Opern

(...) The musicality of it was of one mind and exceptional. The conducting of Hartmut Haenchen was admirably authentic, placing the emphasis on natural declamation and reinvoking a presumed ancient ideal in wedding dance and music. Under his leadership, the Los Angeles Opera orchestra sounded pristine, and Haenchen looked to be capturing every note they produced, much as a sorcerer catches souls. He also balanced the buoyant overture, which is influenced by the Enlightenment, against the soul of the piece, which looks back to the Baroque, with confidence, almost accidentally revealing its score to advance opera by individualizing characterizations, despite its intent to return to the art’s serious roots, thus underlining the irony of Gluck composing an opera that looked forward, rather than backward, as intended. Haenchen succeeded with all the instruments at his disposal, synchronizing voice an orchestra superlatively.

Charles Lonberger