Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 12/10/2014, uploaded on 05/28/2015

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Melodie from Orfeo ed Euridice    Christoph Gluck, transcribed by Ignaz Friedman

Orfeo ed Euridice, Gluck’s adaptation of the myth, remains pivotal in the annals of opera for its fusion of plotline with music and lyrics. Ironically, these days it probably is best known for the wordless “Dance of the Blessed Spirits,” an ethereal flute-prominent ballet sequence depicting the Elysian realm where the hero at last re-encounters his deceased bride.  Polish-born concert pianist Ignaz Friedman made an arrangement, which he called BalletdesOmbresHeureuses(Ballet of the Happy Shades). In 1944, retiring from performance, he published the present arrangement of the serenely wistful middle section, for piano solo, under the title Ballet.    Yoonie Han

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.