2: The First Great Triumph
Gluck's Orpheus and Eurydice was the first expression of the more naturalistic opera to which he aspired. Written in Italian for Vienna, he later adapted it in French for the audience in Paris. Donald Macleod presents excerpts from both the Italian and the French versions, in classic recordings of performances in Italian by Janet Baker as Orfeo and Elisabeth Speiser as Euridice, conducted by Raymond Leppard ; and in French by Leopold Simoneau as Orphee and Suzanne Danco as Eurydice, conducted by Hans Rcsbaud.