I am uncertain who is the bigger bore, a smoker
who has given up or the converted sceptic. I have become so converted
to the ‘An Introduction to…’ series from Naxos, that I was more
than a little miffed not to get the Verdi ‘Forza’ for review.
Verdi’s works constitute the cornerstone of my extensive collection
of opera CDs and also of my equally comprehensive, well thumbed
and read, library. What I enjoy so much are the nuggets of scholarship
that illuminate the ‘Introduction’ section, twenty-seven minutes
spread over seven tracks on this disc. I always hear something
new, or forgotten, and am also made to jump at some musical illustration
of the many that litter the narrative.
Inevitably the ‘Introduction’ on this issue opens
with a sizeable sample of the most popular aria in the opera,
‘Una furtiva lagrima’ (Tr. 1), whilst the emergence of opera and
its relationship with the renaissance follow (Tr. 2) with Monteverdi
and Cavalli being mentioned in the lead up to the great belcantoists
Bellini, Rossini and Donizetti. The names of those two composers
are drawn into a discussion of ‘movements’. The discussion spreads
into art and literature of different periods from the renaissance
to the romantic. The narrative returns to the age of bel canto
via musical illustrations drawn from Naxos’s recording of Rossini’s
‘Barber of Seville’. This provokes a discussion of Rossini and
Bellini (Tr. 3) with interesting musical illustrations of recycling
of overtures and arias. An example of the latter made me sit up,
being from mezzo to tenor. I ‘knew’ the piece but the parallel
had never really hit me before hearing these juxtaposed musical
excerpts. There is also mention of Rossini’s serious operas whilst
Bellini is eulogized as the personification of the perfect belcantoist.
After mention of Verdi, Puccini and verismo, with extracts from
the ‘Forza’ overture and ‘Nessun dorma’ we return to Donizetti
with mention of the variety and number of his works before focusing
on Lucia (Tr. 5) with the sextet from a Naxos ‘Historical’ issue
and a modern version of the ‘Mad Scene’ as musical illustration.
Tribute is paid to Mayr for his support of Donizetti’s education
and his works and his influence on the evolution of the crescendo
(Tr. 6) that we often attribute to Rossini who used it so effectively.
The introduction concludes with further mention of Donizetti’s
extensive oeuvre and ‘opera buffa’, with a sample of Verdi’s Falstaff,
before considering the origins of ‘L’elisir’. The remaining fifty
minutes of the disc take the listener through the plot of the
opera with the many brief, but relevant musical illustrations,
coming from Naxos’s own complete recording.
Erudite, informative and entertaining for the
opera enthusiast or first timer.
Robert J Farr
|
Advertising
Rates
Visitor
stats
MusicWeb
International
has over 40,000 Classical CD reviews on offer
Discs
received
Having a problem
Donating?
Gerard
Hoffnung Concerts &
The
Bricklayer Story
MusicWeb
can now offer
you discs from the following catalogues:
Prices include postage
There will be NO
VAT Rises
Musicweb
Special
Offers
Monthly
Best Buys
New
Releases
New
Releases
MusicWeb
sells the Polish
catalogue CDAccord
£10.50 post free W-W
MusicWeb sells the
Arcodiva catalogue
£12.00 post free W-W
£11.75
post-free world-
wide
Google
Ads - for information about privacy matters, click here.
Amazon Musicweb International is a participant in the Amazon
EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide
a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk
and Amazon.com
|
Narrative written
by Thomson Smillie and spoken by David Timson 
