It is good to have these two recordings of Gluck's great opera in the CD catalogue, and I would welcome the Simoneau one with particular warmth. There is in fact no version of Orphee et Euridice as Gluck wrote it otherwise available (the Gardiner recording on EMI, 2/90, listed under the French title, is a late, post-Berlioz version sung in that language, and far from the 1774 original). The central role is of course appallingly difficult for a modern tenor, with its strenuously high tessitura; it has also been recorded by Gedda (Col-umbia, 4/58—nla), but the present version, made in 1956, is generally and rightly regarded as a classic because of the beautifully even-toned, poised singing of Leopold Simoneau, who nego-tiates the high music with almost nonchalant ease and shows throughout a refinement of style that is very much his own—he is ardent, to be sure, but in a controlled way that clearly defines the opera's framework as he sees it. He is supported by admirable performances from Pierrette Alarie, a charming and tender Amour, and Suzanne Danco, graceful and at times urgent as Euridice. The support of conductor and choir is rather less satisfactory by today's standards. Rosbaud's tempos are mostly rather deliberate and there is not much of drama or vitality; and the 1956 orchestra often sounds heavy in texture. The text is claimed as the complete 1774 one, but that is not quite correct; the virtuoso ariette that Gluck used to end Act 1 is omitted (it may not be Gluck's own composition, but he used it just the same), and several of the dances are omitted, notably the final chaconne. Still, the recording has many virtues of style, and of uniqueness.
The Glyndebourne cast recording is much superior technically—excellent orchestral playing from the LPO, first-rate choral singing, and conducting of a very high order from Raymond Leppard, whose sense of the drama is far stronger and whose management of the ballet music, beautifully timed and shaped, is a constant delight (much more is included than in the Rosbaud version). The text is the traditional Italo-French one, using the best of everything, a policy that on the whole I would deprecate while understanding why it is a temptation. Orpheus is wonderfully sung by Dame Janet Baker, with characteristic emotional force and concentration, even though it was never to my mind one of her greatest roles and she isn't in fact in her very best voice here. The Amor is only adequate; the Euridice is musical and accomplished but not outstanding. The whole performance bears the marks of its theatrical origins, and among the traditional versions it certainly ranks very high (as too does the Verrett one under Fasano on RCA). My own preference among the 'pure' Italian versions is Michael Chance's (for Bernius on Sony); for the 'pure' French version and a composite one you could not go far wrong with the sets reviewed here.'