Gwendoline Blondeel (soloist), Vlad Crosman (soloist), Cyril Auvity (soloist), Marie Perbost (soloist), Paul Figuier (soloist), Julian Prégardien (soloist), Luc Bertin-Hugault (soloist), Eva Zaïcik (soloist), Luigi De Donato (soloist)

Les Épopées, Stéphane Fuget

In 1607, Claudio Monteverdi premiered his Orfeo for the Carnival opening in the Court Theatre of Duke Vincenzo I of Gonzaga in Mantua. For the first time in the history of music, real characters are brought to life with deeply moving human feelings: with this exceptional dramatic power, modern opera is born. Stéphane Fuget, a great specialist in this repertoire and its historical instrumentalization, after Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria, has brought together some of the finest vocal and instrumental virtuosos for this new Orfeo: he has entrusted the eponymous role to the splendid and sensitive Julian Prégardien, to sing all the magnificence of the first true hero in the history of opera.

"this second release in the group’s Monteverdi opera series abundantly shows the value in baroque repertoire of being theatrical and throwing discretion to the winds...none of Fuget’s singers is a shrinking violet, and every word and note they utter seriously tugs at your heart. Fuget’s instrumental forces play their part, boldly colouring textures." - The Times, 12th July 2024