This performance of
Donizetti’s sparkling L’elisir d’amore
was played in front of an audience of
5,000 at the Macerata Opera Festival
in 2002. It is also available on a DVD-Video
(DV-OPELAMOR), but this appears to be
only available in North and South America.
The production sounds delightful - a
big red box opens to present the entire
opera, on which even some of the orchestral
musicians take part, apparently. It
is to be hoped it will be made available
here in the UK before long, because
as a purely aural document this falls
quite a long way short.
The overture reveals
painfully close spotlighting and a general
lack of depth to the sound-picture,
two traits confirmed immediately by
the initial chorus. At least there is
plenty of evidence of the ‘live’ element
of this performance (plenty of shuffling
going on).
Nemorino’s ‘Quanto
è bella’, Aquiles Machado’s first
solo aria, is fair, marred by some shouting
at the very top of his range though.
But already there is evidence of a lackadaisical
element to the orchestral playing (similarly,
the Act I orchestral ‘Marziale’ suffers
from lack of close ensemble); and in
the ensuing chorus, the singing again
lacks life.
Machado’s main representation
on disc seems to have been the title
role in Albeniz’s opera Henry Clifford
(Decca 473 937-2). His is an adequate,
but no more, assumption of Nemorino.
The famous ‘Una furtiva lagrima’ of
Act II here boasts some tender phrases
and is fairly affecting, but no more.
Adina, taken by soprano
Valeria Esposito, begins well, with
an infectious laugh, but one gets the
impression that she is forcing her tone
and that she is generally stretched.
Her low range in particular can be weak.
Yet in fairness she can be delightful,
too; in her Act I exchange with Nemorino
(‘Una parola, o Adina …’) she brings
a definite lift to this accompanied
recitative. Esposito turns in some lovely
ornaments at ‘Chiedi all’aura lusinghiera’
(CD1 Track 9). Here she reveals
possible star quality. Esposito seems,
if anything, to grow in stature as the
performance progresses.
However, unusually,
perhaps, it is the Gianetta who leaves
lingering memories. Roberta Canzian’s
‘No fate strepito’ (CD2, track 9) is
pure delight, light of tone with phrasing
carefully considered.
Belcore (Enrico Marrucci)
has a rich sound and is capable of good
lyricism, with clear words. Erwin Schrott’s
Dulcamara needs more authority at times
(‘Udite’ff, CD 1, track 11, for
example), yet in the end he convinces
us that he is actually a Donizettian
after all.
Niels Muus brings a
real sense of the theatre to the whole.
His pacing is carefully tailored to
the situations. Try Act II Scene 6 as
an example of a real sense of theatre,
or indeed the finale of the entire opera.
A pity more discipline was not imposed,
for there are occasions when ensemble
goes awry; specifically chorus and orchestra
parting company. Muus’s discography
includes a very different work – Langgaard’s
Antikrist on Danacord from the
Tiroler Landestheater, DACOCD517. He
seems to have a good feeling for a wide
range of repertoire, therefore. But
at the end of the day there are enough
caveats to preclude a recommendation
for Muus’s Donizetti, even at its budget
price. For a modern audio Elisir,
perhaps the Gheorghiu-Alagna dream-team
is guaranteed to raise more of a smile
(Decca 455 691-2, conducted by Evelino
Pidò).
I would be intrigued
to see whether the DVD-Video of this
TDK production would change my opinions,
although that comparison would appear
to be impossible at the present moment,
at least on the U.K. side of The Pond.
The staging, from the descriptions,
sounds interesting. It was brave of
TDK to issue this as audio-only format
as here we only have our ears by which
to judge.
Colin Clarke
Coro Lirico Marchigiano ‘V. Bellini’; Orchestra
Filarmonica Marchigiana/Niels Muus.