In celebration of the 150th anniversary of Berlioz’s death in 2019, John Eliot Gardiner led the Monteverdi Choir, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and a cast of international soloists in performances of Berlioz’s first opera, Benvenuto Cellini, across Europe. This tour concluded with a concert at the Opéra Royal in the Palace of Versailles, which is now available to experience on DVD via the Château de Versailles Spectacles website.
Berlioz Benvenuto Cellini DVD
£20.00
Description
Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini DVD
CVS020 | DVD
Monteverdi Choir
Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique
John Eliot Gardiner – conductor
Oper! Award’s ‘Best Opera Recording’ 2020
“It was impossible not to be swept away.”
★★★★★ The Guardian
“A Benvenuto Cellini of unfailing gusto from John Eliot Gardiner and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique.”
★★★★ The Telegraph
In celebration of the 150th anniversary of Berlioz’s death in 2019, John Eliot Gardiner led the Monteverdi Choir, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and a cast of international soloists in performances of Berlioz’s first opera, Benvenuto Cellini, across Europe. This tour concluded with a concert at the Opéra Royal in the Palace of Versailles, which is now available to experience on DVD via the Château de Versailles Spectacles website.
Rarely performed today, Benvenuto Cellini received its premiere on 10 September 1838 at the Académie Royale de Musique. The libretto for this opera was inspired by the memoirs of the eponymous 16th-century Florentine sculptor, and was jointly written by Léon de Wailly, Auguste Barbier, and Alfred de Vigny. The score of the work exists in three main versions, and for the 2019 performances John Eliot Gardiner has selected parts of all three, incorporating part of Berlioz’s initial score before the rehearsals in 1838; the version with changes made during the first production; and the revised version created by Berlioz for the Weimar revival of 1852, conducted by Franz Liszt.
