Sunday, March 13, 2011

Greek Sorceress Murders Her Own Children in 1797

Medea (1964), Bernard Safran
"Médée is a French language opéra-comique by Luigi Cherubini. The libretto by François-Benoît Hoffmann (Nicolas Étienne Framéry) was based on Euripides' tragedy of Medea and Pierre Corneille's play Médée. The opera was premiered on March 13, 1797, at the Théâtre Feydeau, Paris. It met with a lukewarm reception and was not immediately revived. During the nineteenth- and most of the twentieth-century, it was usually performed in Italian translation as Medea, with the spoken dialogue replaced by recitatives not authorised by the composer." [Source]
Overture

Gwyneth Jones "Dei tuoi figli la madre"

Anna-Caterina Antonacci "Dei tuoi figli la madre"

Eileen Farrell "Dei tuoi figli la madre"

Sylvia Sass "E che? Io son Medea"

Leonie Rysanek "E che? Io son Medea"

Maria Callas "Del fiero duol che il cor frange"

Violeta Urmana "Del fiero duol che il cor frange"

Bonus clips of Giasone, Neris and Glauce arias and original French-version arias after the jump.
Edita Gruberova "O Amore, vieni a me"

Lucia Popp "O Amore, vieni a me"

Fiorenza Cossotto "Solo un pianto"

Giulietta Simionato "Solo un pianto"

Giuseppe Filianoti "Or che più non vedrò"


French versions:
Marilyn Horne "Ah! Nos Peines Seront Communes"

Veronique Gens "Ah! Nos Peines Seront Communes"

Rita Gorr "Ah! Nos Peines Seront Communes"

Patrizia Ciofi "Hymen! Viens dissiper una vaine frayeur"

Mireille Delunsch "Du trouble affreux qui me dévore"