GRÉTRY : ANDROMAQUE

Radio New Zealand Concert network
Sunday 26th of September 2010 at 3.04 pm

GRÉTRY: Andromaque, an opera in three acts
(recorded in the Rococo Theatre, Schwetzingen 
by German Radio, Stuttgart)
Andromaque................. Judith van Wanroij
Hermione...................... Maria-Riccarda Wesseling
Pyrrhus......................... Sébastien Guèze
Oreste........................... Tassis Christoyannis
Greek woman............... Kirsten Drope
Greek man.................... Frank Bossert
Phoenix......................... Torsten Müller
SWR Vocal Ensemble, Stuttgart,
Le Concert Spirituel/Hervé Niquet 

COMPOSER
REVIEW 
RECORD 
SYNOPSIS (Racine's play)


André Grétry (1741 - 1813) composed some fifty operas (LIST); his comical ones were successful (championed by Beecham in the 20th century). This one is tragical (tragédie lyrique), concerning Andromakhe, the wife of Hektor of Troy, who loses her husband, father, and brothers. It failed at its first performance in 1781, and Hervé Niquet has resurrected it. The opera is based on Racine's drama Andromaque (first performed at the court of Louis XIV in the Louvre in 1667), which goes back to Andromakhe by Euripides.