Gemitaiz Noi Siamo Così

Markus Stockhausen & Gary Peacock - Cosi Lontano … Quasi Dentro (1989) {ECM 1371}
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© 1989 ECM Records | ECM 1371
Jazz / Modern Creative / Third Stream / Post Bop

Trumpeter Markus Stockhausen follows, not leads, this haunting improvisation session with Gary Peacock on bass, Fabrizio Ottaviucci on piano, and Zoro Babel on drums. The colors are as rich as the names on the roster, and work their way through eight improvisatory spaces with varying degrees of clarity. “So Far,” for instance, begins like fingers groping along the wall of a pitch-dark room, awakening after an undisclosed period of unconsciousness.

Cosi fan tutte"Of the numerous recordings of Cosi fan tutte in the catalogue, many of them excellent, I don't think there is any that has moved me as intensely at the work's ultimate climax, the Act 2 finale, as this new one of John Eliot Gardiner's. Nowadays we recognize, of course, that Cosi is not the frivolous frolic at the expense of womankind that it was long supposed to be, but something much more serious and (in my view at least) deeply sympathetic to women. Gardiner takes much of the finale at a rather steady pace, allowing plenty of time in the canon-toast for a gorgeous sensuous interplay of these lovely young voices, then carefully pacing the E major music that follows, pointing up the alarmed G minor music after the march is heard and sustaining the tension artfully at a high level during the denouement scene: so that, when their vow of undying love and loyalty, 'Idol mio, se questo e vero', is finally reached, it carries great pathos and emotional weight, and the sense too that all are chastened by the experience is evident in the ensemble that ensues.

Riccardo Muti had made a sensational Salzburg debut in 1971, and this Cosi fan tutte was his first Mozart opera at the festival. It was acclaimed by both the general public and international critics, who were virtually unanimous in their praise of the aesthetic quality of the production. Muti was praised for his authoritative approach to Mozart's music, while the remarkably homogeneous team of international soloists was equally applauded. The singers form an admirably cohesive ensemble and all of them are outstanding Mozart singers.

Sony Classical continues its major Mozart opera project with conductor Teodor Currentzis and his orchestra & choir MusicAeterna. A ‘no-compromise’ studio recording cycle of Mozart’s three Da Ponte operas. Living in a unique artistic community established on the edge of Siberia, the musicians work and record under ideal conditions towards Currentzis’ stated goal “to show what can be achieved if you avoid the factory approach of the classical music mainstream”. The soloists’ vocal technique is also markedly different to modern operatic interpretation, with a focus on intimacy and clarity, a use of vibrato remarkably restrictive even by today’s ‘period practice’ standards as well as an approach to melodic ornamentation derived from historic sources which cannot be heard in other performances of these works.

A fine, effectively complete recording. Haitink's reading is sunny rather than brilliant, but with a typically superlative Glyndebourne stage cast even if the men - the sardonic Desdei excepted - are less characterful than the ladies.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Così fan tutte, opera lirica in due atti KV 588
Soile Isokoski - La Petite Bande / Sigiswald Kuijken
3xCD | EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 749 MB | Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Accent # ACC 9296-98 D | Country/Year: Belgium 1992
Genre: Classical | Style: Viennese School, Opera

"…More importantly, it just feels right, and that’s important for this piece where mood and atmosphere can have such an impact on the reading. I might even suggest that, next to the frenzied Jacobs and the rather serious Gardiner, this could come close to being a prime choice for a period version. " –MusicWeb International

This Così fan tutte enchanted the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus audience when recorded in concert in 2012, with Nézet-Séguin inspiring his stellar cast to feats of vocal derring-do. An enthusiastic advocate of Mozart s music, Rolando Villazón takes on the lead tenor role. Das Opernglas hailed his debut as Ferrando, calling him ideal for the role we have not heard a more beautiful, better sung and deeper felt Un aura amorosa in a long time. Starring a thrilling cast of both young and experienced Mozart opera stars including accomplished soprano Mojca Erdmann as Despina, acclaimed Mozartian soprano Miah Persson and prize-winning young American mezzo Angela Brower as the emotionally manipulated sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella. Also joining this crème-de-la-crème cast are distinguished Mozart bass-baritone Adam Plachetka as Guglielmo and Italian buffo baritone Alessandro Corbelli as Alfonso.

There are many things to enjoy about this period-instrument Cosi: the convincing sense of style that runs through it, the sweetness of the orchestral sound, the due observance of the appoggiaturas (which matches the music so happily to the natural stress of the words), the general fluency and sense of theatrical presentation. Some listeners may find, as I do, certain of the tempos excessively rapid. This new CD ver sion provides a warm, well-defined sound, in general a marginal improvement on the LPs, of course without the slightest surface interference and with just a touch more of clarity and fullness, especially in the ensembles, where the different threads are even more easily distinguished. And the trumpets and drums, on whose prominence I remarked in discussing the LPs, come through still more markedly here. As before, the woodwind balance is exemplary. Firmly recommended to any open-minded lover of Mozart. S.S.

The performances are uniformally excellent – a splendid cast, with a marvellously affecting Fiordiligi in Charlotte Margiono, Thomas Hampson as superb as ever as Don Alfonso, and a particularly beautifully sung Ferrando. Deon van der Walt - it is worth hearing. The Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera have very little to do but their reputation does precede them. The true consistent glory is in the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Not a group that does a lot of operatic work, they nonetheless have no difficulty in bringing all the polish and intense musicianship for which the orchestra is famous. Under the direction of Harnoncourt, with whom the RCO have worked frequently over the years, this recording shows that the Amsterdammers continue to deserve their reputation as one of the world’s very greatest ensembles.