Excellent performance

Great! Enjoyed!

I knew Scotto as a very sensitive singer and fine musician in the 70' and 80', and also a young, "not-yet completely finished" voice, but vibrant and incredibly talented in the 50', but I didn't know how beautiful, rich, firm, controlled, intense Scotto's voice was in the 60', one of the most beautiful I've heard.

This is a wonderful opera with no commercial recordings that I can find. (At least none at a reasonable price.) If you love great bel canto singing, you'll love this. This particular recording is a gem. It's available as a pseudo-commercial recording on several different labels, but the recording that's available here is essentially identical to all of them, except for the tracking. I've fallen in love with "Ah non Partir", which begins the second act. Unfortunately Scotto is hard to hear over the orchestra. I don't know whether the fault is in her singing or in the recording. (I assume the latter.) Nevertheless, I strongly recommend this recording. Buy it! You'll love it!

Audiences loved La Straniera when they first heard it, and in modern times it has been revived attracting some notable sopranos to Alaida its principle role , as well it might. The music is wonderful. An extended duet for Alaida and Auturo her lover and a marvellous trio in the first act are stand out highlights.Renata Scotto is Alaida, and brings to the role her signature attention to words and ability to creat moving opera women with her effecting almost internal soft singing and the potent cutting edge to the voice when needed. Her lover Auturo is in a long line of Romantic heroes who respond violently and often hysterically to love; Wether being a more refined example. Our Auturo is essentially a thug. However he is admirably sung by Renato Cioni.Domenica Trimarchi offers floods of tone as Alaida's brother and Elena Zilio brings her warm secure mezzo to the role of the lady spurned. ( She also appears on a later recording with Souliotis)The sound is very good. Unfortunately tracks are not indicated or named and there are only eight of them in the entire opera which makes finding particular moments a little tedious.