Gaetano Donizetti: La Favorite

Annalisa Stroppa (Léonor de Guzman), Javier Camarena (Fernand), Florian Sempey (Alphonse XI), Evgeny Stavinsky (Balthazar), Edoardo Milletti (Don Gaspar)

Orchestra Donizetti Opera, Coro Donizetti Opera and Coro dell’Accademia Teatro Alla Scala, Valentina Carrasco, Riccardo Frizza

Javier Camarena is exemplary as Fernand, every inch the bel canto tenor in his celebrated final act aria ‘Ange si pur’. Florian Sempey’s Alphonse is a gravel-voiced villain.. Annalisa Stroppa’s... — BBC Music Magazine, February 2024, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 17th Nov 2023
Catalogue No: DYN37992
Label: Dynamic

BBC Music Magazine

February 2024

Opera Choice

Donizetti: La Favorite

Annalisa Stroppa (Léonor de Guzman), Javier Camarena (Fernand), Florian Sempey (Alphonse XI), Evgeny Stavinsky (Balthazar), Edoardo Milletti (Don Gaspar), Coro Donizetti Opera e Coro dell’Accademia Teatro alla Scala, Valentina Carrasco
Orchestra Donizetti Opera
Riccardo Frizza

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Composed for the Paris Opéra, the romantic but ultimately tragic narrative of Donizetti’s grand opera La Favorite is set amidst the Moorish invasions of Spain and the power struggles between religion and the state in the 14th century. The novice Fernand abandons his monastery having fallen in love with the noble Léonor, not knowing that she is the King’s mistress and favourite. Drawing on traditions established by Rossini and Meyerbeer, La Favorite is noted for Donizetti’s innovative use of the orchestra and for some of his most renowned and enthralling arias. This acclaimed production opened the 2022 Donizetti Opera Festival in Bergamo, and is performed with its original French libretto.

Reviews

February 2024

Javier Camarena is exemplary as Fernand, every inch the bel canto tenor in his celebrated final act aria ‘Ange si pur’. Florian Sempey’s Alphonse is a gravel-voiced villain.. Annalisa Stroppa’s Léonor is gold.

January 2024

this new Favorite is at once imperfect and significant: imperfect because there is some unevenness in singing and staging; significant because it uses a critical edition by Rebecca Harris-Warwick that gives us the score absolutely complete as it was heard at the Paris premiere in 1840.

Opera Now Spring 2024

A full and vocally solid account of Favorite... Riccardo Frizza idiomatically conducts a good cast. As Léonor, Annalisa Stroppa’s mezzo is firm and stylish if not greatly exciting.

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Gaetano Donizetti: La Favorite

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Gaetano Donizetti: La Favorite

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