Christoph Willibald Gluck: Alceste (Staatsoper Stuttgart, 2006) (NTSC) (Arthaus DVD)

Christoph Willibald Gluck
ALCESTE

Tragic Opera in three Acts; Sung in French; 1776 Paris Version

Alceste: Catherine Naglestad
Admète: Donald Kaasch
Évandre: Bernhard Schneider
Chorus Leader: Catriona Smith
High Priest of Apollo / Thanatos, God of Hades: Johan Rydh
Voice of the Oracle: Nam Soo Kim
Apollo: Motti Kastón
Heracles: Michael Ebbecke
A Herald: Wolfgang Probst

Staatsopernchor and Staatsorchester Stuttgart
Constantinos Carydis, conductor

Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito, stage director

Live recording from the Staatsoper Stuttgart, 2005

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo
Region code: 0
Subtitle Languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian
Menu Languages: English, German, French, Spanish
Running time: 165 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

"Naglestad's Alceste is passionate and torn, voluptuous of voice and compelling on stage. Carydis delivers wonderfully tasteful, intelligent Gluck, full of detail and exquisitely phrased. The rest of the cast is solid, and all of the acting is superb." Financial Times

The Vienna version of Alceste was Gluck's second reform opera after Orfeo ed Euridice. The libretto and music revolve around a self-sacrificing main character, and it is quite probable that the courageous bearing of Empress Maria Theresia while mourning her husband provided Gluck with the impetus for this material.

Alceste is reminiscent of Beethoven's subsequent Fidelio as a pure anthem to conjugal love. As Orfeo before it, Alceste did not achieve major success at the first performance of the Vienna version on 26 December 1767, but instead became widely-known when performed as a tragédie opéra nine years later in Paris, after the addition of ballet music in French, the version we see performed here.

This production from 2006 was acclaimed as the Opera Production of the Year, by German magazine Opernwelt. The title role is performed by Catherine Naglestad, voted Female Opera Singer of the Year 2006.

"Stuttgart represents one of the most lauded diadems amongst Germany's operatic crown jewels. The Staatsoper here has consistently received theatre of the year awards from German critics. For this premiere of comparative rarity Gluck's Alceste, the company demonstrated just how that reputation is justified. … This Wieler/Morabito Alceste is a production of Festival standard, an experience that is grippingly imaginative and sets the pulse racing with anticipation." The Opera Critic