BY FRED KIRSHNIT [NY Sun, 15 November 2005]
For a moment I wondered whether to take my blanket and pillow to Carnegie Hall on Sunday evening for the Opera Orchestra of New York presentation of a concert version of “William Tell” by Gioacchino Rossini. “Tell” can be a long go, as versions exist in three, four, and five acts, at the corresponding number of hours.
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That Rossini Could Swash Buckles With the Best of Them
By ANTHONY TOMMASINI [NY Times, 15 November 2005]
At 11:25 on Sunday night, there was still one scene to go in Eve Queler’s concert performance of Rossini’s seldom-heard “William Tell” with her Opera Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall. You might have expected the audience to be restless, as the performance approached the four-hour mark. But after the Italian tenor Marcello Giordani, singing the treacherous role of the tormented Swiss patriot Arnold, gave a fearless account of the cabaletta “Amis, amis, secondez ma vengeance,” his rallying cry to vanquish the Austrian occupiers of 13th-century Switzerland, soaring over the orchestra with clarion top notes and thrilling high C’s, the audience threatened to stop the show with a frenzied ovation. So with a nod from Ms. Queler, Mr. Giordani sang the aria again.
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