Gaetano DONIZETTI (1797 -1848)
Caterina Cornaro - Lyric tragedy in a prologue and two acts (1844)
Caterina Cornaro - Carmen Giannattasio (soprano); Andrea Cornaro, Caterina’s
father - Graeme Broadbent (bass); Gerardo, a young Frenchman (in the prologue
betrothed to Caterina) - Colin Lee (tenor); Lusignano, King of Cyprus - Troy
Cook (baritone); Mocenigo, Venetian ambassador to Cyprus - Vuyani Mlinde (bass);
Strozzi, leader of a band of cut-throats - Loïc Félix (tenor);
Matilde, Caterina’s confidante - Sophie Bevan (soprano)
BBC Singers
BBC Symphony Orchestra/David Parry
rec. BBC Maida Vale Studios, London. November and December 2011
OPERA RARA ORC 48 [61.36 + 54.24]
A press release accompanied my review copy of which more anon. Reading this
I had cause to reflect on when and how I became a devotee of Donizetti’s
operas. It perhaps came about incidentally to my own changed circumstances
as my peripatetic writing and lecturing regularly took me to London providing
opportunity to see outstanding performances of bel canto. This broadened
my erstwhile monotheistic view of opera as being Verdi with a smattering of
French and Russian works and Puccini’s populist trio. Central to my
experience had been standing to see Norma with Joan Sutherland and
Marilyn Horne and then the former as Lucia with an unknown young Italian
tenor called Pavarotti. I knew that in the strict sense bel canto meant
beautiful singing, but found it incomprehensible that after the death of the
eponymous tragic heroine that night, and much launching of flowers onto the
stage, large swathes of people left and missed the young tenor’s sublime
rendition of Eduardo’s double aria in the final scene.
My learning curve accelerated in the 1970s with Decca’s series of Donizetti
operas featuring Sutherland and also La Favorita, usually with the,
by then, famous tenor. Getting under the skin of Maria Stuarda and
Lucrezia Borgia, and adding Don Pasquale on a DG recording,
my Donizetti ran into the buffers, particularly as I could not tolerate the
sound of pirate recordings. It was at that stage I discovered Opera Rara and
their recordings of Donizetti operas of which twenty or so now form the core
of my collection of the composer’s operatic works. Most of those boxed
or sleeved sets carry the imprimatur of support by the Peter Moores Foundation.
That support has now ceased and Opera Rara have set about maintaining their
adventurous programme of the bel canto repertoire via other means.
As well as appeals to opera lovers, other strategies have been adopted. For
the first three months after its issue, this recording was only available
direct from Opera Rara. Also, it is now possible to purchase, via a down-load
from the Opera Rara website, in high resolution 24 bit master sound quality
the most recent recordings. In addition, the whole catalogue, including titles
currently out of stock on CD is also available for down-load in MP3 (Lossy),
ALAC (Apple) and FLAC (free Lossless) formats. When items are purchased in
this format PDFs of the nearly unique high quality booklets associated with
Opera Rara come free of charge when full albums are purchased.
Whilst previous recording have included live performances from the likes of
the Edinburgh Festival and Covent Garden, this issue presages change: an association
with the BBC. As well as the recording taking place in a BBC studio with the
house orchestra and singers, pre-issue performances seem to be the order of
the day as the recent Thursday afternoon broadcast of Donizetti’s Belisario
with Sir Mark Elder on the rostrum exemplifies. That has left me yearning
for the accompanying informative booklet that is de rigueur with Opera
Rara releases and has helped my understanding of the evolution of Donizetti’s
oeuvre.
An early hallmark of the Opera Rara releases was their policy of developing
a group of singers committed to the cause. They were capable of realising
the music and were not contracted to the big name recording companies. Opera
Rara’s capacity to spot talent and future stars in that period is best
illustrated by the presence of Renée Fleming on the 1994 recording
of Donizetti’s Rosmonda d’Inghilterra alongside in-house
names such as Bruce Ford, Nelly Miracioiu, Diana Montague and Alastair Miles
(see review).
In the last ten years or so new names have been added to an extended line-up
of singers interested and capable of meeting Opera Rara’s demanding
standards in this repertoire. This recording includes names that will readily
be recognised from earlier releases from the company as well as in the rosters
of some of the great opera houses where bel canto works are rapidly
becoming more common. A good example is that of Colin Lee. Many, like me,
will have seen and heard him in the transmission to cinemas on 27 May 2013
of Rossini’s La Donna del Lago where he went note for note with
the king of the high tenors, Juan Diego Florez, much as he had done in Paris
in the same opera. At times he has taken the second half of performance production
runs in other works featuring the Peruvian who is himself a Patron of Opera
Rara.
Donizetti’s Caterina Cornaro, like Maria Stuarda, recounts
a semi-fictionalised story involving a real person and her joys and travails.
It was the last of the composer’s operas to be premiered in his lifetime.
Likewise it is the last of Donizetti’s late operas to receive a studio
recording. I did once listen to the last act of a pirate recording and was
bowled over by the dramatic thrust. I lived in hope, aided by a couple of
brief conversations, that Andrew Greenwood would programme it during his tenure
as Artistic Director of the Buxton Festival as he had done with Roberto
Devereux, (see review),
Lucrezia Borgia (see review)
and Maria di Rohan (see review).
That was not to be. What I can say without equivocation is that this issue
realises everything that I hoped in respect of being able to hear the whole
work in good recording circumstances, albeit there are a couple of places
where the recessed voices are overcome. Much of my earlier feeling that act
three is dramatically superior to the earlier acts is confirmed whilst the
stream of duets in the prologue and act one ravish the ear in true bel
canto fashion, especially with the singers featured here. Much of the
musical performance quality is at the behest of David Parry on the rostrum.
This performance, and his conducting of Rossini’s Maometto Secondo
at Garsington in 2013 (see review)
re-affirm my belief that he is a master of the genre. Loyal Mancunian that
I am, I still hope that Mark Elder’s increasing role at Opera Rara does
not preclude Parry conducting for the company in future recordings.
The singing might not boast many starry names but it is without weakness.
In the title role Carmen Giannattasio’s dramatic qualities are to the
fore. Colin Lee as Gerardo sings with good tone and encompasses any high tessitura
with ease whilst portraying the inherent drama. Troy Cook as Lusignano sings
with smooth sonority. The two basses, Graeme Broadbent and the young South
African Vuyani Mlinde are nicely contrasted in timbre whilst singing with
feeling alongside steady sonority. In the minor roles Loïc Félix
and Sophie Bevan confirm earlier promise on record or in the theatre.
The 2 CD set is accompanied by a complete libretto with an English translation.
Most important for my understanding of the work, and others in the genre issued
by Opera Rara, is the scholarly essay and background to performances that
is always included. This is particularly welcome when it is by the meticulous
and superbly informed scholar, Jeremy Commons.
Robert J Farr
Well up to the usual Opera Rara high standards. Essential listening for lovers
of this composer’s works.
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