Rossini: Il Turco in Italia. Cecilia Bartoli, Michele Pertusi, Alessandro Corbelli, Laura Polverelli; Riccardo Chailly, Orchestra and choir of the Teatro alia Scala di Milano. London 289 458 924-2 (2-disc set).Rossini: Il Turco in Italia Il turco in Italia (The Turk in Italy) is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The Italian-language libretto was written by Felice Romani. It was a re-working of a libretto by Caterino Mazzolà set as an opera (with the same title) by the German composer in . Cecilia Bartoli The Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli (born 4 June 1966, Rome) is an opera singer and recitalist. She is best-known for her Mozart and Rossini roles as well as for her performances of lesser-known Baroque and Classical music. , Michele Pertusi, Alessandro Corbelli Alessandro Corbelli (b. 1952) is an Italian opera singer. One of the preeminent bass-baritones specializing in Mozart and Rossini, Corbelli has sung in many major opera houses around the world and won admiration for his fine, patrician singing style and his sharp , Laura Polverelli; Riccardo Chailly Riccardo Chailly (IPA: [ʃɑ.i]) (b. February 20, 1953) is an Italian conductor. He started his career as an opera conductor and gradually extended his repertoire to encompass symphonic music. , Orchestra and choir of the Teatro alia Scala di Milano. London 289 458 924-2 (2-disc set). Il Turco in Italia (1814) is one of Rossini's minor comic operas comic opera n. An opera or operetta with a humorous plot, generally spoken dialogue, and usually a happy ending. Also called bouffe. comic opera Noun , the kind that non-opera connoisseurs like myself find difficult to differentiate from others of its kind. There are no big, really memorable tunes to program on my CD player for later listening. It is all pleasantly entertaining at the time, beautifully sung, and reasonably well recorded, but I am not sure I would ever return to it again willingly for a complete run-through. The plot involves a unique idea for its time, and one that has been used since. A poet in search of material for a comedy he is writing decides to use the real life around him as his reference. Observing a group of gypsies, he notes an unhappy marriage, a wandering wife, a hapless husband, and a Turkish prince. Needless to say, when the real-life situations don't develop dramatically enough for his liking, the poet is not above "arranging" the people's lives, finally arriving at a suitably happy ending for everyone involved. London's sound is typical of their modern opera recordings. It is big and clear, with voices a trifle tri·fle n. 1. Something of little importance or value. 2. A small amount; a jot. 3. A dessert typically consisting of plain or sponge cake soaked in sherry, rum, or brandy and topped with layers of jam or jelly, bright for extra clarity, a point I noted most especially in the chorus and ensemble numbers. There is also a great deal of stage width, but there isn't much sense of motion around the stage; indeed, there is little sense of stage presence, movement, or depth at all; not like the old Culshaw days. It is more or less a fixed reading. And, as usual, the orchestra appears on the same plane as the singers rather than in a more realistic, forward position as we would hear it live. Opera lovers will want the set; others may want to audition it first. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion