If Mosè is Rossini uncharacteristically serious, Don Pasquale is Donizetti almost as uncharacteristically comic. But the opera is a charmer, and while this performance is frisky and well sung, it is almost defiantly unidiomatic with its German, Mexican and Russian principals.

-- John Rockwell, The New York Times [5/16/1982]

The great soprano Ileana Cotrubas is featured on this disc singing arias from many of her signature roles. Always an effervescent and engaging performer, Cotrubas became known for her portrayals of lyric soprano roles such as Susanna, Pamina, Gilda, Liú, and Adina , all of which are represented here.
She also tests more foreign waters in arias from Charpentier's 'Louise' and Verdi's 'La Forza del Destino,' with excellent results. For example, in contrast to the Gilda aria "Caro nome" from 'Rigoletto,' the Leonora aria "Pace, pace, mi Dio," displays the darker, more brooding side to Cotrubas that she did not often employ. Sitting lower in her vocal register, Cotrubas renders this wrenching aria with unwavering intensity that one wishes she had used more often. A wonderful highlight of the disc has Placido Domingo joining Cotrubas in selections from Donizetti's 'L'elisir d'amore," which is a sheer delight and familiar turf to Cotrubas. The well-known "O mio babbino caro," warmly sung by Cotrubas, ends this wonderful collection.

Since its foundation in 2013, the Berliner Operngruppe has made a name for itself with Berlin premieres such as Donizetti's Deux Hommes et une Femme and Betly and other operatic rarities. This album is a recording of the world premiere of Donizetti's opera Dalinda from the Konzerthaus Berlin on 14 May 2023, the opera that emerged from the censorship and plagiarism confusion surrounding Lucrezia Borgia, but which did not withstand the censorship either and disappeared unperformed until it was found a few years ago by the musicologist Eleonora Di Cintio.

This sparkling opera buffa is a premiere from the 2016 Donizetti Festival of Bergamo, with the part of Pasquale in Neapolitan dialect. It is the story of two rich merchant brothers from Lisbon, who are used to weighing everything against their barganing power. Also the marriage of Pasquale's niece Isabella is a "bargain" to them: she must marry another merchant, so as not to break with family tradition. The gags among the various characters are hilarious - especially those between the two brothers, who have competely different characters - creating an almost surreal atmosphere. Olivo, interpreted by Bruno Taddia, is teh real protagonist: as Isabella's father, he portrays a gruff, inflexible man, and does so with self-assurance and ease but never over the top. No less convincing is Filippo Morace as his brother Pasquale: istrionic and exhilarating as a na ctor, musically precise, and excellent in his Neapolitan dialect performance. Laurea Giordano, also thanks to her physique du role, is perfect as Isabella, the heartbroken girl torn between love for the young Camillo and obedience towards her grouchy father.

The thorny subject of marital violence is set against a hilarious backdrop in this one-act farce where, contrary to what we are used to seeing in opera, tenor and baritone do their best to free themselves of the female protagonist, to whom both are married. No doubt, Gaspar's aria on the joys of chastising one's wife in the way she deserves causes a few raised eyebrows nowadays, but the funny side is genuine and the music brilliant, making of this forgotten little opera a true gem. Donizetti composed Rita, ou Le mari battu, which would be staged posthumously at the Opera-comique on 7th May 1860, with Caroline Lefebvre as protagonist. The concise story of the waspish innkeeper Rita, her husband Peppe and first husband Gaspare, the latter believed dead in a shipwreck, unrolls in a single act, effectively divided into eight closed numbers: one aria for each singer, three duets, one trio and the finale. The apex of this delightful divertissement, both from the point of view of the action and the music, is the duet where the two men rival each other, albeit in a way that is diametrically opposed to what we are used to seeing on an operatic stage: instead of contending for the female protagonist, like all respectable tenors and baritones in love, they gamble her away, both desperately trying to lose. The writing is that of a consummate composer, flowing and refined. Characters are portrayed with terse effectiveness, situations never trespass into the grotesque. The result is a perfect balance of all elements, which makes of Rita a small but significant example of Donizetti's musical experience in the 1840s, an experience that can truly be called European.

Featuring:
Conductor: Claudio Scimone
Orchestre de l'Opera de Wallonie
Stage Director: Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera
Scenes: Jean-Guy Lecat
Costume Designer: Fernand Ruiz
Choreographer: Antonaeta Alexieva
Rita - Priscille Laplace
Peppe - Aldo Caputo
Gaspar - Alberto Rinaldi
Opera Royal de Wallonie, 2010

Lily Pons was a miraculous soprano coloratura, and this two-CD set pays exquisite homage to her vast artistic gifts. The informative, beautifully-designed liner notes tell the story of Pons' rise to fame and of her association with conductor (and one-time husband) André Kostelanetz. The tracks were recorded during the 1940's at the height of Pons' artistic powers and celebrity. Thoughtfully re-mastered, each selection is a jewel.
Pons produces notes that seem to come from the heavens, heard most remarkably in her "Caro nome" from 'Rigoletto' and Olympia's aria from 'Les Contes d'Hoffmann.' Never sounding like a robot or a mere technician, she brings her effervescent personality to each work in these recordings.
In addition to arias from the operas Pons regularly performed in repertory at the Met, the set includes other composer's works (Milhaud, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Bishop), all artfully executed. Pons lived during a time when opera singers were viewed as movie stars with great voices to boot. Her star-quality shines through on these discs, and one hopes that such a presence will emerge again in modern times.

ETERNAL CABALLE

BENIAMINO GIGLI - DONIZETTI, P

As virtually the only serious opera of Donizetti to survive the advent of Verdi and the later Verismo school of Puccini et al, 'Lucia di Lammermoor' was also the most adapted to fit the prevailing notions of style. The late Maria Callas led the rediscovery of Donizetti's skill as a dramatic composer, and her performances of the opera under Serafin and Karajan are very special.
Since Callas, there have been attempts to restore the opera to something like its original form. Charles Mackerras follows Donizetti's original autograph score and offers a reading of the opera in keeping with what is known of performance practice in Donizetti's time. The most apparent results are high notes being taken in head voice rather than chest, most obvious in the male principals; the lower option at the end of arias; and a drastically shortened cadenza at the end of the mad scene.
Andrea Rost gives a strong performance of the title role as does Bruce Ford as Edgardo. The lower voices, Anthony Michaels-Moore and Alastair Miles, are particularly fine. An interesting and successful example of scholarship applied to the basic repertoire.

The global careers of not one but two Slovakian singers were launched on March 23, 1978 in Vienna’s State Opera: that of then-27-year-old tenor Peter Dvorský, and that of 31-year-old Edita Gruberova, hers a career which has endured to this day. Despite her success there in the role of Zerbinetta just eighteen months earlier, she was then still an insider tip for such a large bel canto role. Although studio recordings from subsequent years exist of this role which would later become Gruberova’s hallmark, this early live recording has a quality that is missing from later recordings: the maidenly determination and yet stupendous vocal perfection that Gruberova delivers in her portrayal, her inimitable sonorous timbre – which she retains to this day – alongside the wonderfully intimate and yet tense partnership with Dvorský, whose passionate, burning tenor provides a unique highlight in his first duet with Gruberova’s Lucia and supplies a further high point in the tricky final scene on a recording not short of such brilliant climaxes. Matteo Manuguerra’s reading of Lucia’s brother Enrico is a perilously relentless, masculine tour de force. Last but not least, the quickening touch of Giuseppe Patane’s baton makes this a gem among the treasures of Edita Gruberova’s discography, one never short of outstanding testimony to her consummate vocal skill and is a wonderful addition to that of Peter Dvorský, whose discography is sadly not so bountiful. The Neapolitan conductor, who was highly regarded in Munich for his performances of Italian repertoire, transforms a singing festival into an exciting music drama in the way that he leads the Vienna Philharmonic in a highly flexible and dynamic manner through the musical narrative.

Recorded on March 24, 1962, this recording of Donizetti’s Maria di Rohan stars Virginia Zeani as Maria. This work is recorded by the Orcestra e Coro del Teatro di San Carlo, conducted by Fernando Previtali. This release is a 2-disc set.

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Vocal Recital: Ludwig, Walther - MOZART, W.A. / DONIZETTI, G

Revived after 171 years in oblivion, the staging of Rosmonda d’Inghilterra at Bergamo’s Teatro Donizetti proved fascinating for the Italian public. From the excellent cast of singers, Jessica Pratt and Eva Mei gave standout performances. The opera revolves around a tale of love and intrigue surrounding the main protagonists- the famous Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, her husband Henry II of England, and the fair Rosamund de Clifford. Rosmonda is the quintessential innocent, unaware that the man she loves is the King of England and that she has unwittingly become a rival to the much-feared Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine. Eleanor, having already had her first marriage annulled for reasons of consanguinity, is unwilling to se her second marriage also fail. Only the faithful page Arturo, secretly in love with Rosmonda, knows that the Queen is aware of her husband’s betrayal; but he too is embroiled in this game of deceit hoping that he will end up winning the girl. The emotional and dramatic development is very effective. There is not a page in this score without some example of brilliant writing, a captivating theme, a moving passage. It all goes to prove how deeply original Donizetti was and how much there is still to be discovered about this underappreciated composer.

This opera, which had fallen into oblivion, was revived in 1973 in the Dutch city of Zaanstad (the Saardam of the libretto) and staged at Bergamo's Teatro Sociale as part of the Donizetti Festival in a new critical edition made for the Donizetti Foundation by Alberto Sonzogni. In the plot, the Tsar Peter the Great works incognito as a carpenter at the shipyard of Sardaam to acquire technical knowledge to carry back home. On the podium, the knowledgeable Roberto Rizzi Brignoli leads the orchestra of the Donizetti Opera, assisted by the internationally renowned cinema director Davide Ferrario. In the cast, Andrea Concetti (a successful artist who has sung throughout the world) is joined by singers who are emerging in the belcanto repertoire, such as Giorgio Caoduro, Juan Francisco Gatell, Irina Dubrovskaya and Aya Wakizono.

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Directed by Ching-Lien Wu, Don Kent, Jean-Marie Blanchard. Starring Romaric Braun, Patrizia Ciofi, Evelino Pido.

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Video Format: DVD 9
Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Subtitles: Italian, English
Running Time: 153 Minutes
Region Code: 0
Sound Format: Stereo PCM

Also available on Blu-ray

This opera, which had fallen into oblivion, was revived in 1973 in the Dutch city of Zaanstad (the Saardam of the libretto) and staged at Bergamo’s Teatro Sociale as part of the Donizetti Festival in a new critical edition made for the Donizetti Foundation by Alberto Sonzogni. In the plot, the Tsar Peter the Great works incognito as a carpenter at the shipyard of Sardaam to acquire technical knowledge to carry back home. On the podium, the knowledgeable Roberto Rizzi Brignoli leads the orchestra of the Donizetti Opera, assisted by the internationally renowned cinema director Davide Ferrario. In the cast, Andrea Concetti (a successful artist who has sung throughout the world) is joined by singers who are emerging in the belcanto repertoire, such as Giorgio Caoduro, Juan Francisco Gatell, Irina Dubrovskaya and Aya Wakizono.

Lesser known than Mozart and Verdi's Requiem, Donizetti's Messa di Requiem in D minor for the death of Vincenzo Bellini is infused with a deeply felt spirituality, that reveals the feelings of sincere admiration and friendship that he had towards the Sicilian composer, who died prematurely in 1835 in France, where the two were in tour with old and new operas rearranged for the local audience. Unfortunately Donizetti himself did not live long enough to hear his work performed, and the Messa was to be premiered only in 1870 in Bergamo, in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, where Donizetti is now buried. This release was recorded in that same location and the whole cast received very positive reviews, especially tenor Juan Francisco Gatell that sung the famous Ingemisco aria with an excellent use of mezzevoci and coloratura.

Donizetti’s opera Parisina is a tragedia lirica in three acts with libretto by Felice Romani. The work is based on Lord Byron’s poem of the same name, written in 1816. The work was well received at its premiere in Florence in 1833, then gained more notoriety a decade later when it was referenced in Alexandre Dumas’ novel The Count of Monte Cristo. Mariella Devia sings the title role in this performance. Both the public and critics alike have noted this role among the other bel canto roles she has sung in her career. This production was recorded live on May 20, 1990 at the Teatro della Pergola, Florence, the same location where the work was premiered.