MONTEVERDI L’Orfeo
$28.00
“A high achievement…. Bears comparison with the finest performances of the work. Highly recommended.”
–FANFARE Record Magazine
A high achievement…. Bears comparison with the finest performances of the work. Tenor Gareth Morrell brings liquid sound and exquisite taste to the title role. Much of the credit belongs to Sorrell’s constantly alert direction. Hardly a moment goes by when an insight is not being conveyed. Highly recommended.
–FANFARE Record Magazine
“Sorrell has developed one of the most enterprising and plucky early-music ensembles in the nation today.”
–AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE
“Apollo’s Fire is a stellar advocate of Monteverdi and baroque music. Sorrell conducts a performance of remarkable elegance and dramatic thrust, and the instrumental playing is crisp, noble and beautifully balanced.”
–THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER
Act I
Toccata
La Musica: I come the high Parnassus
Shepherd: On this delightful day
Chorus: Come, Hymen, come with blessing
Nymph: Muses, in lofty Parnassus
Chorus: Come from the mountains
Shepherd: O noble singer
Orfeo: Rose of the heavens
Euridice: How can you know, Orfeo
Chorus: Come from the mountains
Chorus: Come, Hymen, come with blessing
Shepherd: Darkness turned into day
Orfeo & Shepherd: Let none despair
Nymph & Shepherds: For though the tempest
Shepherds: And when the frost
Chorus: See him come
Act II
Sinfonia
Orfeo & Shepherd: In our enchanting meadows
Orfeo: Shady woods, do you remember
Shepherd: O see, Orfeo
Messenger: Ah, bitter fortune
Shepherd: Ah, bitter fortune
Orfeo: You have left me
Chorus: Ah, bitter fortune
Messenger: But I whose tongue
Sinfonia
Shepherds: Who shall restore our losses
Chorus: Ah, bitter fortune
Chorus: Ah, bitter fortune
Ritornello
Act III
Sinfonia
Orfeo: Hope, you are still my escort
Hope: Here the desolate marshes
Orfeo: Goddess, ah, why do you leave me
Charon: O you, that ere your death approach
Sinfonia
Orfeo: I now implore you
Orfeo: But you, noble and wise
Charon: With your melodious playing
Orfeo: Ah! Miserable lover
Sinfonia
Orfeo: He sleeps now
Sinfonia
Chorus of Spirits: Now sing praises to man
Act IV
Sinfonia
Proserpina: My lord, this wretched mortal
Pluto: Fate’s laws unswerving
Spirit: O Ruler of the eternal realm
Prosperina: Lord, what thanks can I render
Chorus of Spirits: Compassion, love and mercy
Spirit: Here is the noble singer
Orfeo: O my lyre, who can be worthy
Orfeo: But while I’m singing
Spirit: You broke the contract
Euridice: Ah! Vision far too blissful
Spirit: Turn again to the darkness
Orfeo: My dearest life
Sinfonia
Act V
Ritornello
Orfeo: Once more, green fields
Orfeo: All other women full of lies
Sinfonia
Apollo: Why suffer torment
Orfeo & Apollo: We rise, rejoicing
Ritornello
Moresca
Orfeo: All other women full of lies
Chorus of Bacchant Women
Bacchante: Flown he is
Bacchante: ‘Twas you, O Lord
Bacchante: Yes, you, the tamer of the East
Moresca
