Bellini

Vincenzo Bellini (1801–1835) Bellini, unlike many of his colleagues - among them Donizetti - did not have to endure the disappointments and difficulties ofrising from the ranks. His Bianca e Gernando, in 1826, was well received at Naples’s Teatro San Carlo, and one year later, atthe age of twenty-six, the composer triumphed at Milan’s La Scala with Il Pirata. Norma is not only the high point of Bellini’sartistic parabola but also the quintessence of Italian belcanto. The present DVD, filmed at the Sferisterio Opera Festival ofMacerata in August 2007, features, in the title role, the famous Greek soprano Dimitra Theodossiou, one of today’s best interpretersof Norma.

By 1981, when this production was taped for Canadian television, Joan Sutherland's voice was unquestionably past its prime. But even in its decline, that voice remained something quite special, and the role of the troubled Druid priestess Norma was one of her specialties. A substantial advantage in this recording is the presence at the podium of her husband and coach, Richard Bonynge, who had a deep understanding of the strengths and limitations of her voice and stage persona. His pacing and balance give the voice opportunities to challenge, at least momentarily, the ravages of time. Lotfi Mansouri, one of the great operatic entrepreneurs of the late 20th century, assembled a first-class supporting cast for Sutherland–most notably Tatiana Troyanos, to whose memory this video is dedicated.

This new studio recording of Bellini's Il Pirata in its uncut version includes all the repetitions, original cadenzas and variations written by the singers, as well as the rarely performed finaletto. Prima Classic's aim is to present to the public this masterpiece of composition, beauty, and of incredible technical demands on the soloists, performed by some of the most prominent singers of today. With Javier Camarena, Marina Rebeka, and Franco Vassallo performing the leading roles, this album was recorded at Bellini's homeland, Catania, with the Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Massimo Bellini, under the baton of Fabrizio Maria Carminati.

The “Queen of Coloratura”, Edita Gruberova, is the undisputed star of this recording of I puritani from the opera house in Barcelona. Her interpretation of Bellini’s Elvira has certainly become one of her showpieces and her superb technique, her top notes and exquisite pianissimos and her amazing command of coloratura make her the focus of this production. The audience rewarded her with long enthusiastic ovations after her the mad scene in the second act, when her heart breaking rendering of the elegiac “Qui la voce sua soave” and the dazzling coloratura in the fast cabaletta undoubtedly sets her name next to the great Elviras of the 20th century. Arthaus captures on DVD Andrei Serban’s production of Bellini’s gloomy masterpiece.

Bellini’s Norma contains one of the most impressive and also most difficult soprano roles in the whole repertoire of opera. Few sopranos can do justice to it. The first of those who have must surely be Maria Callas, considered the outstanding interpreter of the title part. The role, along with Bellini"s opera, was interpreted in a revolutionary fashion by Joan Sutherland (born in Sydney 1926). She is the protagonist in the present recording made at the Sydney Opera House in August 1978. "La Stupenda", as Joan Sutherland was known in musical circles, ended her international career in 1990. The celebrated production by Sandro Sequi, with Fiorella Mariani"s lavish décor and costumes, concentrates entirely on the human destiny of a woman on the edge of her existence. He intelligently brings forth the priestess’ emotional world, hence showing the many facets of Norma"s character.

Here in Orange, France, on a windswept, night in 1974, they had greatness itself. Pierre Jourdan's film of the event is a priceless document, first of all, in the history of the opera. Stage-settings of Norma are usually hopeless: an offence to the eye, a chafing confutation of the spirit by gross matter. The ancient Roman amphitheatre is at any rate worthy and appropriate, and the Mistral, which threatened to close down the whole show and turn away an audience estimated at 10,000, adds a fine reminder of the power of Nature as it sets the druidical robes billowing and attacks the microphones.

Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) wanted to move the audience of his operas to tears. And this is exactly what Beatrice di Tenda manages to do: it has great music and the story really touches the heart. In this production by Daniel Schmid, one can experience the stunning singers Edita Gruberova and Michael Volle in the main roles – with Marcello Viotti conducting the Orchestra of the Zurich Opera House. In Beatrice di Tenda, Bellini departs from the belcanto style, which he used in Norma, and explores a new way of musical expression, which brought to the fore a new warmth and different characteristics.

Bellini’s penultimate opera was received unenthusiastically at its premiere in 1833, and has never attained the popularity of Norma. Early this century it disappeared completely until revived in 1935, as part of the centennial commemoration of the composer’s death. In recent years, its tragic heroine, the wife of a Milanese duke, falsely accused of infidelity and executed at her husband’s command, has been portrayed by such notable bel canto specialists as Joan Sutherland, Leyla Gencer and June Anderson. This dramatically vigorous and well-constructed work contains some of Bellini’s finest and most characteristic melodies, among them a ravishingly beautiful trio, ‘Angiol di pace’. Its neglect for so many years is difficult to comprehend.

TDK presents a remarkable staging of one of Bellini’s opera masterpieces on DVD: The wonderful singer-actor and coloratura soprano Eva Mei presents one of her showpieces - Amina, the sleep-walking heroine. She has sung the role all over Italy, from Palermo to Turin and has been loved by audiences all over the world for her clear voice and her stage personality. Beside her, the Catalan tenor José Bros, a renowned Bellini specialist, repeats what Il giornale della musica described as his “secure and committed” performance in the role of Amina’s fiancé Elvino. But the show belongs to the heroine, and Eva Mei was praised in the same periodical for her “bel canto skill, her pure, radiant top notes and the resolute, yet unaffected and elegant way she dominates the stage.” This performance at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in 2004 is lead by the superb opera conductor, Daniel Oren, who has a long alliance with Italian opera houses and regularly conducts at the Arena di Verona.