18 Puasa Di Kampong Pisang

An interesting and goliardic representation of Bologna at the beginning of the seventeenth century is proposed to us by the Dramatodia theatrical company directed by Alberto Allegrezza and with the participation of Enrico Bonavera. The theme is the Carnival, the texts are by the storyteller, writer and poet Giulio Cesare Croce and the music by the brilliant and non-conformist Olivetan friar Adriano Banchieri. The irresistible combination formed by these two authors stages an irreverent and paradoxical triumph of hyperbole, satire, jokes and double meanings, which find their expression - at the same time popular and artistic - in the dramaturgic representations linked to the commedia dell'arte and in the musical forms of the time such as the villanella, the canzonetta and the ballet.

Among the countless studio recordings of Lucia di Lammermoor, this Westminster recording from 1970 is particularly noteworthy.First of all for the conductor, Thomas Schippers, one of the most sensitive interpreters of Italian opera, especially in Verdi. The role of the protagonist is played by the American soprano Beverly Sills, who in this edition restores Lucia's original voice, altered by the dramatic interpretation of Maria Callas twenty years earlier. Carlo Bergonzi, on the other hand, was one of the reference Edgardo of the second half of the twentieth century, and, in addition to this, he recorded another famous Lucia with Anno Moffo, released for RCA in 1966. Finally, the great Italian baritone Piero Cappuccilli, himself to his second incision of the character of Enrico.

The comic-heroic romp Matilde di Shabran was Rossini’s last commission for the theatres of Rome, the city where he’d had great successes such as Il barbiere di Siviglia. Rossini took advantage of the agile, sparkling style of librettist Jacopo Ferretti to create a narrative in which the ferocious Corradino, a declared misogynist, is introduced to the resourceful Matilde, who succeeds in melting his iron heart and winning his love. This premiere recording revives the original 1821 Rome version, which was conducted at the last minute by Paganini, and caused brawling in the streets between Rossini’s admirers and detractors.

After the parentheses dedicated to sacred music, he returns to the famous compositions for films with the world's first recordings of LA STRADA and the Symphonic Suite THE CASANOVA OF FEDERICO FELLINI. The incisions were made in the studio by the Milan Symphony Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi under the direction of Giuseppe Grazioli, an authentic specialist in this repertoire.

Voilà une vingtaine d’années que Christian Curnyn et sa Early Opera Company se penchent sur Amadigi, une des premières œuvres lyriques de Handel. C’est grâce à deux mécènes et à une campagne de financement participatif efficace qu’ils ont réussi à financer ce nouvel enregistrement de studio, réalisé en 2021 avec d’excellents solistes.