Category: Reviews

For a work that is known as a one-aria-opera, four official (this one included) recordings is not a bad record. And of course most opera-lovers have not only ìE la solita storiaî in their many tenor recitals but know the baritone aria ìCome due tizziî and the mezzoís ìEsser madre Ë un infernoî as well.

When asked if I had any interest in reviewing the discs of ìthe Operatunity finalists,î I admit I was so ignorant of what Operatunity was that I had to make a quick web search to find out.

Dvo?·k und seine Zeit ñ Dvo?·k and his Time ñ immediately conveys a singular perspective on some of the vocal music of AntonÌn Dvo?·k (1841-1904) in the context of his generation. Recorded on 17 August 2004, the music on this two-CD set is from the second of two programs that were given at the 2004 Salzburg Festspiel under the rubric of ìDvo?·k und seine Zeit.î

I wonder how Natalie Dessay would comment on this CD made more than 10 years ago when she was barely thirty? The lady is a dream for every interviewer.

What to do, what to do, with Bellini and Romaniís bel canto masterpiece, La Sonnambula? The exquisite music demands to be performed, so the opera continues to have an existence on the fringes of the standard repertory.

For those who want to possess every single TV appearance of RÈgine Crespin, this issue will not suffice. Only four items of the EMI DVD devoted to the soprano are to be found on the short DVD that is included with this CD.

Although nothing is mentioned on the cover of the CD, I think this is the first official recording of the opera even if there are some pirates doing the rounds of the collectors (my copy is a Buenos Aires pirate). So this is not an unimportant issue of Catalaniís first opera.