Jennifer Larmore

Semiramide is Rossini's last opera seria. The title role was written for his wife, Isabella Colbran. The extremely florid vocal style is often a vehicle for spectacular vocal display rather than an intrinsic part of the score. The ensemble-scenes (particularly the duos between Arsace and Semiramide) and choruses are also of a high order, as is the orchestral writing, which makes full use of a large pit. The work starts with a well-known overture, and throughout it calls for outstanding singers in the leading soprano and contralto roles. Semiramide is occasionally performed but is not part of the standard operatic repertoire.

In 1813, a month before his 21st birthday and three years before his Barber of Seville, Rossini had his one-act farsa Il Signor Bruschino premiered at the Teatro San Moisè in Venice. It was not well received, although its overture, with the second violins tapping their music-stands with their bows, has become popular. The cast is strong, with Samuel Ramey providing the most potent performance as the duped guardian Gaudenzio. Claudio Desderi weaves through the absurd plot as the ridiculous figure of the elder Bruschino with a great deal of character, although the sound is somewhat threadbare at times. Frank Lopardo as the lovelorn Florville, pretending to be the young Bruschino, has a splendid, mellifluous tenor.

This luxurious set containing 39 CDs, 3 DVDs, 1 CD-Rom and four detailed booklets will tell you the full story of Baroque opera in Italy, France, England, and Germany. No fewer than 17 complete operas (including two on DVD) and two supplementary CDs (the dawn of opera, Overtures for the Hamburg Opera) provide the most comprehensive overview of the genre ever attempted! The finest performers are assembled here under the direction of René Jacobs and William Christie to offer you 47 hours of music. An opportunity to discover or to hear again the masterpieces of Baroque opera, some of which have been unavailable on CD for many years.

Gathered here, the three discs with Felix Mendelssohn’s symphonies recorded in 2007 and 2008 by Andrew Litton and his Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra were warmly received by the reviewers when they were first released.

Diving into Vivaldi's Orlando furioso with Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Matheus Ensemble, and a shockingly good cast is enough to make even the most jaded listener smile. It is fresh, unrelentingly impressive, and entertaining to a fault. The opera is over-plotted: the first paragraph of the synopsis is enough to confuse anyone not taking notes. And listening to the entire thing would amount to more flowery, athletic vocalism than most can stand in one sitting. But those with the remotest interest in Vivaldi opera, or opera at all, will be hard pressed not to marvel at the quality of what's recorded here. Spinosi is a brilliant Vivaldian who pulls sweet-toned lyricism and down-and-dirty sawing from his Matheus Ensemble, making the most of the composer's rich orchestration. And the cast pulls one rabbit after another out of its collective hat, tackling Vivaldi's consummately difficult arias with élan.

The performance here of Samson is definitive. It is lively, colourful and highly dramatic. There is no comparison with the tedious performance by the Sixteen on Coro. The performance of the Messiah with limited modern instrumental forces of the English Chamber Orchestra and Chorus with very good soloists doesn't sacrifice grandeur nor does it go to the other extreme of over-blown pomp. It is a very good performamce on modern instruments under the direction of the Baroque music specialist conductor Raymond Leppard.

Maybe you’ve come across this plot before: a damsel-in-distress is saved by a knight in shining armour. This is the standard ‘fairy tale’ we all learned as children. Yet the surprising thing about Adelaide di Borgogna is that the story is true. Oh yes: in an important but rarely remembered piece of Italian history, Otto II, emperor of Germany, came to the rescue of Adelaide, widow of Lotario, king of Italy. And what did Rossini do with this? He covered it, as always, with the most beautiful music, writing arias, duets, quartets and finales to melt your hearts. This is virtually guaranteed to happen when Jennifer Larmore and Majella Cullagh bring their amazing voices together in one of those moments that recording producers pray for. But the joys in this recording are not confined to the contributions of those talented ladies. Bruce Ford, once again the bad guy, is at his virile best with his father, Mirco Palazzi, at one elbow and Rebecca Bottone, as his mother, at the other. This trio of malcontents doesn’t have much chance against Cullagh, who has a formidable aria just before the end of the evening. But Larmore, as Ottone, puts the seal of triumph on the whole evening with a rondo finale of outstanding verve and panache.

This remarkable romantic melodrama was all but forgotten after it was cold-shouldered by its original Venetian audience in 1835. This completely new performing edition reveals it as a vocal showcase of huge variety. Bruce Ford takes the title role, giving a bravura performance as the Burgundian duke caught in tragic conflict between love and duty. Jennifer Larmore and Elizabeth Futral are the rival leading ladies, whose final confrontation is a duet of exceptional virtuosity.