No comments about A History of Baroque Music.

No comments about Wagner: Tannhäuser.

No comments about Wagner: Parsifal.

No comments about The Art Of Fritz Reiner, Volume 10.

2 comments about Ponchielli: La Gioconda.

1. I am amazed to see that I find this role to be Callas' greatest creation and the one that, with Norma, suits her best. Why? Because it reveals a spontaneity and heart not evidenced in much of her other work. Her interpretations are exquisitely thought out, full of subtle details and insights, but they rarely seem to live "in the moment". She rarely exhibits total abandonment "abbondonata" as the Italians call it, but is very emotionally controlled. This style is perfect for Bel Canto, thus her extraordinary success with these heroines, since they need to be interpreted with just a slight hint of sel-conscoiusness. Thus Anna Bolena, Elvira in "Puritani", Norma, Lucia and Imogene are perfectly executed musically, dramatically and stylistically. What bothers me are the cuts that disfigure these scores.

   With Violetta and the heroines of the later Verdi and then verismo operas, this performance style is less apt and I find her work interesting, illuminating, but cold.

   Here, with Gioconda, however, she is on fire. Totally living the moment. There is nothing "stagy" about her performance, nothingmannered or too "thought-out". All of the vocal colours, the inflections, the accents, come out fresh and heart-felt. The singing is fabulous. From growling chest to piercing acuti and everything in between. But you barely notice the vocalization because you are not listening to a singer, you are listening to Gioconda. The supporting cast is good enough to not get in Callas'way (Barbieri is actually excellent). Poggi has a strong voice with a moderately attractive timbre, but little idea of how to properly use it. He doesn't so anything offensice here, thank God, but neither does he do anything special. His exchanges with Callas in the last act really show him up as she is blazing with passion and he is a wet blanket. Buy it.




2. Maria Callas is the best interpreter of la Gioconda, I have 7 records of la Gioconda and this record seem to me the most beautiful interpretation of this opera. Gianni Poggi sings very well the Enzo Grimaldo, Giulio Neri and Piero Poldi were basses with greates voices and very good interpretations.

No comments about Puccini: Il Trittico.

1 comments about Aarre Merikanto: Juha.

1. Finland, besides Sibelius, would not be known in the world for music. But Merikanto's entrancing music, string-heavy and rich with texture, is an excellent backdrop to the opera's libretto. Speaking from a passionate connection with the language, Finnish is not the most beautiful to listen to. However, it adds to the quality. Listen to a couple pieces of the opera if you're not sure.

1 comments about Donizetti - Zoraida di Granata / David Parry.

1. The folks at Opera Rara must have done some real digging to present this one to us. Donizetti's fifth opera, and his first success, was presented in mutilated form in 1822, when one of the tenors died before the first performance. His role was given to a mezzo, with much cutting and reshaping of vocal lines. In 1824, the opera was revived, this time with newly composed pieces for a mezzo hero. This unusual performance history is told in detail in the excellent notes that accompany this set.

   The performance is excellent as well. Opera Rara's first sets in the late 1970's often featured adequate but not stellar performers. Happily, in the past decade they have been able to feature world-class, if not world-famous, talent. Tops among the performers must be the always excellent Bruce Ford, whose full tone coupled with excellent florid technique makes him one of, if not THE finest tenor working in this repertoire today. Paul Austin Kelly is nearly as fine, with a lighter tone that contrasts well with Ford.

   Newcomer Majella Cullagh makes a highly favourable impression as the title character. She has a bright, gem-like soprano which remains full and ample, and is capable of great expressivity. Her coloratura is as fleet and fine as her colleagues'. She is one to watch for in coming years.

   In addition to providing the complete 1822 version originally written for two tenors, this set includes the 1824 revisions in an appendix, in which one of the tenor roles is sung by a mezzo. Happily, that assignment is given to Diana Montague, who easily matches the high standard set by the rest of the cast.

   As for the quality of the music, it is remarkably assured for a young composer and really quite enjoyable. The influence of Mayr, Donizetti's teacher, is to be found throughout. There are many excellent pieces, not the least of which are the first act quartet, Zoraida's aria "Rose che un di spiegaste" and a duet for Ford and Montague in the revised version.

   David Parry conducts well, and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields plays beautifully. If you enjoy bel canto operas and are looking for something rare and unique, give this recording a try.

5 comments about Meyerbeer - Il Crociato in Egitto / Y. Kenny · D. Jones · Montague · B. Ford · Benelli · Kitchen · Royal PO · D. Parry.

1. Some great singing and fine orchestrasl work but the work doesn't live up to lthe hoopla and five star raves this recording has received. Five stars for the cast and production, yes! But the work is not a masterpeice even though it was apparently Meyebeer's greatest success in Italy. After this performance he would go to Paris and develolp his career their. His French operas always have overhelming scenes but none of his operas are without those interminably long moments. Moments is being polite. Often too much music for too little plot and I think that this comment fits here especially. The opera is an hour too long at best. Kenny, Ford, and Montague in particular are very impressive but the music holds them back from the exciting, enthralling deliveries that their voices promise. When I think of this comoser I think of Helavy, whose La Juive falls in the same category, some beautiful moments but there is far too much haranguing used to carry too llittle plot ; the music can't carry so much conversation and dialogues. Even Shicoff and Soile Isokoski in the recent RCA release can pull that opera off. Wagner gets away with those long moments but Meyerbeer does not. If I had paid the very high price that the recording sells for I would have enjoyed the recording even less. This is definitely not a must have but it is worth hearing, I just don't know how often I will listen to it. And for ... that is a very expensive luxury indeed. I wish that the Peter Moores Foundation and Opera Rara would get into more rewarding revivals; their quality and care of production is exemplary; they fhave released some great recordings. This just isn't one of them, at least as far as the music is concerned.



2. All the reviews so far have said basically the same things I would say about this recording: it is wonderful, and an excellent presentation of a very exciting work (and the great trio in the second act, in the garden later becomes a hymn in Christian hymnals, "Jesus, once of Humble Birth", so it you know that piece, then you can say you don't come to this opera unfamiliar with all the music). With this opera it doesn't matter if you are familiar with the music or not, there is simply not a single boring moment in it. Even the Recitatives are exciting! I think I would also say Meyerbeer did out Rossini even Rossini. He captured his style perfectly, which can be a drawback for some; after all, this isn't Rossini.

   The orchestra is lead in a very exciting way, and real life is breathed into the music. The delicate touches needed in places are simply as fine as spun lace. The singers actually bubble away with real enthusiasm for the work they are singing. Now, mind you, these singers never disappoint in anything they do. They may not be the biggest names around, but I have yet to find anything they have done (including concerts I have attended with them) where one was not impressed. I really doubt anyone will be disappointed in this work, even if you are not a real bel canto fan.

   As for using a female mezzo for the lead, well, I think it works out great. I simply couldn't imagine a countertenor doing that music justice. Now, you are not hearing Velluti or any of his embellishments, and really if one were to sing them, one would have had to use an Ewa Podles. Everyone concentrates on how "high " castrati must have sounded, basing everything on what boys sound like (the boy choir sound we are used to is very modern). We firstly have to look at the recordings of Moreschi. He has virtually no technique, so it is not that we are looking at. However, the voice is not like a boy at all. It has body, strength, and a very strong lower register. He floats his upper notes, as was the old way of singing, very focused so they carry, but not that loud. When one reads the reviews of this opera when Velluti sang it in London, one sees something about his way of singing, and combining that with his embellishments, one sees quite a different singer than we expect. He hardly ever ventured above the staff, and then only touched the notes. He also was want to descend as low as E and D below middle C and sustain those tones (he also transposed much of the music down, even as much as a third). Critics found his performance "Lifeless", as they did the lead female singer who was one of his pupils. The reasons are interesting. Both singers sang in a very old style, where the lower tones and middle tones were the strongest, and the upper tones weak, though penetrating. Times were changing, and singers like Pasta and Malibran were starting to sing more full-voiced high notes (though since both women were really mezzos or contraltos who forced their voices to sing soprano, the volume was probably more from forcing than a free volume we are used to today). The public were not greatly impressed with Velluti or his performance. However, when Malibran sang in it, the opera pleased. So the entire thing is academic. We don't train singers the way they used to be trained. We don't train big contralto low notes into our sopranos as was done in the past, and we sing high notes with far more volume than was ever imagined in earlier times. We don't have castrati either. So since in many ways we are not authentic anyway, why worry about it. The work speaks for itself, and that is enough. Great excitement is shared by the performers, and it is obvious they enjoy this work. That is the key to enjoying this work, just sitting back and drinking it in. And as was stated by another reviewer, this is one of the finest renditions of bel canto singing you will find on record.




3. Meyerbeer was an amazing composer, reinventing himself a couple of times in the course of a long career. This work is the last of his Italian operas. It is clearly a masterpiece in its own right, not just as an indication of what might be yet to come (there is actually very little such indications in it) or as an example of second-class bel canto operas in the period right after Rossini. While the opera is much in the Rossini mould, this work can stand on its own and it is splendid.

   This recording from Opera Rara produces a great deal of excitement. Parry, conducting a major orchestra, does a marvelous job, and the Geoffrey Mitchell Choir comes through splendidly in a work where the chorus is far from being an addendum. Yvonne Kenny is outstanding as the lead soprano, with brilliant singing sending shivers of excitement down one's back. Diane Montague also does brilliantly, in a role that is difficult for a mezzo -- it was written for the last great castrato. Whatever castratos sounded like, using a mezzo - and one with a very womanly voice at that - does raise problems of making the plot come through, but that is probably inevitable when only an aural presentation is being made. I prefer the solution of using a mezzo to that of using a counter tenor. In any case, taken on her performance's own merits, Montague does a first-class job. Similarly, Bruce Ford is amazing - singing a role with a very wide range with aplomb. His is not the sweetest of tenor voices, but he brings vigor and musicianship as well as an amazing range to the role. Della Jones completes the list of outstanding performances; I found the others in the cast a bit weaker.

   Opera Rara chose to go with the first version of the Opera, even though Meyerbeer later revised it for a mezzo hero rather than a castrato. The producers make up for this by including a series of other material from later versions on the final disc.

   The booklet doesn't really doesn't justify the choices made in the main presentation. It is long on historical stamp-collecting and very short on analysis. If we are to hear about the original performers, then we need a discussion of what their voices were like and how they compare with those now assuming the roles. Otherwise - as here - telling at length who created the roles is just silly. But the booklet has the full libretto and that is all that really matters.




4. If you love Rossini or Donizetti or any other composer of 19th-century Italian opera, then this recording is an absolute must! Read the other two excellent reviews here to find out about all the details, and take their word for it. After listening to this opera (all 4 discs of it!) all I wish was that more of Meyerbeer's Italian operatic output was available on record. And so will you. Buy this or miss out! Opera recordings don't get much better. Bravo, Signore Meyerbeer.



5. Opera Rara has done opera lovers many invaluable services throughout the past two decades by reviving forgotten yet beautiful works on records. This recording of Meyerbeer's "Il Crociato in Egitto" is another jewel in their crown. As always, David Parry conducts with just the right combination of musicianship and authority to ensure that the recording never lapses into dullness even when the music fails to impress with its inspiration. On the whole, however, "Il Crociato" is quite an accomplishment. Meyerbeer is sadly neglected, and apart from Dame Joan Sutherland's lovely recording of his "Les Huguenots" and Marilyn Horne's "Le Prophete" (not to mention Opera Rara's nicely-balanced "Dinorah"), Meyerbeer is poorly represented in the catalogue of recorded opera. The orchestra and chorus are excellent (although the stage bands are a bit blaring at moments). It is the soloists that make this set so rewarding, though. With Yvonne Kenny, Diana Montague, and Della Jones contributing, the recording cannot fail to impress. Each of these singers displays her customary technical prowess, and the excellent Ugo Benelli continues to impress with his bel canto instincts--just as he did decades ago on his recordings of Rossini's masterpieces. Truly, Meyerbeer's composition here resembles Rossini. Tenor Bruce Ford makes this recording indispensible. Although his arias and ensembles are vocally fiendish, he never seems strained or even challenged. The most amazing moment of the recording comes in Appendix, when Ford assays an alernative entrance aria Meyerbeer composed for Adriano. Bruce Ford proves that Donizetti's famous aria containing nine high C's in "La Fille du Regiment" is not the epitome of stratospheric writing for the tenor. Top C's explode with every repeat of Adriano's melodic line, and Ford reaches remarkable heights (even above the top C) in the coloratura. Released to celebrate the bicentenary of Meyerbeer's birth, this recording is not to be missed. An awe-inspiring achievement!

No comments about Verdi: La Forza del Destino.