I am a big Jordi Savall fan, having heard him live on several occasions. His wife and daughter appear in this Barcelona performance, and he himself appears as Monteverdi, the conductor. The playing is excellent, but the singing, unfortunately of his family members is not quite as beautiful as the competing versions. (There are several clips from this version on YouTube if you want to hear Montserrat's "La Musica" and make up your own mind.) We are blessed that there are so many DVDs of this fabulous work, and so many worldwide live productions to commemorate its 400th anniversary this year. This is a valid interpretation of this great opera, filmed in a beautiful opera house. I would recommend it in addition to others (such as Harnoncort's),but not instead of it. It is not perfect, but still quite excellent.

L'Orfeo is my personal favourite of Monteverdi's operas, being an opera that never fails to move me. This production is uneven, but ticks most of the right boxes. The costumes are elegant and the sets are lavish, captured by the skillful photography, and the staging is suitably whimsical and moving. The only let down visually was some of the props, not all, but Euridice and the Spirits' opaque veils and Caronte's full-face masks had a tendency to obscure their singing and Orpheus' lyre is reminiscent of a plastic high school prop. On a musical level however, this production is just superb, with few if any faults whatsoever. With the orchestra the music sounds very emotional, and the conducting is stylish with nuances and authority. The singing is fine, with the weak links being Arianna Savall's likable but slightly bland Euridice and Antonio Abete's stylishly sung but shallow-toned(not helped by the mask) Caronte. Furio Zanassi's Orfeo sounds beautiful and impeccably phrased, and Montserrat Figueras as La Musica is very convincing, but it was Sara Mingardo as the Messenger who showed the most consistency, her soaring voice fills the hall. The acting isn't quite as impressive. Mingardo again is the most consistent, acting with great poignancy. Fingueras is mostly well-characterised but slightly over-acted, Abete is suitably imposing, but Savall's acting is like her singing, likable but bland, and while the "possente spirito passage" is moving and precious in a sense Zanassi everywhere else despite the wonderful singing was wanting dramatically.

Overall, uneven in terms of performances, which were mostly fine standard-wise but with a few inconsistencies, but gorgeous to watch and an emotional experience. 8/10 Bethany Cox