Juan Diego Florez - Arias for Rubini

 

Release Date: January 22, 2008 Label: Decca Number of discs: 1 Composer: Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti  Performer: Juan Diego Flórez cd info/ buy

Review:

The title of this CD is somewhat of a misnomer; except for the selection from Marino Faliero, the arias here were not composed specifically for Giovanni Battista Rubini. He did, however, appear in most of the operas, albeit in revivals years after their premieres. (There are doubts as to whether he ever sang the aria composed for Il Turco in Italia.) The point is that Rubini (1794-1854) had a voice that, judging from the scores composed for him and/or the roles he sang, was warm and expressive, of a good size, with an ease in coloratura, and an upper extension to a staggering high-F above high-C. Precisely how he reached these stratospheric tones is still open to debate--they apparently were neither in full chest voice nor weak falsetto. His dramatic intensity made audiences swoon; to be sure, he changed the way audiences looked at tenors. I'm not certain if people are swooning over Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez, but he sings these arias with an ease, grace, and charm that may have been similar to Rubini's, even if he takes even the highest notes in full voice and not in what is known as a voix-mixte, a sort of reinforced falsetto that may have been what Rubini used. Rubini was Bellini's favorite tenor (both Sonnambula and Puritani were written for him), and indeed, the two Bellini selections recorded here are the jewels in this recital's crown. Gualtiero in Il Pirata is a hero in love; his bold tone and exclamatory style are nicely contrasted with his gentle cantilena. The aria's opening pages have a Spanish/Mediterranean flavor and Florez catches the manner precisely. Later in the recital, he sings an aria from the composer's early Bianca e Fernando, with long lines, a lovely wedding of words and music, and some elegantly florid passages. Florez reaches a high E-flat at one point, and it's quite a feat, with just a bit of stiffness in the notes leading up to it. Arnoldo's lengthy scene from William Tell (it is sung in Italian) is a great tour de force. It first expresses longing and then turns into a vengeful call to arms, with high-Cs flying left and right. Roberto Abbado's leadership in this scene is particularly heart-stopping, and his chorus and orchestra out-do themselves. A never-before-recorded aria from an 1825 revival of Rossini's La donna del lago is a dazzler (it's a reworking of a piece from his 1819 masterpiece, Ermione), filled with difficult runs and frills, and the Il turco in Italia aria has some fine reflective moments before the fun begins, with high-Ds popping out all over the place. The Marino Faliero piece is a downhearted affair, and Florez sings it movingly, the high notes as expressive as they are impressive, and Norfolk's long scene from Elisabetta catches just the right villainous, manipulative tone. There are some people who find this type of music tiresome--there are so many notes and it's so showy that it can exhaust the listener. Furthermore, after listening to more than 70 minutes of singing, the wonderful brightness to Florez's tone can be a bit much, but that also was true about recitals by the young Pavarotti. Take a break every 20 minutes and you'll return refreshed enough to revel in Florez's golden tone, intelligent use of text, and impeccable enunciation, phrasing, and musicianship. You won't be disappointed by this recital, and although he sounds nothing like Pavarotti, you'll get a similar sense of sheer love of singing and desire to communicate. As suggested above, Abbado's leadership is right on the money. Bravi!--Robert Levine

 

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Rossini - L'occasione Fa Il Ladro – Marcello Viotti, English Chamber Orchestra

 

Release Date: 7th June 1999 Label: Claves Number of discs: 2 Composer: Gioachino Rossini Performer: Marcello Viotti cd info/ buy

Review:

L’occasione fa il Ladro is described as a burletta and revolves round a typical farsa libretto involving mistakenly exchanged suitcases at a country inn. The work was recorded at the same series of sessions as L’Inganno Felice and several singers appear in both works. It is unique among the five farse, and unusual in the Rossini oeuvre, in having no formal overture. Instead a brief andante prelude leads into allegro storm music of the kind that is familiar in several of Rossini’s operas, both buffa and seria. As in L’Inganno Felice the tenor Lorio Zennaro whilst having a light, if dryish timbre and a pleasing heady tone, is not always steady. This is also in evidence in his delightful aria D’ogni piu sacro. He duets well with the Ernestina of Francesca Provvisionato whose singing is a pleasure throughout. Maria Bayo as Berenice is rather careful in her introduction to Vieino e il momento but flings off the coloratura with accuracy, aplomb and warm tone. Both female singers are dependable and characterful throughout. The buffo character of the work is underscored by the music for Don Parmenione sung by Natale de Carolis and Martino sung by the character bass Fabio Previati. As in the other operas in the series these two nicely contrasted voices are towers of strength, singing with accuracy and bringing out the character of their parts. Their contrasting voices and well articulated fast singing is particularly good in duet. Viotti shapes the melodies and moves the music along well. Why L’occasione fa il Ladro was not better received at the Teatro San Moise I do not know. In a city where the opera theatres also reflected social undercurrents may have been significant. Certainly, the fact that the composer had signed a contract to produce an opera for the prestigious La Fenice was well known and his upward movement may have caused resentment. This is certainly suggested as one reason for the lukewarm response at Teatro San Moise to Il Signor Bruschino, the last of the five farse, when it was premiered two months later.

 

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Rossini - L'Inganno Felice - Viotti, English Chamber Orchestra

 

Release Date: August 13, 1996 Label: Claves Number of discs: 1 Composer: Gioachino Rossini Performer: Marcello Viotti cd info/ buy

Review:

The Teatro San Moise was eager for another Rossini farsa and L’Inganno Felice was premiered to acclaim. Within a year it had been staged in Bologna, Florence, Verona and Trieste as well as at the Teatro San Benedetto, second only to La Fenice in Venice. The innate quality of the music also enabled Rossini to use the opera as a calling card when he settled in Naples in 1815. He was also able to secure performances in Paris in 1824, although the work had already been heard at the Theatre Italian in the latter city in 1819. Most importantly for this series of recordings, L’Inganno Felice, La Scala di Seta and L’occasione fa il Ladro, numbers two, three and four in Rossini’s compositional sequence, were recorded in a more suitable venue in terms of balance and reverberation than La Cambiale. This enables the listener to hear the composer’s inventive and characterful orchestration very clearly. L’Inganno Felice (The Happy Stratagem) Farsa giocosa in one act. First performed at the Teatro San Moise, Venice, 8 January 1812 Batone: Natale de Carolis (bass-bar); Isabella, Amelia Felle (sop); Bertrando, Lorio Zennaro (ten); Tarabotto, Fabio Previato (bass); Ormondo, Danilo Serraiocco (bar) Ursula Dütschler, harpsichord English Chamber Orchestra/Marcello Viotti Recorded 18-24 February 1992, Rosslyn Hill Chapel, London

 

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