GENRE; Classical
RELEASE DATE; 26 September, 2025
RATING; 4/5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ann Hallenberg’s Gluck Arias, recorded with Ian Page’s period-instrument orchestra The Mozartists, is a small revelation: an album that rescues Gluck from the margins and presents his theatrical brilliance with clarity, warmth and theatrical intelligence. Released on Signum in September 2025, the programme draws from nine operas (13 tracks) and ranges from the intimate to the martial — all delivered with a sense of dramaturgy rather than mere anthology.
Hallenberg’s mezzo is ideally matched to this repertoire. Her voice combines a firm, burnished middle with nimble coloratura and an aptitude for rhetorical inflection: she can slip from plaintive, inward confession to bold declamation with convincing dramatic shape. The opening “Resta, o cara” (Il trionfo di Clelia) already shows her ability to make Gluck’s line speak as music and character simultaneously; the diaphanous “Che puro ciel” (Orfeo ed Euridice) is another highlight, the phrasing buoyed by Ian Page’s light, agile continuo textures.
Ian Page and The Mozartists supply crisp, characterful orchestral support: string ornamentation, period wind timbres and judicious use of brass and percussion where the score demands theatrical weight. The ensemble’s attention to tempi and rhetorical detail gives each aria a distinct dramatic world, avoiding the sameness that can plague recital discs. Reviews across the press have been warm, praising both programming and execution; The Times singled the disc out as a persuasive reminder of Gluck’s “wider range of jewels.”
It’s telling that the recording won the Recording (Solo Recital) prize at the 2025 International Opera Awards — recognition that feels earned: this is scholarship and artistry in happy tandem. For listeners curious about 18th-century operatic expression, Hallenberg and Page offer an inviting, emotionally direct entry into Gluck’s often underrated operatic world.