FULL PARIDE ED ELENA (Gluck) Westchester FL 2026

Information on the Performance

• Work Title: Paride ed Elena  
• Composer: Gluck Christoph Willibald  
• Libretto: Ranieri de' Calzabigi    Libretto Text, Libretto Index
• Venue & Opera Company: Wertheim Performing Arts Center Concert Hall, Westchester, Florida, Florida International University  
• Recorded: February 6 & 7, 2026
• Type: Staged Opera Live
• Singers: Anthony León, Erica Petrocelli, Maia Aramburú, Ethan Vincent
• Conductor: Javier Mendoza  
• Orchestra: FIU Symphony Orchestra  
• Stage Director: Robert B. Dundas  
• Costume Designer:   

Information about the Recording

• Published by: FIU Wertheim School of Music  
• Date Published: 2026  
• Format: Streaming
• Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
• Subtitles: nosubs  

• ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE

  Paride ed Elena (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpaːride ed ˈɛːlena]; Paris and Helen) is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck. It is the third of Gluck’s so-called reform operas for Vienna, following Orfeo ed Euridice and Alceste, and the least often performed of the three. Like its predecessors, the libretto was written by Ranieri de’ Calzabigi. The opera tells the story of the events between the Judgment of Paris and the flight of Paris and Helen to Troy. It was premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 3 November 1770.

  Synopsis
  The hero Paris is in Sparta, having chosen Aphrodite above Hera and Athena, sacrificing to Aphrodite and seeking, with the encouragement of Erasto, the love of Helen. Paris and Helen meet at her royal palace and each is struck by the other’s beauty. She calls on him to judge an athletic contest and when asked to sing he does so in praise of her beauty, admitting the purpose of his visit is to win her love. She dismisses him. In despair Paris pleads with her, and she begins to give way. Eventually, through the intervention of Erasto, who reveals himself as Cupid, she gives way, but Pallas Athene (Athena) warns them of sorrow to come. In the final scene Paris and Helen make ready to embark for Troy.

  Arias
  Arias from the opera that enjoy an independent concert existence include Paris’s minor-key declaration of love, “O del mio dolce ardor” (O of my gentle love), in the first act. His second aria is “Spiagge amate” (Beloved shores). In the second act, again in a minor key, Paris fears that he may lose Helen in “Le belle immagini” (The fair semblance) and in the fourth would prefer death to life without Helen, “Di te scordarmi, e vivere” (To forget you and to live). The role of Paris offers difficulties of casting, written, as it was, for a relatively high castrato voice. Arias of Paris have been adapted for tenors, with transposition an octave lower, or appropriated by sopranos and mezzo-sopranos.

  The aria “O del mio dolce ardor” was arranged for orchestra by Tchaikovsky in October 1870.

  Quoted from Wikipedia

   

  (Visited 71 times, 1 visits today)