Orfeo ed Eurice (2012)/ Gluck, Christoph Willibald

"...the Fura dels Baus stage director Carlus Padrissa keeps the stage in a constant state of motion, often in ways that are conceptually rooted in historic authenticity. The theory that 18th-century opera wasn’t considered static because of the subliminal effect of flickering, pre-electric footlights is updated here with a use of projections that, content aside, keep the stage pulsating during the music’s extensive ruminative passages. The production’s visual density combined with purely video effects sometimes converges into moments when you don’t know whether images are real people or projections. The big surprise is that, no matter how busy the screen becomes, it rarely distracts from the music. Rachvelishvili is a vocally robust, poetically alert Orpheus, though Auxiliadora Toledano steals the vocal honours in her wonderful portrayal of Amore. Orquesta bandArt is onstage, costumed in lizard-like body stockings, sometimes participating in the action." (David Patrick Stearns, Gramophone)