MARIA STUARDA. Carmela Remigio, soprano; Sonia Ganassi, mezzo; Joseph Calleja, tenor; Riccardo Zanellato, bass; Marzio Giossi, baritone; Cinzia Rizzone, soprano; Coro del Circuito Lirico Regionale Lombardo; Chorus Master: Valentino Metti; Fondazione Orchestra Stabile di Bergamo “Gaetano Donizetti” ; Conductor: Fabrizio Maria Carminati; Director and costume designer: Francesco Esposito; Set designer: Italo Grassi; Video director: Marco Scalfi

With the present release of this Donizettian masterpiece, recorded live in 2001, Dynamic makes an historic move, becoming the first Italian label to produce a DVD opera. This very high quality production by Teatro Donizetti di Bergamo features, in the roles of the two queens, Carmela Remigio (Maria Stuarda) and Sonia Ganassi (Elisabetta), two great artists here making a fine display of their excellent vocal and acting skills. Francesco Esposito’s direction and costumes, and Italo Grassi’s sets are very effective and superbly highlighted by the filming. What makes the release even more interesting is the use of a new critical edition made by the renowned Swedish musicologist Anders Wiklund for Casa Ricordi. The CD Booklet offers exhaustive liner notes, and plot and libretto in four languages. The DVD has subtitles in 6 languages (Italian, English, German, French, Spanish and Japanese), as well as interviews to the two female interpreters, the conductor, the director and the set-designer. This title is also available on CD (Dynamic 407/1-2).

Also available on Blu-ray

A distinguished cast in a strong production.

The remarkable history of this opera includes the infamous fisticuffs at the very first orchestral rehearsal. The original director overlooked the simmering animosity between his leading ladies. Maria Stuarda calls her rival queen, Elizabetta, a ‘vile bastard’ and such was the ferocity of delivery by Giuseppina Ronzi de Begnis, as Maria, that Anna del Serre as Elizabetta, responded with fists and hair-pulling. De Begnis hit back with such force that Anna del Serre departed the theatre. Meanwhile, the plot came to the ears of the King who banned it: too close to home for comfort with his wife descended from Maria Stuarda.
 
It almost disappeared off the operatic radar until performed after Donizetti’s death. Then it languished for a century or so until a 1958 revival: but its real renaissance came twenty years after that. “The discovery of the autograph in a Swedish collection in 1987 has made possible the preparation of an authentic edition” (A. Holden, ed. The New Penguin Opera Guide, 2001 p.235). Since when, it has taken its regular rightful place in the repertoire.
 
The apocryphal confrontation of the two queens is played here with dramatic intensity. Sonia Ganassi (Elizabetta) portrays the hatred and contempt for Maria Stuarda with towering vocal passion. Fiorenza Cedolins (Maria) responds initially with supplication followed by vocal and facial fireworks of which she is such a remarkable exponent.
 
The one-set-fits-all scenes is a stage-filling labyrinth as shown on the DVD cover above. It is not a maze: the characters are not in a puzzle but in roles where their actions are circumscribed by their offices of state. Although the opera’s events are from 1587, this production is timeless in set and costumes. Together with direction and lighting, all by Denis Krief, they provide complementary forces that leave the audience free to concentrate on voices and plot.
 
The performance by Ganassi is a tour de force. She manifests remarkable vocal strength throughout her vocal range. She misses not a word, with diction, dynamics and colouring second to none. It seems invidious to select any specific aria but Quella vita a me funesta (tr. 22), when about to sign the death warrant, exhibits all that is glorious about her vocal and acting strengths. From her entrance aria, with middle-note-hitting, leaps and vocal contrasts to her dismissal of her rival queen, she exhibits her consummate stage presence.
 
No less forceful is Cedolins as Maria Stuarda. A natural spitfire who can leap around her upper tessitura with agility at forte but who can rein back to piano to send a melting note across stage, pit and auditorium. Although not as strong in her chest voice, she remains totally note and line focused. Her runs and trills are an aural joy. From her wistful O nube! (tr. 12) through vocal fireworks of vitriol to her moving acceptance of fate in Quando di luce rosea (tr. 27), Cedolins displays strong colouring and dynamics.
 
José Bros (Leicester) brings to the role his distinctive timbre with smouldering passion and dramatic intensity. His diction many would do well to emulate - no need on this DVD though - as well as his strongly coloured and stage encompassing sound. He is the master of the smooth legato. This is a mature Leicester, not dashing around the stage, but relying on vocal gravitas to project his character.
 
Together Ganassi and Bros have the power, tone, dynamic variation and breath control to complement each other. She leads and her courtier follows. Now she deludes herself in imagining his love for her but is then persuaded to meet her rival from Scotland.
 
Thus it is also with the Maria Stuarda of Cedolins. Bros is the mature courtier/lover endeavouring to keep her alive by persuading her to throw herself on English regal mercy: a serious error of judgement over-looking that royal all-consuming hatred of her rival from Scotland. The Bros/Cedolins duet Da tutti abbandonata (tr. 15) has everything: dynamics in spades, each soaring above the other in turn, vocal colouring and, as expected facial acting by Cedolins shown well in camera close-ups.
 
Mirco Palazzi is a quite excellent Talbot - not revealing himself late as a priest in this production, but a priest from the start. His superb bass-deep colouring and ringing tone brings this role much more to the fore. He is the perfect foil for the tenor of Bros and the soprano of Cedolins. This is a convincing priest and confidant.
 
Marco Caria is the unenviable and possibly unloved Cecil, persuading one queen to execute another. A hint of strain at forte, nevertheless very persuasive and acting well with Ganassi in that restless death warrant signature scene. As the conveyor of the warrant he relaxes into the hypocrisy of sadness that Caria carries well with evenness of tone and perfect diction.
 
Pervin Chakar sings the small but important role of Anna. Small, with little opportunity to shine solo, but important, in her contribution to the ensembles. Chakar has a ringing soprano that can be heard clearly in the excellently delivered and balanced ensembles.
 
Maestro Carminati has other productions of this opera to his credit. Here there is a sporadic lack of co-ordination of his forces: occasionally with timing but more frequently allowing the orchestra to equal and not complement the events on stage. The chorus were not on their best form: no perception of involvement in the unfolding plot and, without the subtitles, difficult to follow.
 
The camera-work is unhurried, from full stage to close-up. Plenty of time to appreciate Krief’s use of colours, from Ganassi’s yellow costume of jealousy to Cedolins bold red jacket and skirt - the scarlet woman or perhaps foretelling her bloody end. In this production, she meets her end in a white strapless evening dress and drape: virgin innocence possibly, but the opposite of the original stage direction for black.
 
The lighting, with some equally effective colours, makes a significant but welcome contribution. The labyrinth uprights and/or tops are suffused with dramatic varying colours, matching scene and mood. This set, with its straight lines, provides the perfect tool for shot amalgamation showing figures in close proximity on screen when in reality they are apart on the stage. And the superimposing of the head and shoulders of Cedolins on a shot of the whole stage in the final scene is a striking reminder of her overarching presence. Such camera-work is the more effective for its sparing use.
 
Taken overall this is an excellent DVD. But if you prefer a production in sixteenth century costumes, with equally strong queens - Mariella Devia and Anna Caterina Antonacci - and a dashing young Leicester - Franceso Meli - then try Arthaus Musik 101361. Torches for atmospheric illumination appear against a background of prison bars various, ramps and platforms to give different perspectives. There’s heightened tension in the last scene with the block and executioner on-stage and the chorus closer to their beloved, doomed, queen. Whereas orchestra and chorus are much tauter, for me, the other soloists are not so strong and the ensembles did not balance as well.
 
So, two seriously good DVDs with personal preference for queens, supporting roles, and setting being the deciding factors. Difficult: but on balance I prefer the DVD of this review with its thought-provoking aspects, overall vocal balances and because the production is so different, not detracting from, but complementing, plot and sound.
 

 
-- Robert McKechnie, MusicWeb International 

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.

In its original form, Maria di Rohan was without doubt the most audacious result – pre-Verdi – of aesthetic transformation beyond the courtly dramas of “long Italian classicism”. The opera’s intrigue develops like an unstoppable machine: the fatal triangle formed by Maria, Chalais and Chevreuse being the work of Richelieu’s absolute power (despite never appearing on stage). Like trapped animals, the characters hopelessly search for a way out, and they devour each other in turn. Recorded at the Bergamo Donizetti Festival, October 2011, this is the first DVD release of Donizetti’s 1843 opera.

Gaetano Donizetti
LUCREZIA BORGIA

Lucrezia Borgia – Dimitra Theodossiou
Gennaro – Roberto de Biasio
Don Alfonso – Enrico Giuseppe Iori
Maffio Orsini – Nidia Palacios
Rustighello – Luigi Albani
Gubetta – Giuseppe di Paola
Astolfo – Mauro Corna

Bergamo Musica Festival Choir and Orchestra
Tiziano Severini, conductor
Francesco Bellotto, stage director

Filmed at the Teatro Donizetti, Bergamo, Italy, during performances in the Bergamo Musica Festival Gaetano Donizetti, 30 November and 2 December 2007

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: Dolby Digital 2.0 / Dolby Surround 5.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, Italian
Running time: 138 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

Lucrezia Borgia, infamous noblewoman of the Renaissance, has outlived three husbands and is now married to Don Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara. After the Borgia’s palace is defaced by vandals, Lucrezia demands the desecrator’s death to avenge the insult. When the noble young soldier Gennaro is arrested for the crime, Lucrezia’s thirst for vengeance and murder sets in motion a tragic chain of events that eventually destroys her enemies and herself.

Classical Music

Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, based on a Sir Walter Scott novel, follows a tragic romantic story which is very similar to "Romeo and Juliet." Renowned soprano Dame Joan Sutherland skyrocketed to worldwide attention upon her performance in the lead role in 1959. Here, she returns to the role that she was made to play in this beautiful 1986 production, directed by John Copley. Wonderful support is given by brilliant tenor Richard Greager.

In 1998, Sir Charles Mackerras, one of the last century’s most versatile and enterprising opera conductors, made a new recording of Lucia di Lammermoor, following Donizetti's original autograph score and offering a reading in keeping with performance practice in the composer’s time. Acclaim for the set included the review of MusicWeb International.com: “In the eponymous role the Hungarian soprano Andrea Rost is distinctly in the leggiero tradition of light flexible voices… Bruce Ford is his usual dependable self, singing ardently and expressively… The recording quality in this version is outstanding and well balanced. Adherents of period bands will find much to enjoy under Sir Charles Mackerras’s ever idiomatic and sympathetic baton.” And Classic CD, hailing it as “Disc of the Month” gave it 5 stars and declared it the “preferred version” of Lucia.

L'elisir d'amore is a melodrama giocoso in two acts by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel-François Esprit Auber's Le philtre (1831). The premiere was at the Teatro della Canobbiana, Milan on May 12, 1832. L'elisir d'amore is one of the most frequently performed of all Donizetti's operas. It appears as number twenty on Opera America's list of the 20 most-performed operas in North America. It contains the popular aria 'Una furtiva lagrima,' one of the most famous and often-recited arias in all of opera.

Stage Director: Laurent Pelly

Subtitles: Français, English, Deutsch, Español
Sound: Pcm Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, Dts 5.1

The two-act comic opera L’elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love) by Gaetano Donizetti was written hurriedly in only six weeks. It has endured massive success in its life, and remains one of Donizetti’s most performed works. The recording featured here is from 1952, and features the Orchestra Sinfonica e Coro di Roma della RAI, conducted by Gianandrea Gavazzeni. Soloists featured here include Alda Noni, Cesare Valletti, Sesto Bruscantini, Afro Poli, and Bruna Rizzoli.

Three Donizetti masterpieces in a limited edition box set of internationally acclaimed productions.

L’ELISIR D’AMORE: Heidi Grant Murphy, Paul Groves, Ambrogio Maestri, Laurent Naouri, Orchestre et Chœurs de l’Opéra national de Paris / Conductor Edward Gardner Stage production Laurent Pelly - HD recording: Opéra national de Paris (2006)

• 133 MINS | SUBTITLES: ENGLISH, FRENCH, GERMAN. SPANISH | AUDIO: 2.0 PCM, 5.1 DOLBY DIGITAL, 5.1 DTS | 1 DVD9 16:9

"well worth catching for Kurzak and Gavanelli alone. And there's plenty in the production to impress visually and much to enjoy as a series of stylishly assembled tableaux." Hugo Shirley

DON PASQUALE: Patrizia Ciofi, Simone Alaimo, Norman Shankle, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Chœur du Grand Théâtre de Genève / Conductor Evelino Pidò Stage production Daniel Slater - HD recording: Grand Théâtre de Genève (2007)

• 127 MINS | SUBTITLES: ENGLISH, FRENCH, GERMAN, SPANISH | AUDIO: 2.0 PCM, 5.1 DOLBY DIGITAL, 5.1 DTS | 1 DVD9 16:9

"Donizetti’s final comic masterpiece demands velocity, pathos and above all wit. This Don Pasquale from Geneva has them all, and with Evelino Pidò conducting in the pit it bubbles with excitement...Patrizia Ciofi’s Norina is a joy. Looking like the Hollywood comic actress Aline McMahon (Ginger Rogers’s gold-digging friend in Top Hat), this is a benchmark performance" DVD CHOICE, BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE [BAC033]

LE CONVENIENZE ED INCONVENIENZE TEATRALI (VIVA LA MAMMA): Jessica Pratt, Vincenzo Taormina, Simon Bailey, Christian Senn, Orchestra e Coro dell’Accademia del Teatro alla Scala / Conductor Marco Guidarini Stage production Antonio Albanese - HD recording: Teatro alla Scala (2009)

• 114 MINS | SUBTITLES: ENGLISH, FRENCH, GERMAN, SPANISH | AUDIO: 2.0 PCM, 5.1 DOLBY DIGITAL | 1 DVD9 16:9

'Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali' was inspired by two comedies written by Antonio Simone Sografi between 1794 and 1816. It follows the theatrical tradition of Goldoni, Gozzi and Metastasio, and subjects the bad habits of the operatic world to biting and sardonic criticism.

GAETANO DONIZETTI. DONATA D'ANNUNZIO LOMBARDI; ENRICO MARABELLI; PAOLO BORDOGNA; STEFANIA DONZELLI; ANNA CATERINA CORNACCHINI; DANILO FORMAGGIA; DOMENICO COLAIANNI; ANTONIA MARANI; DANIELLE GIROMETTI; FERUCCIO FINETTI; VITO CLEMENTE,DIRETTORE E MAESTRO CONCERTATORE; ORCHESRTA SI LE CONVENIENZE ED INCONVENIENZE TEATRALI.Â?

Stuffed peacocks, mirrored floors strewn with flower petals, mirrored walls that alter perspective, background arches that can serve as either monastic or regal, the inevitable modern chairs (sets by Vincent Lemaire), and a blaze of colors in both costumes (by Christian Lacroix) and lighting (by Guido Levi) keep this production of Donizetti’s 1840 La favorite–complete and in the original French, and directed ordinarily by Vincent Broussard–interesting to look at. In fact, it is all so visually beautiful, and so frequently changes hue, that the rather hand-to-heart, falling-to-the-knees behavior of the soloists does not seem such a bore. Given the look, it’s not clear exactly during what era this story is supposed to unfold–but who cares? It looks great and works on its own terms.

Broussard has the rainbow-dressed, frilly courtiers move at a snail’s pace, which adds a nice creepiness to the proceedings, and Alphonse’s clear refusal to cringe at the priest Balthazar’s warning and malediction near the end of Act 2 (Act 1 in this production) by kissing Léonor brutally until they’re both on the ground is very effective. Precisely why, in the last act, Fernand has a modern suitcase that glows gold in the dark is anyone’s guess–as is Léonor’s last-act costume, which, though indescribable, makes her look like a poorly wrapped gift. She doesn’t die at the end, by the way; she merely walks backward through the arches and fades into the distance. Meaning?

The sincerity of the cast and the singing make up for any eccentricities or deficiencies in the direction or production. As Léonor, mezzo Kate Aldrich is wonderful, throwing herself into the role of the misused “favorite” of the King with gusto, singing with warm but exciting tone. The voice is even throughout, and after a couple of moments of wavering pitch early on, her big Act 3 aria is the showpiece it should be, and her final-act duet with Fernand is deeply moving.

Chinese tenor Yijie Shi, having learned the role in a few weeks when the designated tenor cancelled, is remarkable. He looks anywhere between 15 and 20 years of age, but the voice is splendid–ringing, pure, easily produced, used with nuance and superb attention to the text. His high notes are true and fearless. He acts as well as he can–he looks genuinely horrified and bruised, not to mention confused, a good deal of the time–and it would be wonderful if his career continued healthily on this path: he had been singing mostly Rossini prior to this engagement, and Fernand is not a light role. (Aldrich was a substitute for the tedious Sophie Koch, so we win all around.)

Ludovic Tézier is a splendid Alphonse–nasty, selfish, and singing with big, rounded tone. As Balthazar, the priest who supposedly gives comfort and threatens damnation almost simultaneously, Giovanni Furlanetto doesn’t quite have the voice–the tone itself lacks authority and he lacks the sepulchral low notes required for the part. The others in the cast are excellent. Chorus and orchestra sing and play wonderfully for Antonello Allemandi, who, while clearly knowing the score, occasionally allows the niceties in late-Donizetti to go by unspotted in favor of a razzmatazz reading. It’s exciting, however, and few will complain.

The only competition on video is a 1953 film starring Sophia Loren (I don’t know who does the singing, but I also don’t care) and a “private” 1971 production from Japan, in Italian, somewhat cut and visually murky, starring a blazing Fiorenza Cossotto and Alfredo Kraus, which is in a different category, really. It’s a good thing this new DVD is as good as it is–it fills a gap. The only bonus is a cast gallery and the booklet lacks track listings and timings. Subtitles are in European languages and Korean, Chinese, and Japanese.

-- Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

La Favorite was premièred at Paris’s Opéra on 2nd December 1840. Its success was resounding and is witnessed by over 650 performances in that theatre between 1840 and 1904. The Italian version was staged for the first time in Padua in 1842. This recording dates from 1976 and brings us back to the times of Kraus, Cortez, Bruson and Siepi. Especially noteworthy are the Fernando of Kraus, a tenor endowed with a perfect technique and peerless vocal elegance, and the Alfonso of Bruson, a baritone voice of impressive splendour.