Sara Mingardo, Ruth Rosique and Atonio Abete lead the cast in this premiere recording of Handel's opera from Turin's Teatro Carignano in 2009. Davide Livermore, the director, makes this 2009 production both enjoyable and interesting to watch. It has been recorded in the newly restored and beautiful Teatro Carignano in Turin and features Sara Mingardo, Ruth Rosique and Atonio Abete in the leading roles. Based on the well-known mythological story narrated by Ovid in the Metamorphoses, this is a classical tale of jealousy and love. The giant Polyphemus tries to force his attention on the fair sea-nymph Galatea, who is in love with the shepherd Aci. When mad jealousy drives Polyphemus to kill his rival, Galatea asks her father Nereus to turn Aci’s blood into a river so that, flowing into the sea, he will join her forevermore. Directed by Davide Livermore, Matteo Ricchetti. Starring Ruth Rosique, Antonio Abete, Cristina Banchetti. Language: Italian Subtitles: English, Italian, German, French, Spanish

ALESSANDRO SCARLATTI (1660 – 1725)
Il Pastor di Corinto, Opera pastorale in tre atti (1701)

Bruna Tredicine, soprano; Anna Carbonera, soprano; Cristina Cappellini, soprano; Caterina Novak, mezzo; Carlo Putelli, tenor; Roberta De Nicola, soprano buffo; Massimo Di Stefano, bass buffo

Romabarocca Ensemble/Lorenzo Tozzi

Tito Schipa, Jr., stage director
Adriana Ruvolo, costumes; Luigi Stefano Cannelli, design

Recorded: Auditorio di San Francesco a Bolsena, August 16 & 17, 2007 NTSC All Region; 16:9; 5.1; Approx. 140 mins. Subtitled in Italian, English

This comic opera tells the story of Geronimo, a wealthy citizen of Bologna, who is trying to arrange aristocratic marriages for his two daughters, Carolina and Elisetta. What he doesn’t know is that his youngest daughter Carolina is already secretly married to Paolino, his young secretary. Through a series of humorous situations the young couple confess their marriage and all ends well. Giovanni Antonini conducts the Wallonie Royal Opera Orchestra for this performance of Cimarosa's two-act comic opera 'Il Matrimonio Segreto' ('The Clandestine Wedding'), recorded live at Liege in February 2008. Soloists include Cinzia Forte, Priscille Laplace and Damiana Pinti. Directed by Stefano Mazzonis Di Pralafera. Starring Cinzia Forte, Alberto Rinaldi, Damiana Pinti. Language: Italian Subtitles: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish

All Regions | NTSC | Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS, PCM Stereo 2.0 | Colour | 16:9 | 137 min.

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. Subtitles in 7 languages.

First DVD recording
First recording of the new critical edition

R E V I E W:

A work far better than its reputation, an attractive production, splendid singing and acting.

Donizetti composed Pia de’ Tolomei during the summer and autumn of 1836 in Naples, where he was living at the time. In December he set out for Venice, where the premiere was planned for February the next year at the Teatro La Fenice He travelled via Livorno and Genoa but when he arrived in Genoa he was met by the news that the theatre had been destroyed by fire on the night of 12/13 December. He realized that there was a great risk that the premiere would be jeopardized. However the production was moved to Teatro Apollo and the premiere took place on 18 February 1837 as planned. Fanny Persiani, who had been the first Lucia di Lammermoor a couple of years earlier, took the title role. The opera was not an immediate success and Donizetti reworked it twice. The second time was for Naples in 1838, where the censors enforced important changes and a happy ending. The present production is based on the critical edition published by Ricordi, where the original tragic finale is restored.

History often repeats itself and on 29 January 1996 Teatro La Fenice was again destroyed by fire. After seven years of intense reconstruction work a Phoenix arose from the ashes. Its inauguration took place on 14 December 2003, almost to the day 167 years after that first disaster. When Pia de’ Tolomei was scheduled less than 1½ years later the performances were carried through without mishap and the result can be seen and heard on this wholly attractive set of DVDs.

“Why is it attractive? I’ve read that this is one the worst of Donizetti’s operas.” I can hear more than one jaded opera-freak’s distrustful grumble. Yes, I have read that too and I wasn’t all that hopeful when I started viewing. Things began badly by mistake I started playing the second disc first and ended up hopelessly at sea. “What has happened before and why don’t we know that?” was my reaction. I shouldn’t blame Dynamic but since the disc I put in my player was in its usual place on the right-hand side of the opened box and to the left was the booklet, I didn’t even notice the admittedly very large 2 on the label. Unfortunately disc 1 was obscured by the booklet. However, when starting from the beginning, I found the plot and layout fully comprehensible – which is not always the case with these more obscure operatic byways. The origin of the story is to be found in a few lines in Dante’s Divina Commedia and according to some scholars they refer to events in the poet’s own time, taking place in 1297. A poem on the subject had been published in 1822 and in April 1836 a play by Giacinto Bianco was staged in Naples. Donizetti must have known it and been inspired by it. His librettist Salvadore Cammarano was no mean author – no one can deny the dramatic qualities of Lucia di Lammermoor. This drama unfolds with few digressions from the main story in what is certainly a clear-cut libretto.

The plot goes along these lines: Ghino is in love with Pia but she is married to Nello, his cousin, and turns him down. In revenge he informs Nello that Pia is going to have a secret meeting with a lover. Her visitor is however her brother Rodrigo, who has just escaped from captivity. Rodrigo manages to escape Nello’s guards but Pia refuses to tell her husband who the visitor was and is condemned to imprisonment for life in his castle. Ghino visits her there and promises to set her free if she becomes his. She tells him who the visitor was and Ghino decides to tell Nello the truth. On his way he is attacked and mortally wounded. He manages to tell Nello about Pia’s innocence and Nello rushes to the castle to save her, since he has ordered Ubaldo to poison her. He arrives too late but before she dies Pia reconciles her brother to her husband. OK, this may not be a masterpiece of a story or a libretto but there are standard works that are not one iota better.

Secondly the music is fully worthy of the drama. Rarely in Donizetti’s operas is everything perfect. This was his 61st opera in twenty years – if we include often far-reaching revisions of some works. There was little time for him to go back and tidy up details. In most of his works he tends to lapse into clichés. That said, it is remarkable how often he avoids the temptation; how frequently he finds new expressions, new structures. In Pia de’ Tolomei he has long abandoned the recitative-aria-recitative pattern and builds long, continuous scenes – not seamless as later Verdi but still pointing forward to his brilliant successor. He is stuck in the aria-cabaletta pattern, rather along the same lines as middle period Verdi. In addition he far too often builds the cabalettas and other numbers on the almost mechanical rum-ti-tum rhythm with which we are also well acquainted from early and middle Verdi. But it really doesn’t matter as long as it is captivating – and very often with Donizetti it is. The opening chorus of act 2 – the first thing I heard in my reverse-order listening – is one stirring example. Rodrigo, a trouser role, has a rousing cabaletta in the dungeon scene in act 1 and in the same act there is a fine cabaletta duet for tenor and baritone that should be a splendid recital item. More original are Pia’s big solos which make her a close relative to the likewise ill-fated Lucia di Lammermoor. Technically this role requires the same amount of florid singing and sensitive pianissimo singing and it should be an attractive role for any good lyric-dramatic soprano. The leading tenor also has a couple of vocally and dramatically attractive arias. Then there is a beautiful duet for Pia and her brother Rodrigo – for soprano and mezzo-soprano – accompanied by plucked strings.

Thirdly the production is visually pleasing. The sets are of the modern-minimalist kind, with strict geometrical constructions and evocative lighting. Sometimes screens with texts are inserted. The costumes are timelessly-historical, if you can accept the contradiction in terms. The soldiers’ armoury could be anything from late 13th century to the Thirty Years’ War while Pia’s nightdress could be from the latest issue of Vogue. The grouping of the soldiers in the mass-scenes is also decorative though hardly based on dramatic necessity.

Fourthly the singing and acting of the principals is uniformly at the highest level. It has been a long time since I saw a DVD production with such high quality singing even from the comprimarios. Patrizia Ciofi’s Pia is ravishingly sung, deeply felt and convincingly acted. She seems in a state of mental disturbance from the very outset - an innocent victim. Technically speaking she is brilliant with fluent coloratura and the gift of delicate embellishments. Dario Schmunck is a lyrical and ardent Ghino – a singer I eagerly look forward to hearing again. His acting may be rather reticent but is still efficient. Andrew Schroeder is a powerful and dramatic Nello and sings with glowing tone. Laura Polverelli’s Rodrigo is also a character not to be taken lightly. In the smaller parts Carlo Cigni, sporting a magnificent basso cantante, is surely predestined for a grand career. The chorus have a lot to do, especially the male soldiery. They are vivid and powerful but not always the most homogenous of ensembles. The orchestra play well and Paolo Arrivabeni is obviously deeply inspired by this long neglected score.

Is it a forgotten masterpiece? Maybe not but it is far better than some works regularly performed and should not be returned to the archives for the eternal sleep. If it is, the Teatro La Fenice forces have seen to it that it will not be totally forgotten and opera lovers with a taste for the unusual should hasten to acquire this set. Technically this set is fully worthy of the occasion. There is a good booklet and subtitles are available in seven languages.

A work that is far better than its reputation, in an attractive production with splendid singing and acting. Should be snapped up by all opera lovers with a feeling for the unusual.

-- Göran Forsling, MusicWeb International

The Places - Vienna was already an ancient Celtic town called Vindobona when around 15 BC the Romans fortified it with a military camp. The town prospered and grew, undergoing considerable further development under the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who died there in AD 180. In later times Vienna assumed the greatest importance as the capital of the Habsburg Empire and as a bulwark defending Western Europe from invasion from the East, although it failed to repel Napoleon, who occupied the city twice in the first decade of the 19th century. The Music; the eldest son of Johann Strauss I, the younger Johann Strauss was born in 1825, the year in which his father established his popular dance orchestra. The father intended other professions for his sons, but in 1844, two years after his father had abandoned his wife in favor of his mistress, the younger Strauss set up his own orchestra, an enterprise in which he later compelled his younger brothers, Joseph and Eduard, to share. In 1863 Strauss was appointed Imperial Music Director for the balls held at court, a position he held until 1871, when he was succeeded by his brother Eduard. He then began writing a series of operettas, including in 1874 the best known of all, Die Fledermaus. He died in 1899 after a busy and successful career, having composed some five hundred pieces of music; Waltzes, Polkas, Marches, Quadrilles and Stage works.

Laurent PETITGIRARD (b. 1950)

Joseph Merrick, The Elephant Man

Elephant Man - Jana Sykorova
Doctor Treves - Nicolas Rivenq
Tom Norman, showman - Robert Breault
Mary, nurse - Valérie Condoluci
Eva Lükes, matron - Elsa Maurus
Carr Gomm, hospital manager - Nicolas Courjal
The Coloratura - Magali Léger
Jimmy, showman's assistant - Mari Laurila-Lili
Nice Opera Chorus · Nice Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Laurent Petitgirard

DVD 9 · NTSC · Regions 1-6
Picture Format: 16:9
Audio Formats: Dolby Digital 2.0 · Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English · French · German
Running time: 166 mins

Written in 1998, Petitgirard's opera differs from David Lynch's cult film in offering an entirely different perspective on the tale of Joseph Merrick, born in 1863 with horrific deformities, exhibited as a freak at the circus, taken in by Dr. Treves at the London Hospital and subsequently afforded celebrity status. Where the film is based largely on Dr. Treves' memoirs, the opera is based on biographies of Joseph Merrick giving his character a more central focus than in the film.

"The opera is many ways the most original treatment of the story... The most revolutionary aspect of the opera is the writing of Merrick's part for a female singer. At first tempted to make Merrick a counter-tenor, Petitgirard finally decided that only the contralto voice could give him the effects he wanted. Certainly, in the theatre, this helps to create the aura of strangeness, of otherness, which Merrick personifies." -- The Independent "Petitgirard's musical vocabulary reflects his French heritage - the influences of Fauré, Ravel, Poulenc and Satie are evident - but his subtlety, melodic gift and sensitivity to the drama make him well-equipped to inherit the mantle and create his own outstandingly original idiom... No doubt [the opera] would prove even more powerful onstage than on disc." -- Opera News