The world premiere of the previously unrecorded French version of Macbeth! Verdi considered Shakespeare’s tragedy to be ‘one of the greatest creations of man’. The opera’s unbroken dramatic line, incisive libretto and range of expression from the comic to the sublime, made it a work that was way ahead of its time. Verdi explores unusual theatrical characters with Macbeth, the darkness of which resonated with his desire to convey Shakespeare’s brutal realism in a visionary masterpiece that would not be fully appreciated until the mid-1900s. Macbeth is performed here in its rarely heard 1865 French language version.

Gino Marinuzzi was a great conductor and composer whose operatic experience made his own theatrical work extremely effective. Composed in Marinuzzi’s signature post-Romantic ‘grand style’, Palla de’ Mozzi was hugely successful in its day and is considered a masterpiece of 20th-century Italian opera. Making ample use of symphonic writing and rich characterization, the opera tells the dramatic and ultimately apocalyptic story of Giovanni de’ Medici’s militia, the ‘Black Bands’, commanded by the imaginary figure of Palla de’ Mozzi. This acclaimed Cagliari production was summed up in Libero as ‘something rarely heard … a synthesis of the entire history of music’. This release from Dynamic is the work's world premiere recording.

The Paduan composer Giovanni Battista Bassani, a contemporary of Corelli, was a fine string player and organist. An important element in his compositional output is the cantate amorose (‘love songs’). His 1684 collection Affetti canori cantate et ariette is the expressive masterpiece of his maturity in which he explores love as a source of suffering. His musical palette is rich and full of variety, with an artful use of chromaticism. The recitatives and arias in this work chart a detailed evolution of moods, exemplifying a true marriage of words and music.

Linda di Chamounix is a pretty country girl who is in love with Carlo, who she believes is a penniless artist. Her honor is threatened by the local squire and she escapes to Paris in search of fortune. This is a tale of courage and madness, in which we discover and experience the strength and suffering of a woman torn apart by estrangement from family and love. Donizetti reaped full and long-lasting success with Linda di Chamounix, and it became one of his most modern, appreciated and long-lived works. Jessica Pratt leads an all-star cast in this acclaimed production from the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

Beethoven’s genius may have had a dominant presence in early 19th-century Vienna, but the 18-year-old Schubert composed a Sonata in E major, D.157 in 1815 that already encapsulated elements of his own genius in the Lied-like perfection of its second movement. His first true piano masterpiece followed in the Sonata in A major, D.664, with an intimacy, lyricism and perfection of form that set him apart from his contemporaries. Composed five years later, the Sonata in D major, D.850 is marked by extrovert, virtuosic writing, memorable themes and an almost improvisatory flair.

Giuseppe Verdi travelled to St Petersburg in 1862 to premiere La forza del destino, which had been commissioned by the city’s Imperial Theatre. The source material appealed to the composer’s sense of tragic intensity and the ruthlessness of destiny. The local audience was accustomed to 18th-century Italian opera as well as French grand opéra, and the resulting work is a synthesis of aristocratic drama and popular comedy. In 1869 he revised the work so that it ends in death and transfiguration. This critically admired production of the revised version is conducted by Zubin Mehta, in a new staging "enriched by some brilliant artists" (Lyric Opera Journal).

Mozart accepted an anonymous commission to write a Requiem in July 1791. He worked on it during a series of hectic composition, premieres and urgent deadlines that would eventually prove fatal. Mozart’s already failing health, coupled with dark delusions of him being poisoned, convinced the composer that he was writing the Requiem for his own funeral. At his death, very little had been completed in full and much was left in draft form, so it was largely Mozart’s pupil Franz Xaver Süssmayr who completed the work, composing the missing Sanctus and Agnus Dei. This sublime work embraces Bach-like elements coupled with astonishing harmonic modernity in what has become one of Mozart’s best-loved works.

Rigoletto is regarded as the first operatic masterpiece of Verdi’s mature artistic period. Its complex psychology identifies characters with different styles of music, and with an incredible variety of accents for a central figure conceived by the composer as ‘deformed and laughable, but actually passionate and full of love’. From the famous aria La donna è mobile, to the final horrific tragedy as the curse unfolds, the triumphant success of Rigoletto since its premiere in 1851 has endured to the present day. The work is set for modern stage here by Italian director Davide Livermore.

REVIEWS:

Camarena, a star of the bel canto repertoire, eschews the ‘bravado’ approach taken by many tenors and brings a beautiful light, silvery tone to the role of the Duke. His voice pairs perfectly with that of Enkeleda Kamani… Compelling, too, is Luca Salsi’s believable portrayal of Rigoletto.

-- BBC Music Magazine

The singers are very good: Luca Salsi reveals a subtle side to his art as Rigoletto and Javier Camarena is an ebullient but stylish Duke.

-- Opera Now