Classical Music

REVIEW:

Any live performance of this, Rossini's last opera, is an occasion. Its grand scale, complex plot, and emotional depths on both personal and political levels, its odd mixture of the heroic and pastoral, stunning orchestration, and almost outrageously difficult vocal line for tenor unite to make it a thorny production to pull off properly. Great singers are called for; great ensemble is as necessary.

This 1998 production from the Vienna State Opera, with about 35 minutes of music cut (mostly repeats in ensembles, cabalettas, etc., still leaving us with more than three hours of music), is a splendid affair. Perhaps it's not as ideal as two commercially recorded readings (one in French, as is this one, with Caballé, Bacquier, and Gedda on EMI from 1973; the other, in Italian, with Freni, Milnes, and Pavarotti on Decca, recorded in '78 and '79), but it's a good show all the same.

We know we're in good hands from the overture--conductor Fabio Luisi takes this famous 12 minutes of music through its four separate parts, from the tranquil cello solos, through the storm and pastoral scene, and onto the famous wild ride, and he brings fresh energy and not a moment of cliché to it. The Staatsoper Orchestra plays it with verve and great respect, as it does the remainder of the long score. Kudos also to the chorus, who have plenty to do in this opera and do it with real heart.

The casting of the major roles is impressive. Thomas Hampson is the best Tell I've heard--sympathetic, clearly not a born leader but a man who rises to the occasion, a man who loves family and country. He occasionally overuses his slightly-too-light voice, but he is thoroughly "in" the character. Giuseppe Sabbatini manages Arnold's ridiculously high tessitura with apparent ease, getting all the high B-flats, Bs, and Cs (and the two C-sharps) with something akin to grace--quite a feat. He sounds tired by the very end of his last-act scena, but who wouldn't? Sabbatini also pays great attention to the text and to Arnold's predicament. It's a fine performance.

The Mathilde of Nancy Gustafson is guilty of smudged runs in what minimal coloratura her role contains, but her singing is solid if somewhat detached. A nice, light tenor named Mathias Zachariassen sings Ruodi's sweet song in Act 1 well, and Wojtek Smilek's Walter is powerfully put across. The other men are boring and sound bored; the women's roles--Jemmy and Hedwige--are well taken.

And so we have a good and highly dramatic "Tell" here, but it must take third place among the recorded choices. The other two are complete--surely a plus for home listening, too.

--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Gioachino Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia performed by Chor de Grand Theatre of Geneve and Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne directed by Jesus Lopez-Cobos.

Claudio Scimone directs the Ambrosian Singers and I Solisti Veneti, never overshadowing the singers in this recording of Rossini's Zelmire from Erato Disques.

Petite Messe Solennelle

Paolo Giacometti presents the complete piano music of Gioachino Rossini, originally released as eight albums on Channel Classics between 1998-2007. Rossini's Peches de vieillesse, a collection of pieces largely for piano, from which the pieces recorded here were sourced, were composed in the final decade of his life, entirely for his own amusement and for those of the guests who flocked to his famous samedis soirs . These works showcase the ageing composer, who in his final happy years can look back on a full life, a man with a razor-sharp sense of humour, never pedantic and always ready with a wink. Typified by their great diversity, they are the expressions of an exceptional talent who had broken free of musical dogma: ironic, meditative, personal, and unafraid of disapproval or self-deprecation.

The work is performed here with Rossini's original instrumentation and also includes the hymn for soprano and piano 'O salutaris hostia', which is often omitted. As a world first, a bonus track 'O salutaris de campagne' is included. The four soloists are established operatic singers; among soprano Sandro Pastrana's string of awards are prizes at the Ottavio Ziino competition in Barcelona, and mezzo-soprano Gabriella Sborgi has appeared as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro and also in The Rape of Lucretia, A Midsummer Night's Dream and L'enfant et les sortil�ges. Recent engagements of tenor Davide Giusti include the role of Alfredo in La traviata, and bass Carlo Lepore is something of a Rossini specialist, appearing regularly in roles such as Don Magnifico (La Cenerentola), and Basilio and Bartolo (Il barbiere di Siviglia). Rossini wrote his Petite Messe Solennelle in his old age, 30 years after his last opera. The work, for the unusual combination of 4-part chorus, vocal soloists, piano 4-hands and harmonium, is a unique blend of the comic and devotional, of superficiality and deep feeling. Because of the small instrumental forces the work is often performed, to great public success. Also included is the seldom performed Hymn O salutaris hostia, for soprano and piano. A world premiere is the Salutaris de campagne, added as a bonus track. The soloists on this new recording have won their spurs in the field of Italian opera, all of them seasoned Rossini singers. The excellent liner notes relate the history of the work and it's interpretation, the specifications of the instruments used, and biographies of the singers.

Classical Music

Classical Music

ROSSINI: Demetrio e Polibio

TORVALDO E DORLISKA

Antonio Pappano, Music Director of The Royal Opera, conducts Rossini's epic final masterpiece of French grand opera with an all-star cast that includes Gerald Finely in the title role, alongside John Osborn, Malin Bystrom and Sofia Fomina. The story of the legendary Swiss patrio Guillaume Tell, determined to free Switzerland from Austrian rule, is told through magnificent arias, ensembles and choruses, atmospheric musical evocations of the Swiss landscape, particularly in the famous overture, and dramatic episodes of great emotional power.