretation. I knew that I would love to create my own personal version of the piece, to record my dream role, expressing myself in the way I wanted … I had a clear vision of what I wanted to do with it and how. The most important thing for me as a musician is to have great collaborators, and I couldn’t imagine a better team. Everyone was so willing to make the most of every single take during our long recording sessions. I am really grateful that I can work with people with so much passion … And now I invite you to follow Orfeo on his journey and listen to what the power of love can do.”

Vivaldi was already a renowned opera composer in Venice and throughout Italy, but he gained exceptional notoriety throughout Europe when the concerti constituting his Quattro Stagioni were published in Amsterdam. These theme concertos, which embraced the imagination of Arcimboldo, gained top billing in private and public concerts. But their composition for solo violin has impressive virtuosity and expression: Stefan Plewniak becomes both unchained and sensual in them, not giving the Orchestre de l'Opera Royal any opportunity for respite in intensely sounding out these seasons that are so emblematic of Baroque Europe!

Les Castrats furent les premières « stars » de l'histoire de la musique. Ils tenaient souvent le rôle-titre (et à Rome tous les rôles féminins des opéras), créant sur le plateau une véritable compétition de virtuosité et d'émotion entre les chanteurs, dont le public était l'arbitre par ses demandes de bis. Et si trois des meilleurs interprètes de notre temps faisaient eux aussi ce Concours de Virtuosité ? Voici Valer Sabadus (Arad, 1986), Filippo Mineccia (Florence, 1981), et Samuel Mariño (Caracas, 1993). Airs virtuoses, duos d'amour et trios combatifs faisaient triompher les Castrats : à chacun de trouver son vainqueur !

What if the tour de force of French opera in the Age of Enlightenment was Scylla et Glaucus? At the age of 50, the famous violinist Leclair decided to write his first operatic piece, investing irrepressible energy in it. The drama is unrelenting: the nymph Scylla spurns the advances of the Demigod Glaucus, who seeks out the sorceress Circe to cast a spell on her; Circe is in love with Glaucus, drives Scylla to madness and turns her into a deadly rock… An infernal scene, an ocean storm and final cataclysm are employed to give striking relief to this trio of unappeased love, the effusions of irresistible beauty. The conductor and violinist Stefan Plewniak conducts a glorious stage of soloists in the eddies of vengeance!

Napoleon was intensely enthusiastic about opera. The conquering music lover called for the young Italian star, the contralto Giuseppina Grassini, and the most magnificent castrato: Girolamo Crescentini to perform for him. He was the only singer to move the Emperor to tears. Crescentini was invited to France from 1806 to 1812. He sang at glorious evening performances at the Tuileries Imperial Chapel with Grassini, named First Cantatrice to His Majesty the Emperor – and his mistress. Napoleon had an incredible passion for Italian opera, as shown by the 143 Italian soloist concerts given at the Court between 1810 and 1815! Zingarelli’s Giulietta e Romeo opera was a major performance given by Grassini and Crescentini.