Recordings of early Baroque opera from Scandinavia are not common; this one, from a collection of Swedish and Finnish groups led by keyboardist Fredrik Malmberg, may be the first recording from the region of Monteverdi's pioneering opera L'Orfeo. Recorded in 2019 (not 2020, as some online sources state), it's quite fresh and is unusually compelling for general audiences, for whom this five-act opera may sometimes be a slog. Monteverdi did not score the opera in the conventional sense but gave a list of 41 instruments with ...
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Recordings of early Baroque opera from Scandinavia are not common; this one, from a collection of Swedish and Finnish groups led by keyboardist Fredrik Malmberg, may be the first recording from the region of Monteverdi's pioneering opera L'Orfeo. Recorded in 2019 (not 2020, as some online sources state), it's quite fresh and is unusually compelling for general audiences, for whom this five-act opera may sometimes be a slog. Monteverdi did not score the opera in the conventional sense but gave a list of 41 instruments with instructions for their general use. This leaves specific interpreters quite a bit of latitude, which many have taken as license to create a big sound with heavy continuo sections. Malmberg takes a different approach, with smaller groupings that allow the singers to come through in lighter, natural voices that carry the drama effectively. The famous "Possente spirto" from Act III, where Orfeo declares his identity ("Orfeo son' io") and his intention to pursue his Euridice into the...
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