Maurizio Pollini Rossini: La Donna Del Lago (1992)

Maurizio Pollini - Rossini: La donna del lago (1992)  Music

Posted by tirexiss at May 6, 2023
Maurizio Pollini - Rossini: La donna del lago (1992)

Maurizio Pollini - Rossini: La donna del lago (1992)
EAC | FLAC (image+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 02:17:36 | 541 MB
Genre: Classical, Opera | Label: CBS Records | Catalog: 39311

This recording is clear, sharp and well-executed. The last two numbers with Katia Ricciarelli are stunning. She has a clear and lush voice with a dark, luminous quality that is finer than any clarinet. I could not get enough of her singing "Tanti affeti" at the end of the opera. What an incredible soprano. Certainly Joyce DiDonato is the current reigning Rossini mezzo but she (Ms. DiDonato) sings this at a slower tempo, with more ornamentation, perhaps to display her gifts better, though I think with less overall emotional impact.
Riccardo Muti, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, June Anderson, Rockwell Blake - Gioacchino Rossini: La donna del lago (2009)

Riccardo Muti, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, June Anderson, Rockwell Blake - Gioacchino Rossini: La donna del lago (2009)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 681 Mb | Total time: 77:30+78:55 | Scans included
Classical | Label: DECCA | # 478 0326 | Recorded: 1992

Rossini's La donna del lago ("The Lady of the Lake") is a lush, positively verdant dramatic opera, first performed in 1819, that deserves to be better known. Derived from Sir Walter Scott's famous poem, the story concerns love both unrequited and requited amid rebellious Scottish clans, as the titular lady is wooed by two rivals while her heart is pledged to another. Given Rossini's luxuriant orchestration and emphasis on romance, one can't help feeling that the composer had the hills of Tuscany more in mind than the rugged Scottish highlands. A succession of highly charged scenas contrast with languid melodies, such as Ellen's delightful introductory "Oh mattutini albori", making this a less bloodily melodramatic companion-piece to Donizetti's Scott-inspired Lucia di Lammermoor.