Olivieri Ravelli

The Sicilian-born tenor Giuseppe Di Stefano emerged in Switzerland after fleeing there when the Nazis took over Italy. There he made his first recordings after appearing on local radio in opera broadcasts. He made his operatic debut as Des Grieux in Massenet’s Manon at Regio Emilia on 20 April 1946 after which his rise was rapid. He débuted at La Scala in the same role in March 1947 and as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera the following year with Leonard Warren in the title role. These were Di Stefano’s golden years, singing roles such as Fenton in Verdi’s Falstaff, Almaviva in Il Barbiere de Siviglia, Nemorino in L’Elisir d’amore and Alfredo in La Traviata. His early 78rpm recordings from this period reveal a voice of great lyric beauty (CD 1 trs1-5) and when the repertoire was right and when he resisted putting pressure on his open-throated forward tone. His outgoing and exuberant, if insouciant, personality did not take restriction to heart. If he could sing a note or a phrase full out he did so and even on these early tracks in the revealing sound of CD one can detect a touch of dryness, even rawness, at the top of the voice although without detracting from the attraction of his pianissimo and mezza voce singing.

Robert J Farr, MusicWeb International

Monster Italian Symphonic Rock band,formed at late 60's,when Sicilian singer Davide ''Jimmy'' Spitaleri met the members of the beat group ''I Frammenti'', led by keyboardist Enrico Olivieri.It took the new Rome-based band about two years to refine their sound and come up with a style closer to the rising force of progressive rock.The 29th May of 1972 was the date when their debut finally sees the light entitled ''E fu il seste giorno'' on Vedette Label (re-released on CD by Vinyl Magic in 2000) with lyrics dealing with the positives and negatives of the human nature and an obscure cover featuring Spitaleri in the role of Jesus Christ!

Gaetano Donizetti's La Favorite was rather laborious in the making: it started out as a re-working of L'Ange de Nisida, to which the composer added parts taken from some other operas of his. The work, which was premiered at the Opéra of Paris, is set in 14th-century Castile and tells the story of the hapless love between Fernand, who has second thoughts about taking holy orders and leaves the monastery of Santiago de Compostela, and Leonor, the mistress of king Alphonse XI. It is an intimate drama, where history and politics are but the backdrop to the protagonists' passions and torments. Fabio Luisi's conducting is both measured in balancing the orchestral sounds, and personal, varied and vigorous. The orchestra is crystal-clear, neat in its accompaniment, neither subject to the voices nor prevaricating. Veronica Simeoni (Leonor), Celso Albelo (Fernand) and Mattia Olivieri (Alphonse) give excellent vocal and acting performances.

Gaetano Donizetti's La Favorite was rather laborious in the making: it started out as a re-working of L'Ange de Nisida, to which the composer added parts taken from some other operas of his. The work, which was premiered at the Opéra of Paris, is set in 14th-century Castile and tells the story of the hapless love between Fernand, who has second thoughts about taking holy orders and leaves the monastery of Santiago de Compostela, and Leonor, the mistress of king Alphonse XI. It is an intimate drama, where history and politics are but the backdrop to the protagonists' passions and torments. Fabio Luisi's conducting is both measured in balancing the orchestral sounds, and personal, varied and vigorous.

Monster Italian Symphonic Rock band, formed at late 60's, when Sicilian singer Davide "Jimmy'" Spitaleri met the members of the beat group "I Frammenti", led by keyboardist Enrico Olivieri.It took the new Rome-based band about two years to refine their sound and come up with a style closer to the rising force of progressive rock.The 29th May of 1972 was the date when their debut finally sees the light entitled "…E Fu Il Sesto Giorno" on Vedette Label, with lyrics dealing with the positives and negatives of the human nature and an obscure cover featuring Spitaleri in the role of Jesus Christ.
"…E Fu Il Sesto Giorno" is one of the greatest examples of the growing progressive scene in Italy. Obviously Spilateri and Olivieri are the driving forces in this debut. Spilateri has a dramatic, emotional operatic color in his voice, making every sung line a pure heaven for the listener…