Gluck: “Iphigenie en Aulide.” Lynne Dawson, Anne...

Gluck: “Iphigenie en Aulide.” Lynne Dawson, Anne Sofie von Otter, John Aler, Jose van Dam; Monteverdi Choir; Orchestre de l’Opera de Lyon conducted by John Eliot Gardiner. Erato 45003-2 (two compact discs). The third installment of Gardiner’s unofficial Gluck opera cycle yields the first commercial recording of this powerful 1774 reform opera (the previous recording was of Wagner’s arrangement). The conductor deploys modern instruments and modern, robust voices, yet he achieves a remarkable synthesis of 18th-Century purity (this was Gluck’s first work for the finicky Parisians) and contemporary passion. Van Dam’s anguished Agamemnon, torn between sacrificing his daughter and winning the Trojan War, is another of the Belgian bass’s memorable portrayals; the remainder of the cast, highlighted by Otter’s dominating Clytemnestra, rarely disappoints, and Gardiner includes just enough of the ballet music to satisfy most tastes.