Paganini Played On Paganini's Violin, Vol. 2

TELEMANN: Double Concertos / (Overture) Suite in A minor

Gioachino Rossini’s one act opera L’inganno Felice is categorized as a farsa, as it is a melodrama with buffo elements. The work, which features libretto by Giuseppe Maria Foppa, was an instant success after its premiere in 1812. This production, directed by Jochen Schonleber, was recorded at the Rossini in Wildbad Opera Festival in the summer of 2015. This particular performance received international acclaims, due to stellar directing by Schoenleber and the stars Lorenzo Regazzo and Silvia Della Benetta.

Picture Format: 16:9
Sound Format: PCM 2.0
Subtitles: Italian, English, French, German
Region Code: 0 (Worldwide)
Running Time: 94 mins

TARTINI, G.: Violin Concertos, Vol. 8 (L'Arte dell'Arco) -

Also available on Blu-ray

Recorded during the 2018 Donizetti Festival, Il Castello di Kenilworth was first staged at Naples’ San Carlo in 1829. Drawn from a novel by Sir Walter Scott and adapted by librettist Leone Tottola, this rare opera was unjustly long neglected. This recording features the original version, with the role of Warney entrusted to a tenor (which the composer changed into a baritone in the 1836 revision of the score).Il Castello di Kenilworth is the first of the several successful works to follow that Donizetti based on British history, introducing the character of Queen Elizabeth I, torn by the inner struggle between a monarch’s duty and a woman’s feelings. The fundamental pivot of the drama is the antagonism between the two female characters who both dwell and suffer in their loneliness, in a male-dominated world. The performance received excellent reviews, praising the richness of the costumes, the sobriety of the stage setting, and, mostly, the vocal and acting skills of the whole cast, which features first-rate singers like opera stars Jessica Pratt and Carmela Remigio, who share the stage with talented tenors Stefan Pop and emerging talent Xabier Anduaga “A first-class cast, with an imaginative production team, under the musical direction of Riccardo Frizza, have been assembled, and it is not an exaggeration to say that together they have produced a compelling case for “Il Castello di Kenilworth” to be given further consideration. […] It was musically engaging, full of bel canto charm, with some wonderful melodies, and notwithstanding its formulaic format, was dramatically convincingly. (Alan Neilson – Operawire)

Includes concerto(s) for flute by Giuseppe Tartini. Ensemble: L'Arte dell'Arco. Conductor: Giovanni Guglielmo. Soloist: Mario Folena.
Includes work(s) by Giuseppe Tartini. Ensemble: L'Arte dell'Arco. Conductor: Giovanni Guglielmo.

Donizetti: Anna Bolena

Also available on CD

Jules Massenet’s five act opera-comique is presented on this new release by Patrick Davin and his Orchestra of the Opera Royal de Wallonie-Liege. Manon is Massenet’s most performed opera, which has maintained its spot in the repertoire since its composition. The enduring opera “quickly conquered the world’s stages.” Annick Massis stars in the title role. The French soprano has enjoyed a long stage career, frequently performing in Mozart’s operas and many bel canto roles.

Picture Format: NTSC, 16:9
Audio Formats: PCM 2.0, DD 5.1
Subtitles, French, English, Italian, German, Korean
Region Code: 0 (All)
Running Time: 162 mins

Federico Maria Sardelli is perhaps one of the word’s most notable experts of Vivaldi music as well as a versatile and gifted artist (he’s a painter, a novelist, a conductor, a composer and a musicologist). He wrote many books about Vivaldi including a prize-winning novel. Twice nominated for the Grammy Awards (in 1996 and 1999), since 2007 he has been in charge of the Vivaldi catalogue (The Ryom Vivaldi Werkverzeichnis). He is the founder and the director of the baroque ensemble "Modo Antiquo". The Russian violinist Anton Martynov completes this remarkable cast for an outstanding Vivaldi. The ensemble Modo Antiquo performs here with aplomb alongside Martynov and Sardelli. Modo Antiquo is a protagonist of the current Vivaldi renaissance, having premiered on stage and in recording operas such as Arsilda, Tito Manlio, and others. Committed to the divulgation of Vivaldi’s rarest and unpublished operas, Modo Antiquo regularly records the latest rediscoveries as world premiere recordings.

MASSENET: Roma

'- 2 DVDs | - All Regions | - NTSC | - Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS, PCM Stereo 2.0 | - Colour | - 16:9 | - 160 min.

Every operatic composer has a title that marks a turning point, one that raises him from being almost unknown to sudden fame. For B

VENICE, NEW YEAR'S CONCERT 200

Two very rare operas in one act. Pigmalione was Gaetano Donizetti’s first opera, written to a libretto by Simeone Antonio Sografi in just two weeks at the age of nineteen. The “lyrical scene” Pigmalione, as Donizetti himself defined it, is the composer’s only approach to a mythological subject and tells the story of a sculptor whose statue becomes alive. The main role is sung by Antonino Siragusa, who gives a masterful interpretation, especially in the long and significant recitatives, and displays a polished and colourful voice. Excellent also is the Japanese soprano Aya Wakizono, Galatea, whose enticing voice well suits the requirements of her short part. Che originali! is a little-known farce in a single act on a libretto by Gaetano Rossi, and was, from the very beginning, one of Giovanni Simone Mayr’s most successful operas. The opera tells the story of a music fanatic, Don Febeo: in his house everybody must know and love music. Emanuele Sinisi’s beautiful sets are almost surreal but well suited to Febeo’s bizarre affair. The direction is humorous, often verging on the grotesque, in line with the style of the farce but always elegant and well-structured from a dramaturgical point of view. The protagonist, Febeo, is entrusted to Bruno de Simone, an excellent actor endowed with a clear and precise voice, and a master in the fast spelled-out passages.

PAGANINI: Duets for Violin and Bassoon / Cantabile in D majo

BIZET, G.: Don Procopio [Opera]

BELLINI La sonnambula • Maurizio Benini, cond; Eglise Gutiérrez (Amina); Antonio Siragusa (Elvino); Simone Alaimo (Count Rodolfo); Sandra Pastrana (Lisa); Gabriella Colecchia (Teresa); Gabriele Nani (Alessio); Teatro Lirico di Cagliari O & Ch • DYNAMIC 55616 (Blu-ray: 141:00) Live: Cagliari 2008

For those of you who may hold the opinion that Vincenzo Bellini was rather a minor composer, you need to see and hear this opera, La Sonnambula (The Sleepwalker), particularly the last 15 minutes or so. The music transcends the heavens, it surpasses anything written by Rossini, Donizetti, or even Verdi. Okay, I guess my enthusiasm is showing a bit, but I truly love this music, however it stacks up in the pantheon of consummate 19th-century Italian composers. The story is simple. The betrothed young village girl, Amina, is discovered in the bed of the local Count in his room at the village inn, he returning to his native environs for the first time in many years. Everyone is shocked, horrified, including the prospective groom, Elvino. Lisa, the young mistress of the inn, also smitten with Elvino, takes advantage to whisk the tenor hero away from his now disgraced intended. It turns out Amina sleepwalks, which the townsfolk and Elvino eventually discover, and after a ravishing double aria for the leading lady in the finale of act 2, all is set well again. The simple tale is charming and if you enjoy bel canto, it doesn’t get any better than this.

I was pleased to get this disc for review because I have been hearing the praises sung for young Cuban American coloratura Eglise Gutiérrez for a few years now, and have not had much opportunity to see or hear her. (She was the fairy godmother in Massenet’s Cendrillon, which I enjoyed, but that opera is hardly prime bel canto land.) I am here to report Gutiérrez is the real deal. Vocally she harkens back to the days of the true Bellini divas, to Giuditta Pasta and Maria Malibran. The young singer’s top range is incredible and solidly in place, everything is precisely on key, sung easily and cleanly. Vocal agility is excellent: Gutiérrez has not the slightest problem with Bellini’s pyrotechnics and she ornaments tastefully and often, like the best of bel canto songbirds. If her acting and stage presence are at times rather ordinary in this 2006 rendering, we should remember that La Sonnambula does not require the histrionics of a Tosca. The young soprano’s portrayal is very charming here, certainly a plus for the production.

Sets are kept simple and traditional, with rustic pastoral settings evoked by a grassy forestage and colorful painted backdrops. It is lovely to watch and far outshines its more famous Metropolitan Opera counterpart (to be seen again this April with Diana Damrau). The costumes, if anything, seem a bit too lavish and colorful for peasant wear, but sumptuous to the eye; I am not complaining. Staging is strictly traditional, as this little charmer of an opera almost necessarily requires. The visual realm is almost completely in service to the music here, and when La Sonnambula is performed in this fashion cannot fail to please even the most jaded opera goers.

Warning: now comes the caveat! Unfortunately, the tenor Elvino is disappointing. Antonio Siragusa sings well and with excellent pitch control, but has an annoying nasal vocal tone, especially when he pushes the voice, that quite spoils his part in the proceedings. It is something you can get used to when he sings alone, but next to the ravishing voice of Gutiérrez and the other fine voices on this set in duets and ensembles, it is continually noticeable and jarring. The Count Rodolfo is sung by veteran Simone Alaimo, who still brings plenty of rich baritone beauty to the role and just the right touch of innocent paternal concern for the beleaguered Amina. Another standout vocally is young Sandra Pastrana as Lisa, who also handles Bellini’s fioratura with delightful expertise and is a big asset to this production. Smaller roles are likewise filled with quite good singers, and the orchestra from the Teatro Lirico Cagliari gives us an impressive rendition of Bellini’s wonderful score. The chorus, a particularly integral part of La Sonnambula, also turns in a first-class performance. It really seems a shame to me that Gutiérrez could not have been paired with a tenor who could at least have gotten out of her way here, let alone the hopeless wish for a Juan Diego Flórez or Lawrence Brownlee in the role. If that had happened this would be a La Sonnambula for the ages; as it is, it’s still very good.

As is to be expected these days, the Dynamic Blu-ray is quite sharply detailed and in exceptionally vivid colors, with state of the art audio formats providing excellent sound. The only current Blu-ray competitor is a recent release to be found on the C Major label. I have not seen it, but soprano Jessica Pratt is also a rising young coloratura star and from what I have heard on YouTube, is very, very good as Amina. The tenor is also promising. Also worth your attention is the VAI DVD issue with Anna Moffo from 1956. Moffo doesn’t have a clue about bel canto style but her young voice is ravishing, the production charming, and she is very lovely to watch, even before her famous nose job. Check out what all the furor was about! The Mary Zimmerman-directed production from the Met has a great cast, but archly ridicules the original story while failing to make much sense itself. As for this disc, it could have been a world beater, but if you can get used to the nasal tenor, it is still very enjoyable. Recommended.

FANFARE: Bill White

DOUBLE BASS CONCERTOS GRAN DU

THREE DUETS FOR VIOLIN AND VIO

THREE STRING QUARTETS

STRING QUARTETS

• Gaetano Donizetti's Ugo, conte di Parigi, premièred at La Scala i1832 with, among other storied names in the history of Italian opera, Giuditta Pasta, the creator of Bellini's Norma. • The Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Donizetti is led here by conductor Gaetano Fogliani, currently teaching orchestral conducting at the Conservatory G. Tartini in Trieste. • “A vigorous, intense opera, broad and ornate, dramatic and intricate, full of alliances and clashes” – Piero Mioli

There is much to enjoy in this forgotten (save for an aria or two), late (1878) Gounod opera. Essentially the same story as Donizetti's Poliuto, its title character is a convert to Christianity under the Romans, and his wife Pauline tries to protect him. The Emperor's envoy, Sévère, still loves Pauline, to whom he was once betrothed--but despite his hatred of Christians, Sévère is noble and tries to save Polyeucte. But the latter insists on making a public scene denouncing idols, and at the end, along with Pauline "who has been converted by the grace of God", goes to his death in the public arena. Aside from a sappy baptism scene the likes of which would make the Massenet of Thaïs blush with shame, the opera is tuneful, with exciting arias and duets and an ensemble or two, although none of it remains very long in the memory.

This performance, taped live at the Martina Franca Festival in 2004, is strong. Best is Luca Grassi as Sévère, who despite his name sounds like a French baritone. His voice is supple but a bit tight on top, and he throws himself into his sympathetic role with passion. Pauline is sung by soprano Nadia Vezzu, who's quite tentative at first but gains in stature as the opera goes on. Tenor Giorgio Casciarri offers a virile, secure sound as Polyeucte, and he shines in his emotion-filled outburst in the Roman Temple in Act 3 and in his fine fourth-act aria. It's a long role and he rises to the occasion. In the pastoral setting for the baptism, Gounod throws in a nice little aria for a minor character named Sextus, extolling the non-Christian gods; it is prettily sung by tenor Nicolo Amodio.

Conductor Manilo Benzi leads his forces well, and ensemble work is admirable; Gounod's scoring is quite handsome and Benzi makes whatever points he can. There's a bit too much that is pageant/oratorio-like in this work, but there's also some juicy operatic singing that pleases. Recommended particularly for French opera enthusiasts.

--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com
Reviewing original release of this recording

Bin Huang plays Beethoven on the "Guarneri del Gesi" 1742 owned by Nicoli Paganini and Bach on the Guarneri "Isaac Stern, ex Panette" 1737 owned by the famous violinist. Beethoven's Concerto in D major is an extraordinary work. The Partita No. 2 in D minor concludes with the Chaconne, one of the most memorable pieces of the entire violin literature.

Giuseppe Tartini (1692 - 1770) had a considerable number of pupils, forming a veritable violin school, the most famous in 18th-century Europe. It was a largely international one and won him the name of “Master of the Nations”.

A pleasant sampler of Giuseppe Sammartini.

We shouldn’t forget that the British have something of a share in the music of Giuseppe Sammartini, in much the same sense that we have a share in that of Handel. It was in London that Sammartini died in November 1750. The Whitehall Evening Post of Saturday 24 November 1750 reported that “Last week died at his Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, Signior S. Martini, Musick Master to her Royal Highness and thought to be the finest performer on the hautboy in Europe”. Sammartini had lived and worked in London since the summer of 1728. His greatest fame, as this brief obituary implies, was as a performer, in which capacity he was recorded – and praised – as a member of the orchestra in works by both Bononcini and Handel. He was appointed music master to the family of Frederick, Prince of Wales in 1736 and held the post until his death. During his years in London his chamber music was quite well known; his concertos were, for the most part, published after his death.

Of the concertos to be heard on this disc, it appears that the two flute concertos were probably relatively early works, written before Sammartini’s departure for London. The harpsichord concerto and the oboe concertos - which latter certainly speak of the composer’s own mastery and understanding of the instrument - belong to his years in London and, indeed, suggest how attentively he had listened to Handel.

Of the two concertos for flute, that in A major turns out, after a promising start, to be a relatively dull affair. The initial allegro contains some pleasant melodies and has a charming gracefulness; however, the ensuing andante (especially) and allegro are somewhat pedestrian. Invention is better sustained in the D major concerto, not least in the central siciliano which, though short, sings out delightfully. In the outer movements the music could surely benefit from a good deal more vivacity and punch than the present performers bring to it.

The harpsichord concerto was one of four published posthumously in London in 1754 ( Concertos for the Harpsicord or Organ with the Instrumental Parts for Violins, etc. Opera Nona, Printed for I. Walsh). It is an impressive piece, made up of a stately opening movement (marked andante spiritoso), an allegro assai which has some attractive writing for the harpsichord, an andante which has an attractive sense of spaciousness and contains much attractive interplay between orchestra and soloist, as does the closing allegro assai, characterised by an unfussy playfulness. The whole is well-played by Donatella Bianchi - an assured soloist I don’t remember encountering before - and I Musici Ambrosiani.

The two oboe concertos which close the disc are preserved in a manuscript ( RM23b8) in the British Library. The manuscript contains twelve concertos, only the last four of which make use of the oboe. The first of the two heard here has some striking writing for the oboe in its first movement, but the following andante and allegro grab the listener’s attention rather less than forcefully; there is a degree of ponderous stolidity in the way the andante is played - though the marking is andante ma non tanto - and the closing movement (tempo di menuetto) is a bit short on ideas. The second of these concertos is altogether more successful. Again in three movements, Sammartini’s writing is far more than merely well-crafted - the sense one has in listening to the first of these concertos; here there is consistent panache, expressed in solo writing of some virtuosity. Sammartini doubtless had his own abilities in mind when writing it, and he presumably performed it during his years in London. The brief central andante is richly expressive and the closing allegro is infectiously lilting. Francesco Quaranta is heard at his best here – and so is Sammartini.

Not all the music here is completely persuasive – but the best is very much so. The performances are always decent – sometimes much more than that.

-- Glyn Pursglove, MusicWeb International