Auber Fra Diavolo

May 12th 2021 marks the 150th anniversary of Daniel-François-Esprit Auber’s passing. The most important figure of the French lyrical scene along with Meyerbeer during the second third of the 19th-century, he was so popular that his name was given very soon after his death to the main road running along the newly opened Opéra Garnier. Insomniac, Auber spent his days and nights composing, writing no less than forty-seven lyrical pieces in his lifetime, mostly irresistible comic operas.

Daniel-François-Esprit Auber was one of the most famous composers of the 19th century, giving definitive form to the uniquely French genres of grand historical opera and opéra-comique. His overtures became famous all over the world for their dancing elegance and fluent melodies, a reflection both of his genial personality and of the Parisian taste and refinement of his day. This programme includes overtures and entr’actes from Auber’s most famous opera about the notorious robber-chief Fra Diavolo, and from one of his least known works, La Fiancée du Roi de Garbe. Volume 2 of this edition (8.574006) was acclaimed as ‘wonderfully articulated and lovingly brought to life’ by MusicWeb International.

The present album showcases works by Daniel-Francois Auber and Andre Ernest Modeste Gretry. New Orleans was one of the first cities in the U.S. to embrace opera on a significant level. New Orleans was well-noted for it's French Opera House in the 19th Century. This album features some key French arias that figured prominently in New Orleans in the early 19th Century. Dr. Alissa Mercurio Rowe is an active choral conductor, voice teacher, and soloist. She currently serves as Professor, Director of Choral Activities at Southeastern Louisiana University. During the summers of 2003 and 2004 she served as a member of the All-State voice faculty at Interlochen Arts Academy.

This is my favorite Sutherland collection. It has so much from so many periods. The bits from The French Opera Gala are beyond belief. It is some of the best coloratura she ever did and was recorded at a great part of her career. Both the Wagner and the Mozart discs were recorded when she was close to 60, which doesn't mean that much with Sutherland. Still it would have been great to have heard the Wagner recorded a decade earlier when she recorded the Turandot. She would have been better at Wagner than anyone around today. Not Nilsson or Flagstad's equal, but better by far than Voigt, who isn't bad. On the Mozart bits, a couple sound old, but the rest are as good a performance of Mozart as you are ever going to hear. Many people only like the young Sutherland, but I like the color and richness her voice developed with age.