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Pietro il Grande, kzar delle Russie – composed when Donizetti was 22 years old – was the first of the composer’s operas to receive more than one production. To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the work’s première in 2019, the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti di Bergamo staged this rare melodramma burlesco in a new critical edition. The influence of Rossini and Mozart is clear, but the young Donizetti still managed to create a fresh and lively work that displayed early evidence of his mature style. This Donizetti Festival performance received widespread international acclaim, with a cast of excellent singers and a unique staging by Ondadurto Teatro (Marco Paciotti and Lorenzo Pasquali), influenced by Russian avant-garde art of the early 20th century.

Described as ‘a joyous romp’ (Opera News), Donizetti’s dramma giocoso shows us what can go wrong when the egos of the actors get in the way of putting on a good show. From the prima donna and the sub-par lead tenor, to the seconda donna’s boisterous mother (played by a bass singer) and all the characters in between, everyone is playing the diva whilst the director pulls his hair out in frustration, and questions of who will fund the production are raised... Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali (‘The Conventions and Inconveniences of the Stage’) – a joyful play on words in itself – more commonly known as Viva la mamma! is a two-act farce that shines an exaggerated spotlight on the behind-the-scenes working of a theatre and the rehearsal process with hilarious results. Laurent Pelly directs this masterpiece of comic timing and satire, marking the continuation of his celebrated relationship with Opéra de Lyon.

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Gaetano Donizetti's L’Ange de Nisida was commissioned by the director of the Théâtre de la Renaissance in Paris. The libretto was entrusted to Gustave Vaëz and Alphonse Royer, and the opéra en quatre parties was completed in 1840. Unfortunately the theatre went bankrupt and the opera never reached the stage. Donizetti was aware that other venues would have rejected his work as it stood, for both repertoire and censorship reasons (the plot revolved around the King of Naples, Ferdinando d’Aragona, and his mistress). Consequently, he revised the score and incorporated a significant portion of it within his new one, La favorite. The autograph score of L’Ange was subsequently lost and it is only thanks to the painstaking research of musicologist Candida Mantica that it was brought to light again. She took on the huge challenge of classifying the roughly 470 randomly alternate pages of L’Ange de Nisida that had survived at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris; she re-established their original order and finally managed to reconstruct roughly 97 percent of Donizetti’s music. The few gaps in the score were judged as irrelevant by both Mantica and Donizetti Opera, so that the opera was considered a complete work in itself, with no need for additions written by other composers. 180 years after its composition, the opera was finally performed for the first time in its original theatrical form in Donizetti’s native Bergamo, at the construction site of the city theatre bearing his name, a most symbolic coincidence that added emotional value to a long-awaited event. The performance was hailed as a triumph by both the public and the critics and was awarded a special prize at the 39th Franco Abbiati Prize of Italian music critics.

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REVIEW:

The cameras of the filming and the detailed and careful preparation of conductor Tingaud and director Micheli provide viewers of the DVD, through excellent sound and vision, with a more complete visual and aural experience than might have been possible for the real-life audience. Cunningly and efficiently done, both staging and musical interpretation fit the score like a glove. Hugely recommended.

– Gramophone (Editor's Choice, Jan 2021; DVD/Blu-ray of the Month)

Also available on Blu-ray

Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia is a dark and scandalous tale of murder and excess. Initially criticised for its audacious nature, the opera has since become appreciated as one of the great masterpieces of Italian bel canto repertoire with glorious arias and stirring choruses. Created using Roger Parker’s new critical edition and with acclaimed soprano Carmela Remigio in the title role, Andrea Bernard’s spectacular Donizetti Festival production is ‘gripping and intense at every moment… this production ranks among the best all year’ (operawire.com).

REVIEW:

Andrea Bernard creates a dark and violent modern world which is highly convincing for this disturbing work. Splendidly played and sung throughout it captures the vigour of Hugo’s play which underpins the narrative as well as he archly romantic musical lines Donizetti spins for our delight.

– Lark Reviews

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.

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Gaetano Donizetti's La Favorite was rather laborious in the making: it started out as a re-working of L'Ange de Nisida, to which the composer added parts taken from some other operas of his. The work, which was premiered at the Opéra of Paris, is set in 14th-century Castile and tells the story of the hapless love between Fernand, who has second thoughts about taking holy orders and leaves the monastery of Santiago de Compostela, and Leonor, the mistress of king Alphonse XI. It is an intimate drama, where history and politics are but the backdrop to the protagonists' passions and torments. Fabio Luisi's conducting is both measured in balancing the orchestral sounds, and personal, varied and vigorous. The orchestra is crystal-clear, neat in its accompaniment, neither subject to the voices nor prevaricating. Veronica Simeoni (Leonor), Celso Albelo (Fernand) and Mattia Olivieri (Alphonse) give excellent vocal and acting performances.

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia is a dark and scandalous tale of murder and excess. Initially criticized for its audacious nature, the opera has since become appreciated as one of the great masterpieces of Italian bel canto repertoire with glorious arias and stirring choruses. Created using Roger Parker’s new critical edition and with acclaimed soprano Carmela Remigio in the title role, Andrea Bernard’s spectacular Donizetti Festival production is ‘gripping and intense at every moment… this production ranks among the best all year’ (operawire.com).

REVIEW:

Andrea Bernard creates a dark and violent modern world which is highly convincing for this disturbing work. Splendidly played and sung throughout it captures the vigour of Hugo’s play which underpins the narrative as well as he archly romantic musical lines Donizetti spins for our delight.

– Lark Reviews

DONIZETTI Roberto Devereux • Marcello Rota, cond; Dimitra Theodossiou (Elizabeth, Queen of England); Federica Bragaglia (Sara, Duchess of Nottingham); Massimiliano Pisapia (Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex); Luigi Albani (Lord Cecil); Andrew Schroeder (The Duke of Nottingham); Giorgio Valerio (Sir Walter Raleigh); Bergamo Musica Festival O & Ch • NAXOS 2.110232 (DVD: 134:14) Live: Bergamo 9/2006

Roberto Devereux is one of Donizetti’s most accomplished and engaging scores. A great success at its Naples premiere in 1837, it soon spread throughout Italy and Europe. Although the story has almost no connection with actual historical events, the libretto presented Donizetti with an uncomplicated story of well-developed scenes that obviously inspired the composer.

This DVD preserves a very good performance from the 2006 Bergamo Musica Festival. Dimitra Theodossiou portrays Elizabeth as the aged and imperious queen she was. She has the power to make the character believable and the softness for the lover who fears she has been rejected for a rival. She copes easily with the florid music in a range extending over two octaves; I was particularly impressed that the lowest notes in her role are sung as well as those above the staff.

Massimiliano Pisapia has a strong, ringing tenor voice that matches well the ardent lover he is portraying. As his secret love interest, Federica Bragaglia displays a soft-grained voice that sometimes is in danger of being overwhelmed by the chorus or orchestra, but she manages to hold her own and otherwise sings quiet well. She is also lovely to look at and does the best acting of the cast. Andrew Schroeder’s solid baritone is just what is needed for Nottingham. The minor roles are adequately cast or better.

The Chorus and Orchestra were specially formed in 2006 to participate in the Bergamo Festival. There was a time, not so many years ago, when Italian orchestras were known for sloppy technique, but this is no longer true. Despite their ad hoc nature, both chorus and orchestra perform as if they are well-established, strongly disciplined ensembles. Much of the credit for this must go to the chorus master, Corrado Casati, and especially to conductor Marcello Rota. Rota provides excellent support to the singers, keeping the performance moving while allowing the singers to linger over a note or phrase when appropriate.

There is, however, one practice, which I wish Rota had not allowed. All four principals engage in an annoying practice in which they stop singing toward the end of a set piece so that they can prepare to belt out an unwritten high note or hold the last note of an aria or duet long past its written value in an obvious attempt to milk applause. This vanity at the expense of the music should be discouraged, but unfortunately it disfigures far too many live performances.

Rota does not perform the Overture, which was not written for the original Naples production but was added by Donizetti for the opera’s first performance in Paris in 1838. Otherwise, the opera appears to be performed complete. I qualify this statement because there are small differences between the Kalmas vocal score and the opera as performed; however, other performances I have heard contain similar differences, so I assume that the score as performed here is the result of modern scholarship.

The production is quite attractive and is, wonder of wonders, set in the correct historical context. There are a couple of miscalculations, however. The camera allows us to see what looks like a terrible makeup job on Andrew Schroeder. Stranger still is the portrayal of Elizabeth in the final scene of the opera. Previously, she had been shown as the familiar aged, bald Elizabeth with a flaming red wig, which nevertheless leaves the front of her scalp bald. In the final scene, in which Elizabeth is portrayed in a less-formal setting, she is shown without a wig but has suddenly developed a full head of grey hair where there was baldness before. Otherwise, David Walker, who was responsible for the sets and costumes, is to be commended for an excellent job. The performance is well miked, with the singers being easily audible from every part of the stage. Subtitles are available only in English and Italian.

FANFARE: Ron Salemi Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: Dolby Digital 2.0 / Dolby Surround 5.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 134 mins

DONIZETTI: Zingara (La)

The libretto for La Romanziera e l’Uomo Nero was inspired by two plays performed in Paris in the 1820s: L’Homme Noir by Eugène Scribe and Jean-Henry Dupin in 1820 and Le Coiffeur et le Perruquier, also written by Scribe in collaboration with Mazères and Saint Laurent, in 1824. By basing the opera on these plays the composer created a divertissement of the Italian querelle genre, both classical and romantic.The libretto is a satyr of the sentimental-romantic daydreams which were so fashionable at that time and takes places in the poetic world of the young Antonina, who dreams of an ideal life with an non-existent “uomo nero”, the mystery man. La Romanziera e l’Uomo Nero is an “ambiguous” and complex work: it is ambiguous because it lacks a clear and decisive characterization in a comedic sense; that is to say, a clearly defined plot, complete with all the typical ingredients of a traditional opera buffa, and a precise outline and structure in this direction, from both a dramaturgical and musical point of view. It is complex because it is full of recollections and inventions, which are introduced and developed predominantly through a contrapuntal approach (all scenes invariably call for more than one soloist).

Donizetti’s Don Pasquale represents the high point of the Italian buffa tradition, a sparkling comedy using characters from commedia dell’arte in ways that are entertaining, witty and playful. It was the work selected by the Vienna State Opera for its 1977 tour through Austria. Starring famous singers like the bass Oskar Czerwenka, the great lyric tenor Luigi Alva and, on the cusp of international fame, Edita Gruberova (soon to become the ‘queen of bel canto’) – this filmed performance, in colour and sung in German, showcases an outstanding ensemble at the height of its powers.

The available information concerning Colombo, ossia La scoperta dell'America is dubious. Various hypotheses have been put forth in the last years, including the suggestion that the work is a fragment of an unfinished opera composed on a text by Felice Romani. The most recent research, however, seems to support the theory that the composition was originally conceived as a scenic cantata, that is, a cantata which was destined for the stage. This genre, quite in vogue in the first half of the century, usually served to celebrate a particular event (royal birthdays and weddings, state visits, illustrious funerals, various commemorations). For these occasions, the composer on hand would be called upon to provide his patron with an undemanding work designed to highlight the vocal prowess of one or more soloists, but without particular aesthetic aspirations, in light of its "disposable" nature. Colombo, cantata for baritone, chorus and orchestra, was first staged at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples on 25 April 1838. It was part of a larger spectacle including dances and operas scenes by various authors and starred the singer Paul Barroilhet, who had successfully impersonated many of Donizetti's roles. The poetry - perhaps attributable to Donizetti himself, who had been his own librettist on more than one occasion - are not unlike those typical of an opera libretto. They establish a veritable dialogue between the soloist (Christopher Columbus)and the chorus (the sailors of his ship), and are complete with stage directions aimed at an actual theatrical performance in costume (see, for example, the opening: "The sailors are lying on the ground and others are standing in great distress"; and toward the end: "Colombus runs to see the land, then kneels down and remains in this position, thanking the heavens, until the cabaletta"). The version reproduced in this release is based on the autograph manuscript of the cantata preserved today in the San Pietro a Maiella Conservatory Library in Naples.

[Caballé's] alternations of tenderness and regal authority bring [the title character] to a more interesting kind of life than Sutherland manages to do, and when she is playing opposite Alfredo Kraus a genuinely mutual responsiveness does much to counteract the sense of a concert performance or merely "going through the score". With the proviso that there aren't any trills worth speaking of (and they are not a luxury in this role), Caballé sings the part beautifully, her voice at its loveliest, the tone completely steady and the breadth of phrasing a delight. Kraus is splendid; Flagello sonorous and preferable in the part to the baritone Ingvar Wixell; and as Orsini, Verrett has exactly the freshness that makes it just possible to think of her as Gennaro's young friend, which [Marilyn] Horne, for all the sumptousness of her voice, did not. On balance, then, I prefer this recording as far as the singing is concerned—and that is much... As to the musical value of the opera, if it were all up to the standard of the Prologue, with its intensely moving ensemble, it would be great indeed; as it is, I still find it yielding more, rather than less, as time goes by.

-- Gramophone [9/1980, comparing this recording with the Sutherland/Bonynge Decca recording]

DONIZETTI: LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR

Classical Music