Rossini – Il barbiere di Siviglia

Tags

Barber of Seville, Classical music review, Luigi Alva, Maria Callas, Opera, Rossini, Tito Gobbi

As close to heaven on earth as possible

Many years ago I had a jealously, carefully preserved disc of this back in the days of record players. It got copied to cassette (loss of sound quality) pretty quickly for frequent playing to avoid the inevitable scratches. A CD version was a very expensive import, almost unobtainable, and I regretted there was no digital remastered version. Fortunately at some point I reviewed it on Amazon, bewailing the digilack and a kind commentator on my review alerted me that there WAS! (2009 release)

Duly downloaded I discovered an annoying problem, that somehow it had been filed on the PC as Track 1, Track 1, Track 2, Track 2 etc (originally this had been a 2 disc set, but the digi download did not separate the discs. Much work was called for moving files around to be able to play this (a later, more expensive release pf the same production has it as a continuous track for the act, though the Act I overture is listed apart, so I guess this would make for instant playing) though if you wanted to replay specific tracks, harder.

So why would anyone want a version released originally back in the 50s, given the sound engineering was so unsophisticated, compared to today?

Well a more ecstatic, vibrant, incomparable trio of leads is impossible to imagine. First, there is the extraordinary surprise of Maria Callas‘s fabulous Rosina. Known for the depth and almost unbearable suffering of the tragic bel canto repertory – Norma, I Puritani and verismo roles like Tosca, she could never have been the most obvious casting for Rossini‘s quicksilver, fizzy, playful Rosina. Well, think (or rather, listen) again. I defy anyone to produce such a delicious, effortless, flirtatious irrepressibly joyous Una Voce Poco Fa

And then we have Tito Gobbi, whose Figaro is sex on vocal legs, so to speak – dangerous, seductive, heavily male (swoons away!) Such vocal virility must surely result in a Rosina who will declare ‘sod the story, I’m off with the barber!’ But that is before the wooing, idealistic, romantic Lindoro of Luigi Alva bursts into song, and Rosina, as she must, melts and our lusty Figaro will do all he can to help the couple achieve love’s young.

reblogged picture from This Deep Dream’s wonderful Tumblr Opera site

(Alas, the opera savvy amongst us know that Lindoro will, in Mozart and da Ponte’s Figaro turn out to be a betrayer, that Rosina’s heart will be broken. She should have stayed for the barber, after all)

But let us stay for a moment with this divine , sparkling trio not to mention other principals, ensemble and orchestra. Lucky us, to be able to unpick this little bit of musical heaven from its era. Brava! Bravo! Bravo! not to mention Bravissimo and Bravissima

Rossini : Barber Amazon UK
Unbroken Acts Version Amazon UK
Rossini : Barber Amazon USA

The Enchanted Isle

Tags

baroque, Danielle de Niese, David Daniels, Joyce DiDonato, Luca Pisaroni, Opera, Placido Domingo, The Enchanted Isle

Gentle viewer – watch this – or at least check your discs for faults – immediately

I was pretty shocked to see that a goodly number of the  reviews of this on Amazon were from people who found 1 or both of the DVDs were faulty. Somewhere along the route of pressing there has clearly been a major problem, and I feel very sorry for those affected. An error rate of nearly 40% is alarming and I guess will leave people reluctant to buy this, which is a shame, as the opera itself is delightful.

I was lucky enough to catch this ‘Live At The Met in HD’ showing, early in 2012, and it was one of the highlights of that season for me, so I was delighted when a fellow reviewer alerted me to the release of the DVD. And especially delighted as there was a delay between buying the DVD and settling down to watch it, that I wasn’t one of the ones who had faulty discs

And so – to the actual delight of the piece itself:

And I’m pretty well as enchanted as I was, on seeing it ‘live’ last year. It is a brilliantly showy, inventive production, using works from Handel, Vivaldi, Rameau, Purcell, and other less-well known composers, and an outrageously playful mash-up libretto from Jeremy Sams. The story combines Prospero, Miranda, Ferdinand, Caliban, Ariel and the island from The Tempest together with the four lovers from Midsummer Night’s Dream. And then some – enter a missing character – Neptune, given the imaginative buildup of a stage full of flying mermaids, the only accompaniment possible really, given the casting of Placido Domingo as Neptune

Full of wonderful comedy and oozily saccharine Broadway moments the lovers from Midsummer Night’s dream enact all the delicious comedy brought in by Ariel-as-Puck getting it wrong with who falls in love with whom, but there is also room for deep pain, transformation, betrayal, and true forgiveness. And the various musical pieces accommodate all this.

There are also lots of nods to a couple of Mozart operas – the 4 lovers of course from The Dream, recast into Cosi Fan Tutte, but more obviously, Prospero and Sycorax, Caliban’s mother, given some wonderfully showy arias, bring elements of Sarastro and Queen of The Night to mind.

Stand out, for me, is David Daniels, the countertenor voice giving Prospero a real power and strangeness, and Joyce Di Donato, as Sycorax singing her heart out, with music ranging from the firework cracking spectacle to deeply tender and intimate. Indeed, the most tear jerking aria was the quiet ‘Hearts that love will all be broken’ which Sycorax sings to her son – a painfully touching performance by Luca Pisaroni, who almost steals the scene without uttering a sound, through his piteous body language and expression.

I can’t miss noting another highlight – the ‘quartet’ (the lovers from The Dream) are not headlined, but for me a showstopping, heart-filling moment was Hermia’s aria, which opened Act 2, beautifully and intensely sung by Elizabeth DeShong. Listening to this aria I stopped breathing, transfixed by emotion

On watching the DVD I had a few slight ‘ouch’ moments which I hadn’t noticed ‘live’ – because I was so swept up in excitement – every now and again some of Danielle de Niese’s top notes are a little snatched, and the clump clump of Prospero’s boots infiltrates the music at times. And as a Brit the singing of short American ‘a’ sounds rather than long received pronunciation long ‘a’ sounds – yours to command’ rather than ‘yours to commaaand’ irritated, as the longer, more open vowel just sounds better to my ears. But these are really minor points of personal preference.

The production team of Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch absolutely guarantee inventiveness, magic, theatricality. And they deliver. What more could anyone want? There is even a lasciviously rude goatish goblin ballet, Helena as a slightly dippy hippy botanist, and a plethora of visual delights, sumptuous costumes, extravagantly lush and inventive staging and design, beautifully acted, as well as sung,  performances – and of course, the music, the music, the music

The short extras on the second disc involve interviews with the stars, conductor, librettist, producer and designer.

I heartily recommend this – keeping fingers crossed you get the 60% discs that work, not the 40% that don’t.

Now, if only the Met would release a video of the real standout of that 2011-2012 season for me –  Glass’ Satyagraha, to replace the only recorded version available, which is a technically poor one, I would be permanently ecstatic!

The Enchanted Isle Amazon UK
The Enchanted Isle Amazon USA