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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.

Giuliano: Symphony for Mandolin / Mandolin Concerto in G Maj

The first of two CDs of the complete piano sonatas – 88 sonatas in total – by Domenico Cimarosa played by Italian pianist Dario Candela. A first complete recording.

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A MusicWeb International Recording of the Month!

Francesco Cilea, a Calabrian, is remembered principally today for his opera Adriana Lecouvreur (1902), He wrote several other operas but these are rarely performed. Quite a discovery, this is the world première on commercial video of Cilea’s three act opera L’Arlesiana (The Girl from Arles). It is directed by Rosetta Cucchia and is a co-production with Wexford Festival Opera. The Italian libretto by Leopoldo Marenco was based on the play L’Arlésienne (1872) by Alphonse Daudet one of the most celebrated of his collection of short stories Letters from my windmill (Lettres de mon moulin). It was Georges Bizet who wrote the incidental music to the play L’Arlésienne, adapted and produced by Léon Carvalho, which flopped although Bizet’s music prospered.

Originally in four acts, Cilea’s verismo score was first performed in 1897 at Teatro Lirico di Milano with a young Enrico Caruso in the role of Federico. Nevertheless in 1898 the score was revised as a three-act opera with a prelude added. Over the next 44 years Cilea made a number of revisions. In 2011 whilst going through the collection of Cilea’s papers in Palmi the Italian tenor Giuseppe Filianoti unearthed the manuscript of Federico’s aria Una mattina m’apriron nella stanza that had been cut from the four act version. Filianoti had the Una mattina orchestrated by composer Mario Guido Scappucci and it is here included in Act 3.

This psychological drama revolves around Federico, a young shepherd, who becomes increasingly infatuated with a mystery woman from Arles (L’Arlesiana). As his mental state deteriorates Federico’s infatuation becomes a dangerous obsession which the people around him are unable to assuage. The woman from Arles is traditionally never shown but here she is depicted by an actress with long red hair as an apparition that haunts Federico. In the traditional ending Federico jumps to his death out of a hayloft window, whilst in this production by director Rosetta Cucchi, our hero takes his life by slashing his own throat. The elephant in the room, and maybe one of the reasons why this opera is rarely performed today, is that the plot includes an important character which is Federico’s brother, referred to as L’Innocente, who is cognitively impaired and is described in the booklet as “mentally retarded”. Mental health can be a difficult subject to broach as several reviewers of recent productions fail even to mention L’Innocente. Running through the score is the prevailing theme of mental illness and it seems that Cilea during his youth witnessed his own mother’s mental breakdown.

Sarah Bacon’s set and Claudio Pernigotti’s costumes are mainly contemporary with the opera’s composition date except for a few modern touches. Bacon’s set is the courtyard of the whitewashed Provençal farm-house that by Act 3 has become the inside of a ward in a mental home with an elevated caged area for confinement.

Russian tenor Dmitry Golovnin plays the role of Federico. It took me some time to warm to Golovnin’s bright vocal, nevertheless by Federico’s famous Lament the 2 aria È la solita storia del pastore (track 14) a favourite of Gigli, Di Stefano and Pavarotti, Golovnin’s voice has opened splendidly displaying fluidity and focus. It’s a moving account with the anguished Federico lying on the kitchen table and his brother L’Innocente cowering underneath. In act 3 the tenor’s aria Una mattina (track 21) receives a splendidly moving rendition and Golovnin can be justly proud of his portrayal of the tormented shepherd.

Luckless and long suffering Rosa Mamai is given a characterful and suitably anguished portrayal by Annunziata Vestri. With plenty of steel in her expressive voice the Italian mezzo-soprano excels in her Act 1 Romanza Era un giorno di festa (track 6) and the great Monologue from Act 3 Esser madre è un inferno (track 23). Designer Claudio Pernigotti sees fit to dress Rosa mannishly in a grey jacket buttoned up to the neck rather in the manner of James Bond villains Dr. No, Blofeld and Drax.

Cutting a persuasive figure on stage, if dressed rather too stylishly for an old shepherd, was Stefano Antonucci as Baldassarre. Complete with limp and walking stick the compassionate Baldassarre dispenses sage-like advice that no one seems to heed. From Act 1 the old shepherd’s aria Come due tizzi accesi (track 3) and from act 2 Vieni con me sui monti (track 6) are effectively sung, expressive and focused by the Italian baritone who acts sensitively throughout.

The part of the demure and girlish Vivetta is capably sung by the Italian Mariangela Sicilia. Dressed mainly in grey and hiding behind her winter tweed coat and hat it was a surprise when Vivetta undresses down to her underwear in a pitiful attempt to seduce Federico. From Act 1 Vivetta’s Romanza Dalle fresche pendici is sung effectively by Sicilia with a bright, flexible and warm soprano, although, I am not entirely convinced by her diction.

Looking like a fearsome pantomime villain baritone Valeriu Caradja in the small role of swarthy horse-herder Metifio is suitably dark and angry.

It’s a local superstition that a child such as L’Innocente brings good fortune on a household. In this household only Baldassarre pays the boy any attention. Marked by a shock of blonde hair L’Innocente is played by counter-tenor Riccardo Angelo Strano. In what is more of an acting role L’Innocente does slightly contribute vocally but nothing too serious.

Francesco Cilluffo conducts his Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana with verve and assurance. Similarly the well prepared 'Coro Lirico Marchigiano V. Bellini' maintains the high standard.

As I expected from Dynamic, the sound quality is satisfactorily balanced and agreeable, being clear, if a touch lacking in warmth. In High Definition the picture quality is most pleasing with an excellent definition. The accompanying booklet includes translations of a splendid essay by Giancarlo Landini and an informative note by director Rosetta Cucchi. The synopsis provided is a traditional scenario and is not totally in step with what we saw on stage under Rosetta Cucchi’s direction.

Filmed at Teatro Pergolesi, Jesi, Ancona the video direction by Tiziano Mancini is admirable, employing cameras actively. This avoids fatigue or tedium. The audience at Teatro Pergolesi is only seen whilst taking their seats before curtain up. The camera fixes on the stage action and doesn’t break to any orchestral players in the pit for solos.

This is a strong production that generates considerable dramatic tension. For those with a particular interest in verismo this Cilea work is a real find and is easy to recommend.

– MusicWeb International (Michael Cookson)

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An insane passion for a mysterious woman who, in the opera, is never shown. Federico wants her desperately, dreams of her, suffers for her, and step by step his mind begins to waver. The people around him try in vain to prevent this love from becoming a damning obsession. A rare opera by the great Italian composer Francesco Cilea. Its famous aria “Il lamento di Federico” has always been a favorite with tenors of all times. This recording also features the aria for tenor, “Una mattina”, written by Cilea for the opera’s first version and then lost, here in world première recording. A co-production Teatro Pergolesi and Wexford Festival Opera.

The Vespero dellal Beata Vergine completes the recording of the works contained in the collection of eight-voice Vespers published in 1675, which includes the Vespero delli 5 Laudate and the Vespero delle Domeniche. It is the first complete recording of this trilogy, a masterpiece by Francesco Cavalli: the three Vespers will later be combined in a box-set. A worthy heir of Claudio Monteverdi, Francesco Cavalli uses, in the Vespero della Beata Vergine, musical brush strokes of extraordinary impact, under the aegis of an intense, Counter-Feformist spirituality where the deepest religious feeling goes hand in hand with a musical splendor of clear Venetian imprint. The interpretation is entrusted to the "Coro Monteverdi di Cream" and the "La Pifarescha" ensemble conducted by Bruno Gini, one of Italy's greatest specialists in Cavalli's sacred music.

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Francesco Cavalli was the most successful Venetian opera composer of the mid-seventeenth century. In the wake of Monteverdi, opera was enjoying a real boom, and this spread to the rest of Europe because the ruling classes often met up at the Venice carnival. Giasone displays Cavalli’s sense of drama and musical lightness, as well as a grotesque humour typical of the great Italian baroque operas.

This new production is orchestrated and conducted by the internationally reputed baroque specialist Federico Maria Sardelli. It is directed by the young Frenchwoman Mariame Clément, who is currently making a name for herself with her infectious directing in German and French opera houses. The title role is sung by the promising countertenor Christophe Dumaux.

Francesco Cavalli
IL GIASONE
Federico Maria Sardelli, conductor
Symfonisch Orkest van de Vlaamse Opera
Mariame Clément, stage director
Julia Hansen, scenes & costume designer
Giasone: Christophe Dumaux
Medea: Katarina Bradic
Isifile: Robin Johannsen
Giove/Besso: Josef Wagner
Demo: Filippo Adami
Delfa/Eolo: Yaniv d’Or
Amore/Alinda: Angélique Noldus
Ercole/Oreste: Andrew Ashwin
Vlaamse Opera, Antwerpen, 2010

Sound Format: LPCM 2.0, Dolby digital 5.1
Picture Format: 16:9
Running Time: 198 minutes & 5 minutes (interview)
Language: Italian
Subtitles: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Korean
Booklet Notes: English, German, French, Italian

CAMPAGNOLI: Fugues and Divertimentos

CAGNONI Don Bucefalo • Massimiliano Caldi, cond; Filippo Morace ( Don Bucefalo ); Angelica Girardi ( Rosa ); Francesco Marsiglia ( Il conte di Belprato ); Mizuki Date ( Agata ); Francesca de Giorgi ( Giannetta ); Massimiliano Silvestri ( Carlino ); Graziano de Pace ( Don Marco ); Slovak Ch of Bratislava; Intl O of Italy • DYNAMIC 634 (2 CDs: 107:13 Text and Translation)


A 19-year-old Antonio Cagnoni (1828–1896) wrote Don Bucefalo as his graduation piece for the Milan Conservatory. It was actually his third opera, at a time when the leading Italian institutions of musical scholarship focused their energies upon training composers of vocal music. Don Bucefalo was such a success in 1847 that the astute Giovanni Ricordi, founder of the Ricordi music-publishing empire, immediately bought up the rights, and the work triumphed throughout the Italian states.


The libretto by Calisto Bassi was based on Giuseppe Palmoba’s Le cantatrice villane , set very successfully by Valentino Fioravanti and premiered in 1799. There are two plots, skillfully entwined. The Goldoni-like first of these involves the expected farcical complications of a beautiful young woman, two suitors, and a jealous husband in disguise and home from the wars. What gives the work its distinctive character is the second plot, about a chorus master who has suddenly appeared in the town, where he assures all the local peasants that their voices are magnificent if untrained, and that like all great singers, they could make huge fortunes if they only received the proper schooling.


Stylistically, the piece owes most to Donizetti, though there are also moments such as the act II finale that recall Rossini; and an act I cavatina for Rosa (“Innocente, sincero è l’affetto”) is clearly beholden to Bellini. The score reinvigorates the cliché about “bubbling over with good humor,” perhaps its finest moment being a lengthy monologue for Don Bucefalo (“Ingrata fantasia!”) that shows him trying to write the verses and music of a dramatic aria. We hear the various naive, primitive effects he achieves as he builds his melody and adds instrumental colors one by one—until the results are a dead ringer for the distinctive style of early Verdi. Audiences in that opera-mad nation where Verdi’s star was in the ascendant must have caught it at once and howled with laughter, but there’s a great deal of enjoyment to be had from the skillfulness of the work’s many ensembles as well. The title role became a favorite of various basso buffos over the years, until styles changed and Don Bucefalo faded away with the new century.


The cast is competent enough to enjoy on its own, while suggesting what could be achieved with better singers. Morace’s bass is surprisingly thin and lacking in resonance, almost tenor-like; and de Pace, in the thankless role of Don Marco, actually sounds more appropriate for the buffo lead; but Morace gets the humor, and makes a decent theatrical effect. Girardi sings attractively, with a pleasantly floated tone, and manages her fioratura capably, if without much sense of ease. Marsiglia phrases lyrically in his one solo, “Oh! Come questo core,” but the diminuendos sit awkwardly on top of the voice, and he cuts off phrase endings too sharply. His act III duet with Girardi is considerably better. Silvestri, with a narrow tone and trumpet-like, Lauri-Volpi-style production, is potentially more interesting, but has little to do. Date’s undisciplined soprano is exciting, with some finely spun notes in addition to a nascent wobble, dropped consonants, and a problem moving stepwise. I suspect some of the oddly slow tempos in the concerted numbers of act I are due to the singers’ general lack of agility. Otherwise, the International Orchestra of Italy is several steps above the average Italian ensemble, and Caldi conducts with an ear to both rhythms and clarity.


The sound is reasonably good, and an Italian/English libretto is available online from Dynamic’s Web site. I could wish that a topnotch cast had been chosen to usher in Don Bucefalo ’s CD recording premiere, but lacking that, this one will do. Anyone who enjoys Donizetti’s comic operas should find a lot to delight them here.


FANFARE: Barry Brenesal

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Benjamin Britten’s last opera Death in Venice is based on the novella by Thomas Mann. It was first performed in England in 1973. The astringent score is marked by some haunting soundscapes of 'ambiguous Venice'. The boy Tadzio is portrayed by a silent dancer, gamelan-like percussion accompaniment. The music of the opera is precise, direct and movingly understated. Britten had been contemplating the novella for many years and began work in September 1970 with approaches to Piper and to Golo Mann, son of the author. Because of agreements between Warner Brothers and the estate of Thomas Mann for the production of Luchino Visconti’s 1971 film, Britten was advised not to see the movie when it was released. According to Colin Graham, director of the first production of the opera, some colleagues of the composer who did see the film found the relationship between Tadzio and Aschenbach "too sentimental and salacious". This contributed to the decision that Tadzio and his family and friends would be portrayed by non-speaking dancers. Themes in the work of "formalism in art and the perilous dignity of the acclaimed artist" have been noted.

Marlin Miller, tenor – Gustav von Aschenbach; Scott Hendricks, baritone – Traveller and other roles;François Bittar, countertenor – Voice of Apollo; Allessandro Riga, dancer – Tadzio;
La Fenice Theatre Orchestra and Chorus; Bruno Bartoletti, conductor
DIRECTION & COSTUMES: Pierluigi Pizzi
CHOREOGRAPHY: Gheorghe Iancu

Recorded Live at Teatro La Fenice, Venice 2008
NTSC; All Regions
Running time 155 min.
Sung in English
Subtitles: Italian, German, French, Spanish

Also available on Blu-ray

Benjamin Britten’s last opera Death in Venice is based on the novella by Thomas Mann. It was first performed in England in 1973. The astringent score is marked by some haunting soundscapes of 'ambiguous Venice'. The boy Tadzio is portrayed by a silent dancer, gamelan-like percussion accompaniment. The music of the opera is precise, direct and movingly understated. Britten had been contemplating the novella for many years and began work in September 1970 with approaches to Piper and to Golo Mann, son of the author. Because of agreements between Warner Brothers and the estate of Thomas Mann for the production of Luchino Visconti’s 1971 film, Britten was advised not to see the movie when it was released. According to Colin Graham, director of the first production of the opera, some colleagues of the composer who did see the film found the relationship between Tadzio and Aschenbach "too sentimental and salacious". This contributed to the decision that Tadzio and his family and friends would be portrayed by non-speaking dancers. Themes in the work of "formalism in art and the perilous dignity of the acclaimed artist" have been noted.

Marlin Miller, tenor – Gustav von Aschenbach; Scott Hendricks, baritone – Traveller and other roles;François Bittar, countertenor – Voice of Apollo; Allessandro Riga, dancer – Tadzio;
La Fenice Theatre Orchestra and Chorus; Bruno Bartoletti, conductor
DIRECTION & COSTUMES: Pierluigi Pizzi
CHOREOGRAPHY: Gheorghe Iancu

Recorded Live at Teatro La Fenice, Venice 2008
NTSC; Aspect Ratio:16:9, Audio Format:LPCM 2.0 - All Regions
Running time 155 min.
Sung in English
Subtitles: English, Italian, German, French, Spanish

Brescianello Terrell Stone, gallichone Sonatas for Gallichone

DOUBLE BASS CONCERTOS GRAN DU

Bottesini, G.: Double Bass Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 / Tchaikov

BONPORTI EDITION, Vol. 4 - Inventions