Donizetti: Maria Stuarda

Mosuc takes few prisoners on this bel canto CD…her singing can be viscerally exciting…There's a thoughtfulness about Mosuc's singing, too…Not all of Mosuc's characterisation is as elegantly characterised [as her Maria Stuarda]…Yet the excitement of hearing a dramatic coloratura soprano singing with such intelligence and accuracy generally outweighs such reservations.

Sometimes when it comes to deciding how to stage an opera, whether in a traditional style or otherwise, it’s more than enough to just set the scene in as simple a fashion as possible and let the work speak for itself. This can be tricky in the case of a bel canto opera, particularly with Donizetti and certainly with his Tudor trilogy of operas (Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda and Roberto Devereux), where there is often not a great deal going on dramatically. Many directors will try to cover up the lack of dramatic action with elaborate sets and costumes, but not Christof Loy. Even though there isn’t indeed a great deal to the sets here in this 2005 production for the Bavarian State Opera in Munich and, yes, even though it is inevitably taken out of its original historical Tudor setting, Loy nonetheless clearly recognises where the real strengths of the work lie and gives them prominence through attention to character and the acting performances, particularly in how they are expressed through the singing.

The drama of 'Gemma di Vergy', like that of 'Anna Bolena', 'Maria Stuarda' and 'Roberto Devereux', unfolds at court, where reason of State interwines with sentiments of passion and love. Gemma is repudiated by her husband, the Count of Vergy, baritone, while the "antagonist" is Tamas (tenor), the Arab slave, locked in unrequited love. The vocal composition for the role of Gemma moves with sudden jumps between the central and the high regusters. "It is as difficult as three Normas put together", maintained Montserrat Caballé.

This selection of scenes and arias, all very familiar items, is distinguished by the imaginative accompaniments under Evelino Pidò. …here we have one of the great opera personalities of our time - it's a lovely voice, used with a formidable technique.

Anna Bolena premiered in 1830 and was Donizetti’s first great success–and it remains one of his finest works. Aside from his usual endless fount of melodies, we find through-composed scenes wherein recitative seamlessly melds into arioso and into aria or ensemble. Anna manages to come across as a real character, as does the unfortunate Jane Seymour, who has the (bad) luck to be Henry VIII’s new love; and Henry’s music, too, is composed effectively for this royal villain. Less successfully portrayed but still with a couple of fine arias and some stunning ensemble music is Anna’s brother Percy. He’s an earthbound character but his music is wonderful and difficult (it was composed for the legendary Rubini).

Josep Maria Carreras i Coll born 5 December 1946, better known as José Carreras, is a Spanish tenor who is particularly known for his performances in the operas of Verdi and Puccini.
Born in Barcelona, he made his debut on the operatic stage at 11 as Trujamán in Manuel de Falla's El retablo de Maese Pedro and went on to a career that encompassed over 60 roles, performed in the world's leading opera houses and in numerous recordings. He gained fame with a wider audience as one of the Three Tenors along with Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti in a series of mass concerts that began in 1990 and continued until 2003. Carreras is also known for his humanitarian work as the president of the José Carreras International Leukaemia Foundation (La Fundació Internacional Josep Carreras per a la Lluita contra la Leucèmia), which he established following his own recovery from the disease in 1988.

Belisario is, quite simply, one of Donizetti’s finest achievements. Dating from the high watermark of Donizetti’s maturity, with its premiere in 1836 (the year after the debut of Maria Stuarda in Milan and Lucia di Lammermoor in Naples), Belisario proved a triumph on stages throughout the 19th century. Yet, incredibly, it is little known today. The libretto, by Salvadore Cammarano (who collaborated with Donizetti on Lucia di Lammermoor), tells the moving and typically complicated story of the 6th century Byzantine general. Falsely accused by his wife, Antonina, of killing their son, he was blinded and exiled as his punishment. Only the recognition by his daughter, Irene, that her father’s former captive, Alamiro, was her long-lost brother restores Belisario’s reputation; tragically, too late to save his life.

More than 25 years after his first EMI album, Antonio Pappano has established himself as a leading figure of conducting, particularly in music from his native Italy. This collection includes excerpts from all his EMI and Warner Italian recordings, from the famous Verdi and Puccini cycles with Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu to the recent praised versions of Turandot and Rossini’s sacred works.

Roberto Devereux (or Roberto Devereux, ossia Il conte di Essex [Roberto Devereux, or the Earl of Essex]) is a tragedia lirica, or tragic opera, by Gaetano Donizetti...

This CD is currently out of print, but it's worth a search. Unlike virtually everything else of Gencer's that has appeared on CD, these are all studio recordings in excellent sound (no prompters, no noisy audiences, no singing off mike). The four Donizetti items, conducted by Gianandrea Gavazzeni, are from 1974, while the four Verdi selections and the Catalani are from 1956 (with Arturo Basile conducting). Jeffrey Lipscomb, Amazon.ca