Gounod: Polyeucte (2005)

About Charles Gounod's 1878 opera Polyeucte, its composer once said "Let my work perish, even Faust, but may Polyeucte live!" A very different view is proffered by the Italian writing staff of the Simon & Schuster Book of the Opera, published in 1978; "(Polyeucte) is often lacking in inspiration or ill-adapted to the religious qualities of (its) characters." Nonetheless, Polyeucte contains tenor arias and duos sometimes singled out as encore pieces, and the Italian company Dynamic has produced the inevitable complete ... Read More

About Charles Gounod's 1878 opera Polyeucte, its composer once said "Let my work perish, even Faust, but may Polyeucte live!" A very different view is proffered by the Italian writing staff of the Simon & Schuster Book of the Opera, published in 1978; "(Polyeucte) is often lacking in inspiration or ill-adapted to the religious qualities of (its) characters." Nonetheless, Polyeucte contains tenor arias and duos sometimes singled out as encore pieces, and the Italian company Dynamic has produced the inevitable complete recording of the whole work, as staged in what looks like was an especially handsome production at the Valleé d'Itria Festival. As to Gounod's music, the criticism above is mostly unfounded, as all of it is delightful. Polyeucte is just as well worked out as anything to be found in Faust or Roméo et Juliette, except that once the story line truly kicks in during the second act, things are a little bogged down. However, the same is true of many more well-known and popular operas of the... Read Less