There already exists a first-rate, award-winning recording of
Orlando Furioso (Opus111/Naïve OP30393 – see review);
not surprisingly, since this is such a fine work, packed with
fine music, but it means that CPO’s new recording is up against
very strong competition – and online dealers seem to be offering
the Opus111 more cheaply than this new CPO version. I, for one,
am not complaining if we have multiple versions of music which
has taken a long time to find suitable advocates. Naxos, too,
have added opera to their already wide coverage of Vivaldi, though
I was less impressed with their version of Griselda than
some other reviewers.
Federico Sardelli and Modo Antiquo have themselves
participated in that Opus111 series; their recent version
of Atenaïde (OP30438)
was praised by my colleague MS.
MS thought the conducting on Atenaïde brisk
yet sensitive. I was bowled over by the performance of the
Overture at the beginning of the new set – it’s actually the
Overture to Farnace, RV711, for reasons which are unexplained
in the booklet. Presumably the original has been lost but,
as these Overtures (effectively Sinfonias) bear little relation
to the opera and are often performed separately, this is no
great loss. The stylish and sprightly playing, with Sardelli
subtly ‘leaning’ on the phrasing in a most enjoyable manner,
sets the tone for the opera as a whole.
My introduction to this opera came very recently,
from Jean-Christophe Spinosi’s performance at the Edinburgh
Festival, 2007, broadcast later on BBC Radio 3 – a very decent
performance with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Chorus
and more than adequate soloists, to which I have listened
with pleasure several times, but outshone by this ‘new’ version
(actually dating from five years earlier).
That 2007 performance was fairly heavily cut in
places; this CPO version is more complete, but it is significantly
shorter than the Opus111 to a degree which cannot be explained
solely by differences of tempo. The Opus111 recording attempts
to restore everything that was performed in 1727. Presumably,
the text offered here is that which was performed at the Opera
Barga Festival in 2002. The recording was made in conjunction
with the Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi and the German
radio station WDR3.
There are no let-downs among the soloists. Marina
de Liso is an authoritative-sounding Alcina, though she is
soon, rightly, outshone in this respect by Anne Desler as
Orlando. De Liso makes a good impression from her first aria,
Alza in quegl’occhi and an even better one as she brings
the house down at the end of Act 1 with her rendition of Amorose
a’rai del sole to round off the first CD.
Neither the Alcina nor the Orlando exhibits any
of the plumminess which sometimes afflicts mezzos. Lucia Sciannimanico
(Bradamante) is perhaps the least impressive of these, showing
a slight trace of plumminess at times, as in her first aria
Asconderò il mio sdegno, but this is never a major
problem.
Desler makes a convincing mad Orlando – never easy
to bring off in opera – especially in Act 3, when the music
appropriately echoes la Folia. Vivaldi, like many of
his contemporaries, seems to have been fascinated by this
popular work, sometimes known as les Folies d’Espagne:
there is an excellent version of his Trio Sonata, RV63, a
set of variations on this tune, on bargain-price Hyperion
Helios (CDH55231) and Harmonia Mundi have just reissued their
equally fine Ensemble 415 version on mid-price HM Gold HMG50
1366.
Nicki Kennedy is a pure- and light-toned Angelina,
but there is plenty of power in her voice when needed. Her
first aria, Un raggio di speme, begins a little hesitantly
– she has what is always the dubious honour of the first aria
– but she soons get into gear and she handles the florid passages
excellently, as well as bringing out the contrast between
hope and fear.
As the ‘honest friend’ Astolfo, Martin Kronthaler
has just the right voice for the part, a lightish bass-baritone
which I particularly appreciate, as someone who found myself
in bygone times, when my voice was in better shape, filling
in for tenor or bass, whichever was most needed. He gets his
first aria, Costanza m’insegni, just before Orlando
and he is not out-sung by the latter.
Thierry Gregoire (Ruggiero) has to cope with the
problem of all modern counter-tenors, who don’t have the sheer
vocal power that castrati would have possessed, but Vivaldi
is less unkind than Handel, who often pits his counter-tenors
against an orchestral accompaniment with which even the likes
of Andreas Scholl sometimes find it hard to cope. In Sol
per te mio dolce amore, where Ruggiero is accompanied
very lightly, Gregoire proves himself fully the equal of the
other soloists.
Luca Dordolo (Medoro) has a distinctive tenor voice.
My domestic second opinion, alias my wife, walked in as I
was playing the third CD and commented on the strong impression
made by his forthright rendition of Vorrebe amando il cor.
I can only concur.
The Coro de Camera offer excellent support and
Modo Antiquo’s orchestral playing is as good throughout as
I have indicated that it is in the Overture.
The recording balance is about ideal, though some
may think the orchestra a trifle too forward in relation to
the voices. The resonant ambiance of the venue is well captured,
but never allowed to become a problem.
The booklet reminds us that CPO have also recorded
Vivaldi’s Arsilda and Tito Manlio with Modo
Antiquo and Sardelli. All three come with illustrations of
Venetian Carnival masks on the cover – very striking, but
not quite as striking as the Opus111 covers. As with all Ariosto-based
operas, the plot is hugely complicated – if you want to know
what complicated means, try reading the original epic, in
Harington’s Elizabethan translation if you cannot manage the
original: both are available online. The synopses in the booklet
help, though that is all that Francophones receive: English
and German translations of the whole text are provided.
A production of any Ariosto-based opera involves
a good deal of stage spectacle – stormy seas in the background,
characters flying in on hippogryphs – which, I think wisely,
CPO have not attempted to represent aurally. I would, however,
very much like to see some enterprising company offer us a
version of this opera to match the quality of this or the
Opus 111 version – and versions of Handel’s Alcina
and Orlando to match the Christie CD versions, too,
while they are about it. And how about a version on DVD of
Vivaldi’s other Ariosto-based opera, Orlando Finto Pazzo
– we’ve already had a fine CD version, from Opus111 again
(OP30392)?
The Arthaus DVD of Orlando Furioso, with
Marilyn Horne et al, directed by Randall Behr in San
Francisco (100210) is getting rather long in the tooth (it’s
in 4:3 format, dating from 1980) and is unlikely to satisfy
authenticists. If you particularly want to hear Marilyn Horne,
however, her Erato recording is still available complete (2292451472)
or in highlight form on a bargain-price Apex CD (2564615122).
I thoroughly enjoyed this CPO recording, far more
than the Naxos Griselda. I cannot recommend it against
the Naïve/Opus111, when so much praise has been heaped on the
latter; I cannot think, however, that anyone would be seriously
displeased with their purchase of this new CPO set. I’m absolutely
sure you won’t feel let down by the music – if you like The
Four Seasons and the more famous of Vivaldi’s settings of
the Gloria, which you may have seen and heard recently
on BBC4, you’re bound to like this. Perhaps the ideal would be
to buy the CPO and add the highlights disc from the other set.
Several of the Naïve Vivaldi recordings are available from emusic.com
as mp3 downloads but I really don’t recommend downloading opera
recordings.
Brian
Wilson
