RECORDINGS
May 1998

Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna's duets are meltingly lovely, culminating in the heartbreaking tomb scene.

GOUNOD: Roméo et Juliette

Gheorghiu, Todorovitch, Larcher; Alagna, Vallejo, Keenlyside, Van Dam, Fondary; Capitole de Toulouse, Plasson. Libretto & translation. EMI 5-56123 (3)

What is it about this oft denigrated score that causes it to be judged so much sweeter, or more "saccharine," than, say, La Bohème? Nothing. Both works focus on the doomed love of young people, through well-crafted music that is both eloquent and poignant. But while the received opinion of Puccini's score is "box-office dynamite," Gounod's is considered "boring" -- that is, until a really first-class performance comes along, as it has with EMI's new recording.

With the rediscovery of bel canto repertory after World War II came a corresponding decline in stylish French singing. Moreover, there's an admitted streak of sentiment in Gounod -- for instance, his device of orchestrating a final cadence with a high, sweet woodwind chord -- that hasn't meshed with the take-charge zeitgeist of the postwar decades. From the first moments of the prologue in EMI's recording, however, the spaciousness of the orchestral playing, the pointed diction and rhythm of the chorus, reveal respect and understanding for the composer's delicate lyricism. Michel Plasson's tempos are vivacious but seasoned with expressive rubato, and he brings out the full palette of instrumental color. The obligatory ballet, composed in 1888 for the first Paris Opera production, is included, though alas, its last and most effective movement is cut.

Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna's duets are meltingly lovely, culminating in the heartbreaking tomb scene. The soprano, her timbre charged with poignant urgency, reveals the growth of Juliette's character from the girlish debutante of "Je veux vivre" to the self-possessed, ultimately tragic bride. Her performance of the Meyerbeerian "Amour, ranime mon courage" is a masterpiece of recorded acting. Alagna, a natural and graceful Roméo, uses subtle vocal coloration to create a convincing one as well. His ringing top is in fine form, yet he gives full rein to sweet and tender crooning in "Ange adorable" and "Ah! lève-toi, soleil!"

This recording also owes much of its freshness to the excellence of the predominantly Franco-Belgian supporting cast. Even the sole Englishman, Simon Keenlyside, sings Mercutio with a light and graceful touch. Marie-Ange Todorovitch acquits herself well as the catalytic Stéphano, whose mocking song sets off the tragic final chain of events. José Van Dam's silvery tone is admirably suited to Frère Laurent, while Alain Fondary's Capulet adds just the right measure of "heavy father." In short, this is the sympathetic, idiomatic recording that Gounod's opera has needed for a long time.

BARRYMORE LAURENCE SCHERER

Roberto Alagna

VERDI ARIAS from Aida, Ballo, Forza, Jérusalem, Lombardi, Luisa Miller,
Macbeth, Otello, Trovatore. Berlin Philharmonic, C. Abbado. Texts & translations. EMI 5-56567

This recital covers the lyrical as well as the more heroic Verdi, along with the spinto Verdi in between. There are unexpected treasures, among them an elegant "Ah, la paterna mano" from Macbeth and a moving account of Alvaro's Forza monologue, preceded by a beautifully played clarinet introduction.

These performances show what finesse can result when a fine, lively singer collaborates with the right conductor. Working under routine batons, Alagna has often seemed to avoid portamento and rubato. Here, however, as in the Roméo recording under Plasson, his performances show satisfying legato and flexibility. With Claudio Abbado's knowing support, the tenor follows Verdi's dynamic markings, which lean toward quieter, subtler effects than the customary blockbuster tones, and he does indeed sing with conspicuous lyricism. Sample his suave Lombardi aria, both in Italian and in its later French version from Jérusalem. In "Celeste Aida," consider his smoothly elided phrasing into the reprise of the main melody, and his morendo on the top B-flat at the close. Though one hopes he will steer clear of Radamès and Otello onstage, at least for years, his Otello monologues are distinguished for powerful introspection and bel canto control.

B.L.S.

ASHLEY: Atalanta (Acts of God)

Tatò, Humbert; Ashley, Buckner, Tyranny, Shorr. Libretto. Lovely Music Ltd. 3301 (2)

Here we are, back at the frontiers of the Weird with Robert Ashley. This "opera," a conglomeration of electronic sounds and layerings of voices (both spoken and sung), dates from 1985. It comprises Volume I of a Wagnerian-length trilogy, including Perfect Lives and Now Eleanor's Idea, which Ashley has completed. The accompanying booklet gives a description of the prior "story" and also the text; the first is a parody of convoluted operatic tales, the second a guide to the nonsense of the words.

The text is repeated, often in canonic form, in both English and Italian (the piece was recorded in Rome) by Ashley, Thomas Buckner, Jacqueline Humbert and Carla Tatò, with keyboards and electronics provided by "Blue" Gene Tyranny. The spoken text is usually treated as a collection of vocal sounds manipulated as to accentuation and voice level. The music, closely controlled, is doggedly tonal, again repetitious, perhaps meant to evoke an earlier America. The basic text is interspersed with broken-up "songs" for the ensemble, which sound like off-key radio jingles or Andrews Sisters ditties. All this is combined with a hypnotic sense of return that gives the work its hold, there being no story line to carry it.

Maybe the best way to hear this is with the aid of a joint or two, so that one can free-float with the melos. Many current composers -- not least La Monte Young, Gavin Bryars and Philip Glass -- hover in the vicinity. It's one more indication that the house of opera comprises many mansions.

P.J.S.

SHOSTAKOVICH: Moskva, Cheremushki

Gelakhova, Prokina, Chernykh; Baturkin, Apaikin, Lochak, Kisselev; Russian State Cappella, Residentie Orchestra (The Hague), Rozhdestvensky. Chandos 9592 (2)

Moskva, Cheremushki, a boisterous operetta (1959-61) produced during the so-called "Khrushchev thaw," is overt in its mockery of Soviet foibles. The plot concerns the bureaucratic snafu that frustrates two newlyweds, Sasha and Masha (Andrei Baturkin and Irina Gelakhova), as they try to get an apartment in Cheremushki, a Moscow suburb. For the average 1950s Russian, the gray cinderblock housing complex that represents the characters' aspirations would have seemed like a kind of luxury and freedom.

The music-hall bawdiness of the score, relying on bumptious waltzes, marches and parodies of folk tunes, gave Shostakovich a chance to poke fun at politicians and the leaden daily oppressiveness of their agenda for socialization. While the hilarity seems dated now, there's still something appealing about the last scene, where a magic fountain is dreamed up to drown out the bureaucrats with its gushing.

The cast here offers deft characterizations, with even the lead singers doubling up in minor roles. Gennady Rozhdestvensky, who conducts with discretion and an iron fist, assumes the small speaking part of an impatient cab driver. The Slavic tartness of Gelakhova's mezzo is most appealing (she sings six roles in all), as is Elena Prokina's affecting, coy portrayal of the historian Lidochka. Baturkin is an effective Sasha, his steely baritone also imbuing the scheming bureaucrat Drebednyov with a threatening manner but a tone of bumbling incompetence. Herman Apaikin's solid if occasionally hoarse tenor serves for the chauffeur Sergei Glushkov, and he contributes persuasively to his hefty share of spoken dialogue.

The liner notes suggest this was Shostakovich's only operetta, but in fact another, The Priest and His Blockhead Servant, preceded it by more than two decades. That work remained unpublished until its librettist, Sofia Khentova, completed it after the composer's death.

JOHN BELL YOUNG

 

 

ROSSINI: L'Inganno Felice

Massis; Giménez, Gilfry, Regazzo, Spagnoli; Concert des Tuileries, Minkowski. Libretto & translation. Erato 0630-17579

Eduardo e Cristina

Acosta, Dimitru; Jara, Gomez, Gorny; Prague Virtuosi, Corti. Libretto & translation. Bongiovanni 2205/6 (2)

These two new issues tell a lot about the first decade of Rossini's career. The one-act farce L'Inganno Felice (1812) was the composer's fourth opera and first big success. It is a charmer, by turns witty, seriocomic and sentimental. It concerns Duke Bertrando's discovery of, and coming to terms with, his wronged but blameless wife, Isabella, when she reappears after long having been thought dead. Erato's recording, a composite of performances by Le Concert des Tuileries (ensemble of thirty) and capable, spirited singers at the Théâtre de Poissy in June 1996, is only the work's third recording and much the best. Tenor Raúl Giménez (Bertrando) and baritone Rodney Gilfry (Batone) are remarkably able in their demanding roles. Annick Massis (Isabella), the star of Glyndebourne's recent Le Comte Ory, is even better, bewitching in her second aria. Erato's production values are first-rate.

Eduardo e Cristina (1819), virtually unknown today, was also a success, hurriedly put together for a Venetian impresario who wanted a vehicle for the debut of his daughter, a contralto. This is a prime example of pasticcio, the assembling of preexisting music to a patched-up libretto. Out of sixteen numbers in Eduardo e Cristina, only three were newly composed. This didn't bother the public or Stendhal, who wrote, "Who pays any attention to the text of an opera?"

Eduardo e Cristina has a good deal of charm, with quite a few admirably inventive numbers. Bongiovanni's recording, skillfully engineered, comes from live performances at Kursaal Bad Wildbad in July 1997. The singers, if not the most accomplished Rossini specialists, are committed, enthusiastic and on occasion quite persuasive, particularly the mezzo Eliseda Dimitru (the hero, Eduardo), who earns an ovation for the cabaletta of her Act II aria. Francesco Corti leads his forces with energy and style.

C. J. LUTEN

PERI: Euridice

Pozzer, Piovan; Dordolo, Guadagnini; Compagnia dei Febi Armonici, Ensemble Albalonga, Cetrangolo. Italian libretto only. Pavane ADW-7372/3 (2)

Peri's Euridice, presented in Florence in 1600 to celebrate the wedding of Maria de' Medici and Henry IV of France, is the oldest opera to come down to us complete. Preceding Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea by forty-two years, it provides a fine refresher course in the origins of the art form. Peri's expressive range was considerable, with particularly vivid passages of despair and lamentation: when the nymph Dafne, in a four-minute solo, announces Euridice's death, her vocal line is laden with grief, and when Orfeo arrives in the Underworld, his dark mood is unmistakable. The choruses too are dolorous or spirited, as required.

The thirteen soloists of the Febi Armonici sound to the manner born, inflecting their parts with great delicacy, leaning into the accents with just the right emphasis, maintaining the flow and shape of the line with ease. The important roles of Dafne (soprano Sylvia Pozzer), Orfeo (tenor Luca Dordolo) and Arcetro (tenor Mirko Guadagnini) are beautifully handled, and the two tenors, markedly different in timbre, are nicely contrasted. Pleasantly astringent period instruments add dramatic color, with different accompaniments for each character. Conductor Anibal E. Cetrangolo shows command of the genre.

SHIRLEY FLEMING

L'Opera Buffa Napoletana

MUSIC by Auletta, Leo, Mele, Pergolesi, Vinci, Invernizzi, D. Del Monaco;
De Vittorio, Totaro, Naviglio; Capella de' Turchini, Florio. Texts and translations. Opus 111 OPS30-184

This sampling of Neapolitan opera buffa isn't quite as it appears from the title. A third of the seventy-eight-minute program is filled with instrumental music, none of which has any perceptible connection with opera.

The vocal portion of the program is dominated by Leonardo Vinci and Leonardo Leo, both early-eighteenth-century composers, whose selections fall into familiar genres -- the pert soubrette aria, the "sobbing" lament, the pastoral siciliana -- without transcending them. Leo's amusing concertato "Fa l'alluorgio cammenare" anticipates Rossini's Italiana in its imitations of clock, bell and drum sounds, while Vinci's "Maramene" brings Rossini's Cat Duet to mind. In this context, Pergolesi's relatively exalted stature is plain, even in such a throwaway piece as the Scherzo ai Frati Cappucini di Pozzuoli, an affectionate satire in mock-medieval style. Contralto Daniela Del Monaco, who participates only in a duet and the concertato, has a smooth, pleasing voice. The singing otherwise is just serviceable, with two tenors who sound like character players. Tempos are unexceptionable, but the period-instrument ensemble seems scrawny.

STEPHEN F. VASTA

Cecilia Gasdia

VIVALDI: 12 Cantatas. Gasdia; Barocco Veneziano, Ferrarini. No texts. Mondo Musica 90011 (2)

A variety of obbligato instruments (flute, guitar, bassoon, cello) makes this all-Vivaldi program less monotonous than one might think. Disconcertingly, the choice of instruments sometimes changes between movements of a single cantata; the booklet, containing only the most general sort of background notes, doesn't tell why. The cantatas usually follow a pattern of two da capo arias flanking a recitative; some include another recitative at the start.

Cecilia Gasdia, an odd choice for this assignment, shows some facility in fioriture. Her trill is good when the combination of pitch and vowel is right; otherwise it's just a throaty shake. The soprano has a feeling for recitative but uses her basically pleasant voice in an ungainly manner, with a heavily aerated technique. Her top can be whoopy or shrill at full volume -- except in some fast scales where she can get "on the breath" -- and tenuous and shy of pitch at piano. For all her sensitivity, her gummy enunciation is a barrier to communication.

Claudio Ferrarini leads stylishly, and his crisp flute playing is a highlight. Sprightly allegros go with plenty of verve, though sometimes the momentum slackens, perhaps to accommodate Gasdia in the more adventurous embellishments. The opening cantata is prefaced with an arch reading of its text by one Mara Persegona -- a solecism fortunately not repeated.

S.F.V.

HERBERT: Eileen

Woods, Robison, Norville; Pickle, Mackus, Norton, Payne; Ohio Light Opera, Butterman. Libretto. Newport Classic 85615 (2)

Just five years before the establishment of the Irish Free State, and in the midst of America's wartime alliance with England, Victor Herbert's Eileen sounded a blatant, albeit lighthearted, call for a free Ireland. One wonders how this went down with audiences at the time. Originally entitled Hearts of Erin, to a book by Henry Blossom, the show opened in 1917 in Cleveland, so Ohio Light Opera, eighty years later, could claim a proprietary interest. To come up with a performable version, though, challenged artistic director James Stuart and editor/orchestrator Quade Winter to some heavy lifting.

Ohio Light Opera's recording begs the question whether it's better to have a rare work available in any form at all, or to wait until it can be presented to its best advantage. The orchestra plays well enough under Michael Butterman's lively baton. There's some pleasant work by the principals, notably Catherine Robison as Lady Maude, and vocal assurance is as much in evidence as uncertain pitch or bleating tone. In general, however, secure, full-bodied address is in short supply, attempts at Irish and British accents are gauche (spoken dialogue is included), and the level rarely rises above that of a high school musical. Herbert may have written light music, but he wrote it for professionals, the likes of Fritzi Scheff, Emma Trentini and Alice Nielson; to do him justice takes more than spirited intentions and fresh, untuned talent. The live-performance Ohio recording is admirably engineered and presented.

JOHN W. FREEMAN

 

 

John McCormack

ARIAS & DUETS: acoustic Victor and HMV recordings, 1912-14. Kreisler (violin). No texts. Romophone 82007

This second installment of Ward Marston's transfers of McCormack acoustical discs finds the Irish tenor in his youthful prime. Opera standouts include a 1912 object lesson in legato singing, "Dai campi" and "Giunto sul passo estremo" from Mefistofele; a romance from Les Pêcheurs de Perles which, though sung in Italian, surpasses any version recorded by a French tenor; and a deftly florid "Questa o quella," the equal of Caruso's and superior to De Lucia's.

Among the wonderful Irish specialties are "Molly Brannigan," "The Low-back'd Car" and "The Harp that Once Through Tara's Halls." The tenor's famous messa di voce can be heard in "Take, O Take Those Lips Away," while the last five selections mark the beginning of his remarkable association with Fritz Kreisler; these have been reproduced often, but here the beauty of the violinist's tone rings out as never before. The first of them, "Angel's Serenade," lives up to its title.

An illustrated booklet is included. One correction to John Scarry's notes: Song o' My Heart was not McCormack's only full-length film. He also appeared in Shepherd of the Seven Hills (1933) and Wings of the Morning (1937), the latter with Henry Fonda and Annabella.

JAMES CAMNER

Peter Anders

SCHUBERT: 18 songs. Raucheisen (piano). No texts. Myto 973163

After Richard Tauber had to leave Austria, Anders, barely thirty, succeeded him as the foremost Central European lyric tenor. In 1942, German Radio began broadcasting and recording an anthology of lieder, completing some 2,500 songs by 1945. The pianist was the distinguished Michael Raucheisen; Anders was the most frequently engaged tenor.

Myto offers a generous sampling of his Schubert repertory, all performed with warmth, understanding, ease, grace and pellucid tone. Anders even manages to sneak in five of the Schwanengesang series, off limits during Nazi years because Heine, the poet, was a Jew. Also included are three songs from one of the finest (and among the darkest) Winterreise cycles ever committed to disc. The sound is remarkably good for the period.

C.J.L.

The Tchaikovsky Experience

Galante, Shaguch; Fedin, Leiferkus. Royal Opera (London), Järvi. No texts. BMG Conifer 75605

BMG Conifer follows its successful Puccini Experience album from Covent Garden with a collection devoted to excerpts from all of Tchaikovsky's operas. While some standard items are included -- the Onegin letter scene, the Maid of Orleans farewell -- most of the material will be unfamiliar to most Western listeners, despite Tchaikovsky's perennial popularity.

The gifted Latvian soprano Inessa Galante, whose Campion recordings have earned her something of a cult following, delivers beautifully voiced, emotionally agile accounts of Iolanta, Tatyana, Joan of Arc and Natalya, the passionate heroine of The Oprichnik.

The more overtly dramatic Marina Shaguch, a Kirov soloist, is vividly effective as Undina (from Tchaikovsky's unfinished second opera, which bears her name), Kuma (The Enchantress), Oksana (Vakula the Smith) and Maria (Mazeppa), whose haunting lullaby to her dying sweetheart is one of the disc's highlights.

Baritone Sergei Leiferkus lights Yeletsky's aria from The Queen of Spades and Robert's soliloquy from Iolanta with intelligence and virility. Tenor Alexander Fedin, who partners both sopranos in duets and takes on solos from The Queen of Spades and The Voyevoda, is considerably less satisfactory than his colleagues, singing with conviction but unsteadily.

Neeme Järvi leads with stylish grace. Texts and translations are provided only upon written request -- a genuine annoyance, considering the rarity of much of this material.

F. PAUL DRISCOLL

OPERA NEWS, May 1998 Copyright ©1998 The Metropolitan Opera Guild, Inc.