YEVSTIGNEY FOMIN (1761-1800): Orfeo ed Euridice.

Description: In late 18th century opera in Russian was, by definition, comic opera and the composer's names were often omitted since the large amount of dialogue and monologue on stage made the librettist the author in the minds of the public.  The libretto for Orfeo was originally set as comic by Federico Torelli and failed utterly. Ten years later, in 1791, Fomin wrote this score for the same libretto, following Rousseau's idea of organic synthesis - acting and spoken declamation accompanied by music. Fomin used baroque forms for their affective effect (passacaglia and sarabande), up-to-date Sturm und Drang-style Classicism and, most sonically remarkable here, a Russian horn band for the choruses of the gods and the closing Dance of the Furies (these range from a foot long to more than eight feet (think alphorns only straight and made of metal). Russian-English texts. Alexey Ivashchenko, Maria Shorstova (actors), Chorus of Basses, Pratum Integrum Orchestra, The Horn Orchestra of Russia; Pavel Serbin.