Performer: Gustav Mahler Chor

Excellent playing from Les Musiciens du Louvre and a mixed vocal performance are matched by a staging by Ivan Alexandre likely to be controversial.

Alceste is the short and sombre story of a wife who gives her life to save that of her husband, King Admète of Thessaly, a deed which ultimately convinces the gods to reprieve both of them. Gluck, hoping to avoid the over-decorated vocal style then in vogue, set this plot to unadorned vocal lines to give depth to the underlying emotions.

Mit Händels Ariodante liefert David McVicar seine bisher beste Staatsopernarbeit, die trotz groß aufsingender Ensemblemitglieder unter den Erwartungen blieb.