Deutsche Gramophon
CD 00289 477 502-0
2 Discs
Full-price

 

Current Reviews

by Adriel Bettelheim

Sergei Prokofiev
Piano Concerto No. 1-3

Martha Argerich, piano
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor



Samuel Barber
Orchestral Works and Concertos
Leonard Slatkin, Charles Munch



Rimsky-Korsakov
Evgeny Svetlanov


Beethoven
Symphony No.9
Piano Transcription by Franz Liszt
Konstantin Scherbakov, Piano



Kronos Caravan

Gioacchino Rossini recycled a lot of music during his years in Paris.  Other than the sprawling Guillaume Tell, the operas he wrote in the 1820s were mostly adaptations of earlier stage works.  About half of his 1828 Le Comte Ory consists of music from Il viaggio a Reims, which may account for the fact that it is seldom performed.  Regardless of its pedigree, the work -- about a wily Don Juan-like character trying to charm a castle full of women during The Crusades -- is wry, ebullient and, at times, surprisingly sensual.  It also contains one of Rossini’s best ensembles -- an Act 2 trio in which an attempted seduction goes awry when the Count mistakenly woos his page. 

This Deutsche Grammophon live recording from the 2003 Rossini festival in Pesaro, Italy is largely a showcase for Juan Diego Florez, the bel canto tenor of the moment, who doesn’t disappoint in the long and demanding title role.  From his devilish opening aria “Que les destins prosperes accueillent priers!” Florez sparkles, dashing off high C’s with brio while maintaining a slightly detached, almost feline mien.

Ory is neither as dark or complicated a character as Don Giovanni, but there are clever bits that Florez mines to great effect, such as the Act 1 scene in which the libertine, disguised as a hermit, offers advice to the lovelorn ladies of Touraine, whose husbands are off on a crusade.  Florez’ vocal agility may be more of a critical element in this opera than in a work such as Il Barbiere di Siviglia because of the abrupt register shifts Rossini wrote to give the Count a certain cocky, edginess.  Florez pulls it all off without ever sounding labored.

Ory and his cohorts gain entry into the castle by disguising themselves as nuns, after which the plot turns vaudevillian.  Bruno Pratico, as Ory’s companion Raimbaud, stands out in “Dans ce lieu solitaire,” a detailed, militaristic accounting of the contents of the castle’s wine cellar, which he likens to countries waiting to be conquered.  There is also some ribald material here that, one suspects, may have given some Parisians pause.  Marie-Ange Todorovitch gets a lot out of the role of Isolier, a page who bears some resemblance to Mozart’s Cherubino and who gets in the way of Ory’s attempted courtship of the chaste Countess Adele by disguising herself as the countess, then serenading her.

As Adele, soprano Stefania Bonfadelli has a dark and appealing tone, but suffers from pitch problems and some smudged coloratura passages.  Alastair Miles, as Ory’s tutor, does very well with his showpiece aria “Veiller sans cesse,” lamenting the futile task of lecturing the Count on how dangerous passion can be.   Jesus Lopez-Cobos leads the forces of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and Prague Chamber Choir in a brisk, nicely balanced performance that never lags.  Though this work may never gain a place in the standard repertory, it provides an effective vehicle for a top-notch tenor and demonstrates how well Rossini could adapt his own material for new purposes.