Although Il Signor
Bruschino is an early opera, written
at the age of 21, you could hardly mistake
it for the work of anyone else; a typical
mixture of saucy elegance, sizzling
wittiness, cheeky orchestration and
also some touching lyricism. The well-known
overture in no ways raises false expectations.
The only well-known
singer here is Claudio Desderi, and
of course he doesn’t sing, he conducts.
Singers who turn to conducting do not
always achieve happy results (want some
names?) but Desderi certainly has the
situation in hand; he knows how to make
a Rossini crescendo fizz, he keeps up
the momentum in the finale and he can
also draw long, legato lines in the
slower pieces. In I Virtuosi Italiani
he has a band worthy of its name, a
small orchestra which is able to play,
as the situation demands, both modern
and period instruments. The latter seem
to be used here, but played so beautifully
you hardly notice, and lovers of early
orchestral sounds might find the timbre
of the old cor anglais (closer to a
high bassoon than today’s instrument)
in the lovely obbligato to Sofia’s aria
in itself worth the modest price of
the record.
Another advantage is
that the singers are all Italian, so
fully at home in the language they are
singing. With the help of an exuberant
fortist [a person who plays the
pianoforte is a pianist, so I suppose
a person who plays the fortepiano is
a fortist] the recitatives are
all beautifully paced, the words clear,
the sense well conveyed.
But this doesn’t guarantee
the actual singing itself. I don’t want
to be snooty just because the singers
are little known, since the voices sound
young and nobody is famous before
he’s famous, if you see what I mean,
but I would hardly predict a great career
for anyone here. Elena Rossi has an
acid-sounding voice, is inclined to
be flat in her passaggio and
is ungainly in coloratura. There is
also an ugly high note from Mr. Bruschino
himself. The others are less objectionable
but seem somewhat over-parted. The Filiberto
is good, but it’s only a small role.
I realise that different
people have different tolerance levels.
If you heard this in a provincial opera
house you might be reasonably happy,
since the spirit of the piece is conveyed.
For myself, on a recording, even a cheap
recording, it is not enough. I enjoyed
hearing it once for the music,
the conductor and the orchestra, but
now, please, I’d like to hear it better
sung.
The recording is good,
there is a useful note, a synopsis and
the libretto in Italian.
Christopher Howell
I Virtuosi Italiani/Claudio Desideri