Rossini: L'Italiana in Algeri - Horne, Montarsolo, Dara, Alva; Abbado. Milano, 1975
$16.95
Description:
If there were a cookbook for Italian Opera, the recipe for "L'Italiana in Algeri" would read "Two parts Claudio Abbado, One part Marilyn Horne, add a dash of the La Scala orchestra and mix thoroughly." This is a lighter-than-air, delectable treatment of a very funny opera, and the entire company rises to the challenge. Horne is positively thrilling in what may have been her best role, the sheer control and flexibility of her voice a joy and her comic timing a thing of beauty. She is supported by the usual La Scala suspects: an ardent (if occasionally straining) Luigi Alva and the always engaging mugging contest that occurred whenever Paolo Montarsolo and Enzo Dara shared the stage. Montarsolo has the better part this time around, as the buffoonish Bey Mustafà, and if he cannot quite handle the florid coloratura he makes up for it in sheer will of characterization. Dara, as the hapless Taddeo, gets as much laughs as one would expect out of a very rich role. The sound is slightly distend but otherwise excellent.
OD 11135-2
Listen to a Sample:
Terrific Performance of a Delightful Opera!
When Abbado first began his traversal of the Rossini operas his approach was very austere, short of humor, and lacking vocal brilliance, mostly because he wouldn't allow his singers to ornament. By 1975 though Horne and other singers began to change his mind and this performance shows the results. Everyone is having a good time and the audience is dazzled by Horne's vocal pyrotechnics. And she really is stunning. The voice is more even here than it would be in a few years, the coloratura delivered with panache and style. She dominates the performance as she should and provokes great applause from the other side of footlights. Alva had begun to aspirate some of his coloratura by this time with the result that Lindoro's highly ornamented music is cleaner and more fluent. Montarsolo huffs and puffs his way through his passage work in a way that wouldn't be acceptable today, yet he is delightful as the arrogant and foolish Mustafa. Dara is a very funny Taddeo, working extremely well with Horne, especially in their duet in Act One. What a luxury to have Margherita Guglielmi on Elvira's top line in the Act One finale and Laura Zannini as her buddy Zulma. A young Alberto Rinaldi is heard as Haly (he gets his often cut aria in Act Two). The voices are slightly recessed, but clear. There are those irritating pauses between tracks on disc one, but not on disc two. Nevertheless this is a performance to treasure!
Pour Abbado
Très bon son, orchestre de la Scala et Claudio Abbado au pupitre sont les atouts de cet enregistrement. Marylin Horne en 1975 est remarquable. Bonne soirée lyrique pour un ouvrage non essentiel
Les grandes années de la Rossini Renaissance
Abbado toujours exemplaire dans Rossini, Horne dans un de ses meilleurs rôles à une époque où elle ne charge pas encore, Dara une référence . Montarsolo moins formidablement équipé que d'autres Mustafa connait son Rossini sur le bout des doigts, Alva peut-être un peu sur la fin et un peu limité reste un interprète impeccable .
