A press release accompanied my review copy of which
more anon. Reading this I had cause to reflect on when and how I became
a devotee of Donizetti’s operas. It perhaps came about incidentally
to my own changed circumstances as my peripatetic writing and lecturing
regularly took me to London providing opportunity to see outstanding
performances of
bel canto. This broadened my erstwhile monotheistic
view of opera as being Verdi with a smattering of French and Russian
works and Puccini’s populist trio. Central to my experience had
been standing to see
Norma with Joan Sutherland and Marilyn Horne
and then the former as
Lucia with an unknown young Italian tenor
called Pavarotti. I knew that in the strict sense
bel canto meant
beautiful singing, but found it incomprehensible that after the death
of the eponymous tragic heroine that night, and much launching of flowers
onto the stage, large swathes of people left and missed the young tenor’s
sublime rendition of Eduardo’s double aria in the final scene.
My learning curve accelerated in the 1970s with Decca’s series
of Donizetti operas featuring Sutherland and also
La Favorita,
usually with the, by then, famous tenor. Getting under the skin of
Maria
Stuarda and
Lucrezia Borgia, and adding
Don Pasquale
on a DG recording, my Donizetti ran into the buffers, particularly as
I could not tolerate the sound of pirate recordings. It was at that
stage I discovered Opera Rara and their recordings of Donizetti operas
of which twenty or so now form the core of my collection of the composer’s
operatic works. Most of those boxed or sleeved sets carry the imprimatur
of support by the Peter Moores Foundation. That support has now ceased
and Opera Rara have set about maintaining their adventurous programme
of the
bel canto repertoire via other means. As well as appeals
to opera lovers, other strategies have been adopted. For the first three
months after its issue, this recording was only available direct from
Opera Rara. Also, it is now possible to purchase, via a down-load from
the Opera Rara website, in high resolution 24 bit master sound quality
the most recent recordings. In addition, the whole catalogue, including
titles currently out of stock on CD is also available for down-load
in MP3 (Lossy), ALAC (Apple) and FLAC (free Lossless) formats. When
items are purchased in this format PDFs of the nearly unique high quality
booklets associated with Opera Rara come free of charge when full albums
are purchased.
Whilst previous recording have included live performances from the likes
of the Edinburgh Festival and Covent Garden, this issue presages change:
an association with the BBC. As well as the recording taking place in
a BBC studio with the house orchestra and singers, pre-issue performances
seem to be the order of the day as the recent Thursday afternoon broadcast
of Donizetti’s Belisario with Sir Mark Elder on the rostrum exemplifies.
That has left me yearning for the accompanying informative booklet that
is
de rigueur with Opera Rara releases and has helped my understanding
of the evolution of Donizetti’s oeuvre.
An early hallmark of the Opera Rara releases was their policy of developing
a group of singers committed to the cause. They were capable of realising
the music and were not contracted to the big name recording companies.
Opera Rara’s capacity to spot talent and future stars in that
period is best illustrated by the presence of Renée Fleming on
the 1994 recording of Donizetti’s
Rosmonda d’Inghilterra
alongside in-house names such as Bruce Ford, Nelly Miracioiu, Diana
Montague and Alastair Miles (see
review).
In the last ten years or so new names have been added to an extended
line-up of singers interested and capable of meeting Opera Rara’s
demanding standards in this repertoire. This recording includes names
that will readily be recognised from earlier releases from the company
as well as in the rosters of some of the great opera houses where
bel
canto works are rapidly becoming more common. A good example is
that of Colin Lee. Many, like me, will have seen and heard him in the
transmission to cinemas on 27 May 2013 of Rossini’s
La Donna
del Lago where he went note for note with the king of the high tenors,
Juan Diego Florez, much as he had done in Paris in the same opera. At
times he has taken the second half of performance production runs in
other works featuring the Peruvian who is himself a Patron of Opera
Rara.
Donizetti’s
Caterina Cornaro, like
Maria Stuarda,
recounts a semi-fictionalised story involving a real person and her
joys and travails. It was the last of the composer’s operas to
be premiered in his lifetime. Likewise it is the last of Donizetti’s
late operas to receive a studio recording. I did once listen to the
last act of a pirate recording and was bowled over by the dramatic thrust.
I lived in hope, aided by a couple of brief conversations, that Andrew
Greenwood would programme it during his tenure as Artistic Director
of the Buxton Festival as he had done with
Roberto Devereux,
(see
review),
Lucrezia Borgia (see
review)
and
Maria di Rohan (see
review).
That was not to be. What I can say without equivocation is that this
issue realises everything that I hoped in respect of being able to hear
the whole work in good recording circumstances, albeit there are a couple
of places where the recessed voices are overcome. Much of my earlier
feeling that act three is dramatically superior to the earlier acts
is confirmed whilst the stream of duets in the prologue and act one
ravish the ear in true
bel canto fashion, especially with the
singers featured here. Much of the musical performance quality is at
the behest of David Parry on the rostrum. This performance, and his
conducting of Rossini’s
Maometto Secondo at Garsington
in 2013 (see
review)
re-affirm my belief that he is a master of the genre. Loyal Mancunian
that I am, I still hope that Mark Elder’s increasing role at Opera
Rara does not preclude Parry conducting for the company in future recordings.
The singing might not boast many starry names but it is without weakness.
In the title role Carmen Giannattasio’s dramatic qualities are
to the fore. Colin Lee as Gerardo sings with good tone and encompasses
any high tessitura with ease whilst portraying the inherent drama. Troy
Cook as Lusignano sings with smooth sonority. The two basses, Graeme
Broadbent and the young South African Vuyani Mlinde are nicely contrasted
in timbre whilst singing with feeling alongside steady sonority. In
the minor roles Loïc Félix and Sophie Bevan confirm earlier
promise on record or in the theatre.
The 2 CD set is accompanied by a complete libretto with an English translation.
Most important for my understanding of the work, and others in the genre
issued by Opera Rara, is the scholarly essay and background to performances
that is always included. This is particularly welcome when it is by
the meticulous and superbly informed scholar, Jeremy Commons.
Robert J Farr
