Riccardo Spada

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.

Riccardo Muti had made a sensational Salzburg debut in 1971, and this Cosi fan tutte was his first Mozart opera at the festival. It was acclaimed by both the general public and international critics, who were virtually unanimous in their praise of the aesthetic quality of the production. Muti was praised for his authoritative approach to Mozart's music, while the remarkably homogeneous team of international soloists was equally applauded. The singers form an admirably cohesive ensemble and all of them are outstanding Mozart singers.

This wonderfully re-issued Orchestral Music of Giacomo Puccini - (1858-1924) offers a unique orchestral side of this genius of opera. These orchestral compositions may be divided into two areas: orchestral and operatic. Selections I & II are from Puccini's student days at the Milano Conservatory. Selections III-XI date from his early days as an operatic composer including the truly delightful Minuets - I-III and the lush and haunting Crisantemi of 1892, written for a funeral.

La donna del lago (The Lady of the Lake) is an opera by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola, based on The Lady of the Lake, a poem by Sir Walter Scott.
This opera was the first to be based on Sir Walter Scott's romantic works. By 1840, barely 20 years after La donna del lago, there were 25 Italian operas based on Scott (the most famous being Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor), and others in German, French and English). ~wikipedia.org

… The company was astute to spot that Salzburg had assembled a cast for its new production last summer that would sound well on record, singing under the baton of one of its favoured conductors. However, they might have been wary of the previous live version recorded by DG in the same theatre in 1974, the third of Beihm's sets and the least satisfying (the first was recorded by Decca in the fifties—G0S543-5, 11/67—nla), with its heavy humour, stage noises, grievous cuts and slow recitative…