Mustafa Edik

Rossini liked to write operas about women (specifically mezzo-sopranos) who were smarter than the men around them, such as Rosina in "The Barber of Seville" and Angelina in "La Cenerentola." This charming, melodious bit of operatic fluff, composed before either of those two better-known operas, is dedicated to the proposition that an Italian woman is a match for any man or group of men. The thesis is tested in an extreme situation; Isabella (Larmore) is shipwrecked on the coast of a place where shipwrecked Europeans were routinely enslaved and, if they were women, consigned to a harem.

This is the best orchestration of this opera: The best brilliant one, the most exciting recording. But is so fast in moments when the singers should have a little freedom to demonstrate their virtuosism. The Scimone, with Ramey and Horne, recording do that, and the little video of Weikert, with Doris Soffel. The recitatives are cold, Baltsa only shows her power in the Rondo "Pensa alla Patria", Dara is not too afraid in his aria "Ho un gran pesso", etc. Only Lopardo and Raimondi are fenomenal, being Raimondi the best Mustafà in the aria "Gia d'insolito" i ever heard. But, don't be wrong, if it doesn't have virtuosism, it is the best recording (i'm not say that, everybody does it).

A studio recording made in association with staged performances in Vienna in 1989 features the very beefy Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Abbado with Agnes Baltsa’s tangy mezzo giving a very characterful portrayal as Isabella. …[E]xpert Rossinians Corbelli and Enzo Dara sing Haly and Taddeo and are joined by a very characterful Ruggero Raimondi as Mustafa. Despite the size of the band, the performance goes along with zip with the finale of act one particularly invigorating.

After a long war, Turkish emperor Soliman and Persian sophi Tamasse decide to seal the peace between their two countries and, to this end, exchange hostages. The preliminary treaty stipulates that, in order to make this alliance solid, Tamasse will wed Zanaida, Soliman s daughter. Meanwhile, the sophi falls in love with Osira, a Persian hostage sent by the emperor. This is where the action of this opera begins, the plot skillfully mixing Tamasse s infidelity, Zanaida s magnanimity, and Osira s ambition. It is a particularly appealing opera by the fourth and last of Johann Sebastian s sons, whose life was atypical for a Bach, for he carried out his career not in Germany but in Italy and England.

Recordings of Rossini’s first full-length comic opera are coming thick and fast at present. Already this year Sony has re-issued, in the Opera House series, their 1979 recording featuring Lucia Valentini-Terrani. There is also a new live recording for review from Naxos. Recorded at Bad Wildbad in 2008 it features the new tenor find Lawrence Brownlee, making waves in Rossini at New York’s Metropolitan, alongside the admired Italian diva Marianna Pizzolato in the title role; Rossini scholar and conductor Alberto Zedda is on the rostrum.
Robert J Farr