MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2023
Approaching 60,000 reviews
and more.. and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


DVD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

alternatively
Crotchet AmazonUK AmazonUS

 

Ermanno WOLF-FERRARI (1876–1948)
La vedova scaltra (The cunning widow) (Libretto by Mario Ghisalberti, after the play by Carlo Goldoni) (1931)
Anne-Lise Sollied (soprano) - Rosaura; Maurizio Muraro (bass) - Milord Runebif; Emanuele D’Aguanno (tenor) – M. Le Bleau; Mark Milhofer (tenor) – Il Conte di Bosco Nero; Riccardo Zanellato (bass) - Don Alvaro di Castiglia; Elena Rossi (soprano) - Marionette; Alex Esposito (bass-baritone) - Arlecchino
Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro La Fenice, Venice/Karl Martin
Picture Format: NTSC 16:9; Region Code: 0
Sound Format: Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0, Dolby Digital Surround 5.0
rec. Teatro La Fenice, Venice, Italy, 13, 15 February 2007.
NAXOS 2.110234-35 [2 DVDs: 142:00]
Experience Classicsonline

This is a relatively unknown opera by Wolf-Ferrari, yet La Fenice has invested a great deal to make it a high quality production. Written in 1931 for Rome, I found little information on the work because its performances have been so few. The real reason why the work is unknown to today’s audiences must lie in its feeble plot. When one examines the storyline this is understandable for there really isn’t much of a plot beyond that of aristocratic suitors wooing an elegant, rich widow. The story immerses itself in the detail of their encounters and their gossip. It appears that the librettist, Ghisalberti, has picked up a thread or two from Lehár’s The Merry Widow. Humour shows its face when a servant, Arlecchino, manages to impress Rosaura where the aristocrats have failed. Consequently, the opera might be regarded more as an over-long curtain-raiser ‘trifle’, where the content concerns the characters’ personalities and only a limited amount of developing interaction between them.
 
Norwegian Anne-Lise Sollied who takes the lead, Rosaura, made her international debut in 1995 when she won the two Viennese singing competitions. Here she carries a strong stage presence and sings with a confident and mature strength, wide register and rounded tone. Her associate, Elena Rossi as Marionette, is less secure. She tends to climb to pitch on some of her high notes and has an unfortunate mid-range harshness that prevents a perfect blend of harmony in duets with Rosaura. The acting from both of them is excellent.
 
Of the men, Emanuele D’Aguanno as Monsieur Le Bleau has a strong presence and uses the stage comfortably. He is a clear high tenor and commands good legato even if his flamboyant movements are somewhat affected. Mark Milhofer, the Count, is another good tenor but I found his over-prominent vibrato when singing forte, quite unappealing. He is also marred by an inability to hold eye contact with those he is addressing and uses wild arm gestures that tend to be meaningless. To me his character and acting is unconvincing. Maurizio Muraro as Milord Runebif, a rich resonant bass with a wide international reputation, gains confidence by the middle of Act I after a slightly uneven start in the Prologue. Alex Esposito - originally from Bergamo - as the servant does not appear until the second act yet steals the limelight both in the plot’s development and his performance. His stage presence is particularly strong and his singing is of high calibre.
 
This is an elegant production with superb staging that complements the time and action of the opera. In the first act good use is made of drapes, nicely arranged, to wall the generously proportioned doors and matching stage furniture. The second act, a stylised piazza in evening light, is also effective and the excellent costumes throughout are appropriate for the characters. Wolf-Ferrari gives the chorus little to do apart from a prolonged dance during the entrance of the Spanish ambassador. The dance seems to be referred to as a ballet but neither the music nor choreography gives any suggestion of this.
 
The recording is nicely handled and well edited from the two performances selected for takes. I would have preferred longer establishing shots to show the elegance of the full scene as well as more big close-ups to observe the characterisations.
 
Wolf-Ferrari owes more than a passing resemblance to Puccini’s style of writing. He is a competent craftsman, particularly noticeable in some of the arias, in the Spanish music of Act I and inn the construction of a quartet. However, it is fair to say that one isn’t left feeling that in this work the music is inspired, pleasant though it may be.
 
The synopsis and notes are in English and German, with biographies in English only.
 
Raymond J Walker
 
 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.