Monteverdi: 1st Opera Cycle

Product Description ------------------- He conducts Bruckner, Gershwin, Beethoven, Verdi and Johann Strauss, but at the beginning of his career Nikolaus Harnoncourt, one of the most renowned Maestros of our time, was a major pioneer of historical performance practice. With his ensemble Concentus Musicus Wien he reestablished the "Original Sound" in the concert hall of the 20th Century. From 1968 to 1974 Harnoncourt rediscovered the works of Claudio Monteverdi, resulting in three studio s of his operas. Among the vocalists recorded are Paul Esswood, Kurt Equiluz, and Max van Egmond, but also popular opera singers, such as Elisabeth Söderström, Helen Donath, and Sven-Olof Eliasson. These highly esteemed s are now re-released in a 9-CD box set together with Harnoncourt's Monteverdi album of the legendary Chathy Berberian that has been out of stock for many years. Featuring L'Orfeo, Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, and L'incoronazione de Poppea plus the great scene Lamento d 'Arianna, the sole surviving fragment of an Ariadne opera of 1608, the release is a complete edition of Monteverdi's dramatic works. These productions are still regarded as milestones that should not be labelled as "historical s", after all they sound as fresh and as ever! CD Listing: CD 1-2: L'Orfeo CD 3-5: Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria CD 6-8: L'incoronazione di Poppea CD 9: Cathy Berberian sings Monteverdi Review ------ "... Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and early-music pioneer, made influential s of the works between 1968 and 1947 with the forces of Concentus Musicus Wien and exceptional casts. They have been remastered for this handy and affordable set" --Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 2014 "The rerelease of these albums on Warner Classics after so many intervening years and subsequent performances (as well as later s by Harnoncourt himself) might have brought the realization that they have been superseded and are artifacts of their time. But the reality turns out that these versions retain a great deal of intelligence and integrity. In fact, the striking reaction a listener has today is not that styles have changed but that Harnoncourt found his way into operatic presentation in the course of this project." --Opera News

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