John Eliot Gardiner conducts Gluck’s 1776 French version of “Alceste” at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Soprano Anne Sofie von Otter takes the title role of Alceste, Queen of Thessaly, who offers to die at the hands of the gods in place of her husband, Admète (Paul Groves), so that the people will not lose their king. Alceste is then saved from the underworld by Hercule (Dietrich Henschel).
Ludovic Tézier
A herald and ApolloAnne Sofie von Otter
AlcestePaul Groves
AdmeteYann Beuron
EvandreLucie Barret
Alceste’s childFrederic Caton
Oracle and infernal GodDietrich Henschel
High Priest and HerculesHjordis Thebault
Coryphee