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- The Mantua Orfeo is the culmination of a long process that saw the gradual acceptance of pastoral fables, comedies, and tragedies in imitation of classical models, offering special musical elements to delight the listener. The novelty lay not only in the type of drama involved, but also in the manner of song, which favoured the accompanied monody. Solo voice singing, so extolled and theorized within the intense conceptual debates of Giovanni Bardi's Florentine academy, likely derives from a yearning for classicism, and for a recovery of Greek theatre - but is made contemporary through the principle of the comprehensibility of speech, which had many advocates. The "Tale of Orpheus" was written as a musical opera; the libretto by Alessandro Striggio assumes a knowledge of Rinuccini's tale. Whether openly or in more concealed fashion, Monteverdi makes use of topoi or practices in common use during his day: trumpet flourishes as signals, a narrative in dactylic rhythm, and dissonant intervals to emphasize struggle or grief. These are immediately recognizable even to a "common" public. At the same time though, he introduces complete innovations not only in the expository elements of profane song, but also in its other aspects: the exhaustive attention given to the collocation of words, the vibrant quality of the rhythmic pulse, bold dissonances, the harmonies chosen, and the wavelike melodic line.
- Director Pier Luigi Pizzi drew inspiration from Georges Rodenbach's short novel, "Bruges - La Morte" which narrates the bizarre and sinister experience of a man who, having lost his wife, is mesmerized and hypnotized by the atmosphere of the city of Bruges to the point that he believes to recognize his beloved one in a woman met in the streets. He is so obsessed by this incredible event to think that he can bring the past back, but despite the two women's amazing likeness, the unique sensitivity and the feelings of the wife that he had loved for ten years are gone forever. Rodenbach turns the city of Bruges in a sinister and foggy stage where mysterious events take place. The urban spaces and the dead woman are deeply linked, the city itself amplifies death as it mirrors the main character's feelings, his agony, his tireless quest for an impossible love. This quest will lead him to death, in the cold, dead Venetian waters. Erich W. Korngold was very touched by this novel and composed an opera imbued with romantic and lyrical elements, that enhance the sense of self destruction and doom of the protagonist, describing through music his sudden mood swings. The reference to water is very important as it mirrors the characters' feelings and the strict analogy with Venice. Venice is the connecting element between this production and last year's Death in Venice by Benjamin Britten. These two titles are deeply linked and form one unique path. For that opera too Pizzi had used fog and mist on stage as to evoke a sense of ghost silence and desolation. Water and fog are therefore essential ingredients, and always recurring on the stage set.
- The opera was based on the play Kabale und Liebe by Friedrich von Schiller and features a Great cast of singers including Marcelo Álvarez, Leo Nucci, Fiorenca Cedolins and Giorgio Surian.
- After the CD recording of Thaïs, which marked the beginning of Dynamic's collaboration with Venice's prestigious Teatro La Fenice, here is now the DVD version of this enthralling opera, by the captivating music and dramatic development. The title role, in this excellent production, is sung by an Eva Mei in great vocal form, who gives an interpretation of extraordinary depth. Beside her, the famous bass-baritone Michele Pertusi, as Athanaël, shows once again his unquestionable style. On the podium is Marcello Viotti, music director of the Venetian theatre. The story of the conversion of the beautiful courtesan, and the clash between spirituality and sensuality have been portrayed brilliantly by Pier Luigi Pizzi, one of today's most talented opera directors.
- The creation of Daphne was laborious, especially from the poetic point of view (due to the modest talent of the librettist, Joseph Gregor), but on 15th October 1938 the opera was finally premièred at Dresden's Staatstheater. On the podium was the young conductor Karl Böhm. This opera is a masterpiece of early 20th-century vocal music. Structured in a single act, Daphne is a very consistent work with a rich musical vein. Strauss's orchestration appears, as always, remarkably refined. Vocal writing is demanding for all the main characters, but especially so for the protagonist, here finely interpreted by a magnificent June Anderson. Soon available also in DVD.
- It was customary for Rossini to modify his scores and develop second and third versions for theatres that wanted to stage his operas. The Maometto II here recorded corresponds only in part to the original score (Naples, 1820), which is the version generally performed nowadays; it is, instead, the revision made for Venice's Teatro La Fenice staged on 26th December 1822 as opening title of the 1823 Carnival season, the same season which, on February 3rd, would also see the debut of Semiramide. For Venice Rossini tried to soften the monolithic character of his Neapolitan score, introducing an opening symphony, making changes - some of them quite substantial - to the score and, especially, giving the plot a happy ending. The title role is sung by the young Italian bass Lorenzo Regazzo, internationally renowned; Claudio Scimone, on the podium, is responsible for the revision of the score.
- Baldassarre Galuppi was considered the leading exponent of Venetian comic opera, if not the absolute creator. Though he was shortly forgotten after his death, opera buffa gave him international fame, and it's only recently that his serious operas have begun to receive serious attention. Composed according to tradition, with the use of new arias displaying various affetti (fury, contrast, outrage) as well as others borrowed from contemporary operas, this dramma per musica is a consistent work, where music and text are one, and the seven characters and their emotions are strongly portrayed. The opera takes place in Olimpia during the games, and focuses on a complicated love intrigue. Megacle and Aristea are in love, but the maid is also loved by Megacle's friend Licida. Megacle owes his life to Licida, and therefore to honour this friendhip he is forced to win his beloved's hand for him. The situation gets more complicated, tragedy seems to darken the horizon, but the final happy ending settles things. Pietro Metastasio wrote the libretto in Vienna in 1733, and many musicians put it in music: among the most famous Vivaldi, Pergolesi and Paisiello.
- In recent years not only music festivals but also important opera theatres have turned their attention towards the neglected masterpieces of the lyrical repertoire. Thus also Venice's Teatro La Fenice, in a commendable effort, staged this Pia de' Tolomei by Donizetti, with some of the best singers available today for this type of repertoire. Initial response to this opera, which was performed for the first time in 1837, was ambiguous, so much so that Donizetti re-worked it as many as three times. The version here recorded is that of the critical edition recently published by Ricordi, with the tragic finale originally conceived by the composer. The listener will undoubtedly wonder, once more, at Donizetti's wealth of melodic inspiration, especially when it comes to the character of Pia, wonderfully interpreted, here, by Patrizia Ciofi.
- Les pêcheurs de perles dates from 1863 and represents much more than a mere operatic exercise written by a twenty-five-year-old composer. Pêcheurs is, as a matter of fact, the only other Bizet opera, beside Carmen, to have remained in the repertoire. This opera contains memorable passages, which have ensured its long-lasting success and which many great singers (beginning with Caruso) have recorded and performed: for example the aria of Nadir Je crois entendre encore; the beautiful aria of Léïla Comme autrefois, dans la nuit sombre and, above all, the superb duet between Léïla and Nadir Ton cour n'a pas compris le mien. This Venetian production features an extraordinary Annick Massis as Léïla and the refined staging of Pier Luigi Pizzi.
- At the height of the Renaissance in Italy Monteverdi wrote the first opera, a form of entertainment instantly popular throughout Europe. Corelli created the sonata form and new instruments were developed. The development of musical instruments began to challenge the dominance of the human voice, and violin-making readied its finest form in Italy with Stradivari and Guarneri. Lully was the musical giant at the Court of Versailles. In England, Purcell was perhaps the first great modern composer and Handel brought works for voice of lasting inspiration. Performing are Accademia Monteverdiana conducted by Denis Stevens, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, George Malcolm, Robert Donington, Camerata Lysy, David Rubio, Maureen Forrester, Brighton Harnoncourt with Cathy Berberian and Franz Mazura, Victor Monge "Serranito," Bana and Chigaba Chisiko, Kelly Academy of Irish Dancing, members of the Munchner Symphoniker. Radio Orchestra Munich and the orchestra of the Munich State Opera, and Yehudi Menuhin.