This is an excellent performance, if also a somewhat dated approach to Gluck's great opera. Today we're used to hearing period instruments (or toy instruments as a friend of mine calls them) in this music and much quicker tempi. But this was performed in a different time and, obviously, reflects the musical values of its time.Crespin is simply ravishing as Iphigenie, the music lying in the best of her voice, her command of the long phrases incredible. The audience wildly applauds her every aria and well they should. This performance showed me again why Crespin is one of my favorite singers. Not far behind are Massard as Oreste and Chavet as Pylade, both fully capable of shaping and phrasing Gluck's declamatory recitatives and arias. De Narké is a solid Thoas. Sébastian's approach is more oratorio-like than we'd probably hear today, but it suits these singers very well.The sound is generally good, clear and pitched correctly. It sounds like it may have been assembled from various sources. There are a few tape glitches here and there, but nothing serious. Recommended to Gluck and Crespin fans!

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Crespin and Massard at their best

Crespin atteint ici la hauteur de la grande tragédie classique (comme il convient) avec sa superbe diction . Massard somptueusement tourmenté, Chauvet un poil moins en règle avec le style gluckiste mais très (trop?) vaillant . Sebastian toujours admirable chef de théâtre malgré certains tempi pour nous aujourd'hui trop lents .