Fernando Gentile

Eve Queler has her shortcomings as a conductor. But a conductor's main task is to make a performance happen, to bring all the elements together, and Ms. Queler has been doing this with scrappy determination for 30 years in her role as music director of the Opera Orchestra of New York. Her invaluable mission has been to present concert performances of little-known or problematic operas with the best casts available.

There is only one studio recording available of Donizetti's La Favorita (Italian version, not the original French language La Favorite) This is a bravura role for Luciano Pavarotti who's voice is certainly at its best here singing the role of Fernando, repertoire that could have been written just for him. The high C's and C#'s are exquisite here. He truly seems to know what he is singing about for this recording and his performance comes accross as very believable because of it. Fiorenza Cossotto is especially moving in her role as the "the favorite," Leonora. I found it unfortunate that she was not in better voice for the first act of this recording. Very disturbing was the love duet with Pavarotti.

For me, this recording represents the absolute epitome of bel canto singing, with Pavarotti spinning endless golden tone as Fernand and Fiorenza Cossotto showcasing that indomitable chest-voice as Leonora.

This classic set of recordings by Narciso Yepes was originally released as a box in 1992 and is now reissued in an economical box set. Supported by an evocative cover photo from of the Lion's Court in the Alhambra in Granada, this is a great anthology of guitar solo works and guitar concertos stretching from the 16th to 20th centuries.

The visible embellishment of this noble instrument was enriched still more by the Spanish composers, who following the traces of his contemporaries. In the case of Fernando Sor, Haydn was his musical guide, where as Aguado, could establish himself with major vehemence, due its particular style, based in the notable right-hand articulation, eschewed the classical patterns, being able to print his own music a flamboyant and refined character.