The quest for a definitive recording of Gluck’s 1774 Paris version of Orphée et Euridice continues apace with this new entry from Naxos. As a...

The quest for a definitive recording of Gluck’s 1774 Paris version of Orphée et Euridice continues apace with this new entry from Naxos. As a first recording from the Opera Lafayette Orchestra and Chorus and their conductor Ryan Brown, it’s an impressive achievement. Brown has a good feel for this genre, and the Opera Lafayette is not at all outclassed by more celebrated groups, such as the Musiciens du Louvre... For this reviewer, the lack in the Naxos recording of the magnificent concluding ballet and the exquisite “Tendre Amour” trio, both of which are present in every other set of the 1774 Orphée et Euridice, is a serious disqualifier, but nonetheless the set does have an ace up its sleeve. In addition to the good conducting and orchestral playing mentioned above, Naxos offers as its Orphée, Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, a singer who is probably the closest approximation that I’ve heard to a genuine French high tenor (haut-contre). It is an extraordinary pleasure to hear him sing the high-lying tessitura without any strain at all. As the first of his voice type to record Orphée, the tenor’s singing is nothing short of revelatory. - James Camner, FANFARE