This opera is Rossini’s
only comic opera in French and also the most flagrant example
of self-borrowing, which however is understandable. He wrote Il viaggio a Reims in 1825 for the coronation of Charles
X, but since the plot was so explicitly associated with the event,
Rossini withdrew the score and then he recycled about 50% of the
music for Le Comte Ory, which
is a wholly different story. Il viaggio
a Reims lay forgotten for more than 150 years and was finally
revived in the 1980s, when it became a great success. I managed
to see it in Helsinki
a few years ago directed by Dario Fo, who was also responsible for the sets and the costumes.
It was a colourful and entertaining performance but the plot was
so thin that in the second act it felt a bit boring. This is an
adjective that cannot be applied to Le Comte Ory,
especially so in this sensitive and spirited reading from the
“Rossini in Wildbad” festival. It was recorded live and one can hear clearly
that there are lots of things going on. Sometimes, especially
in the second act, there is so much bumping and stamping that
the music comes out second best. Theatrical atmosphere is a good
thing but I can accept it more readily when seeing with my own
eyes, whether in the theatre or on DVD, what is going on. Here
one can only guess and that is a bit frustrating.
By and large this
is the only frustrating thing about this recording since it gives
practically unalloyed pleasure in all other respects. Brad Cohen
is an experienced Rossinian and he conducts
a fizzing performance, brisk but not over-energetic. He also gives
the singers freedom to expand in the more lyrical passages. The
Czech choir and orchestra are excellent and the recording is everything
one could wish for from a live occasion; I just wish some wizard
could wash away the stage noise, but that’s another story.
The cast is splendid
and are clearly inside their roles. Welsh tenor Huw Rhys-Evans in the title role has a fine voice with easy
top, a fine pianissimo and in the second act duo with the Countess
he also exposes a good trill. He sings with ardour but tends to
push his voice beyond what is natural for him at which point the
tone hardens. Linda Gerrard’s Countess is even better and executes her breakneck
coloratura with splendour. She grows through the performance and
is magnificent in the long trio just before the finale. Luisa
Islam-Ali-Zade, who already has a Naxos Rossini to her credit, is in
the same league and her duet with the Count’s Tutor in act 1 is
great singing. The other mezzo-soprano, Gloria Montanari,
is more vibrant and thick-voiced but contributes worthily. Of
the two deep-voiced men the young Luca Salsi
has a fine baritone and is a powerful singer. Polish-born Wojtek
Gierlach is quite simply equipped with one of the fruitiest
true bass voices to be heard in this repertoire and he relishes
the Tutor’s aria – one of the numbers that was brought over from
Il viaggio
a Reims.
At the usual
Naxos give-away price this is a highly recommendable
version of one of Rossini’s most spirited comedies. One has to
make do without a printed libretto although it can be downloaded
from the Naxos website.
Keith Anderson’s synopsis is a valuable substitute.
Göran
Forsling
see also
Review
by Robert Farr
Count 
