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Presto News - 5th April 2010Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia and Joyce DiDonato |
 The Royal Opera House’s performances of Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia last summer occupied international headlines for two reasons – firstly it was arguably one of the strongest line-ups of singers and conductor one could imagine for the opera, and secondly the leading lady (Joyce DiDonato) fell and injured her foot about a third of the way through the opening night. She dutifully soldiered on (with the help of a crutch) assuming it was just sprained. After the performance (and a standing ovation) an x-ray revealed that it wasn’t sprained, but broken, and it would be in plaster for the next six weeks! Virgin Classics were due to record the second night for release on DVD and that DVD is released today.  Joyce DiDonato But rather than withdrawing from the show, DiDonato insisted that she would carry on with the run, and so with the combination of a bright pink plaster cast and a wheelchair whizzing around the stage, one of the most remarkable productions of the opera ever unfolded. All the cast had to make dramatic changes to what they had spent the previous six weeks rehearsing in order to accommodate the wheelchair and they improvised with impressive spontaneity. An indication of just how improvised it was is apparent before the opera even started with conductor Antonio Pappano explaining to the audience what was going to happen and finishing his speech with “It is going to be a very interesting night and I for one cannot wait to see it”! As DiDonato pointed out afterwards, her predicament is actually quite fitting for her character, who is supposed to be imprisoned at home: “being trapped in the wheelchair was a quite literal way of demonstrating Rosina's frustration and huge desire to break free”. DiDonato is superb throughout, singing with ease on the high notes and with impressive technique in the faster passages. What comes across above all though is her ability to balance precision and emotion perfectly in order to produce a thoroughly convincing performance. Rest assured though this isn’t just a one-woman show: Juan Diego Flórez lives up to his reputation as the world’s top bel canto tenor with amazing runs and effortless top notes; Pietro Spagnoli delivers Figaro’s arias with a meaty tone but still plenty of panache; while the rest of the cast are equally impressive both in voice and in particular the comic characterisation of their roles. I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a DVD as much as this and if the Royal Opera House ever revive this production it will seem quite odd if Joyce DiDonato isn’t in a wheelchair! The DVD also includes bonus interviews with Joyce DiDonato, Juan Diego Flórez, Antonio Pappano, and Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier (the directors). I’ve given you a link to a video trailer which tells you a bit more and gives you a few extracts. Enjoy!
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 Rossini: Il barbiere di SivigliaChanghan Lim (Fiorello), Juan Diego Flórez (Count Almaviva), Joyce DiDonato (Rosina), Pietro Spagnoli (Figaro), Orchestra & Chorus of The Royal Opera House, Antonio Pappano |
Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
Watch a short video trailerNew Releases5th April 2010 |
This is just the pick of the recent releases. The New Releases and Future Releases pages are always available for browsing all the new and forthcoming releases. |
 Shchedrin - The Enchanted WandererSergei Aleksashkin, Kristina Kapustinskaya & Evgeny Akimov, Mariinsky Orchestra & Chorus, Valery GergievFollowing works by Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky, the Mariinsky label turns to music by one of Russia’s greatest living composers for its fourth release. Shchedrin’s ‘concert opera’ The Enchanted Wanderer was premièred in New York in 2002 and did not receive its Russian premiere until 2007. However it has rapidly entered the Mariinsky Theatre’s repertory both in St Petersburg and on tour. Based on a story by the 19th-century Russian author Nikolai Leskov, the opera is steeped in Russian folklore and beliefs. The release also features four fragments from Shchedrin’s 1955 ballet score The Little Humpbacked Horse and his 1963 Concerto for Orchestra Naughty Limericks. |
 Bach, J S: Goldberg Variations, BWV988Joanna MacGregor (piano)Joanna MacGregor gained a reputation early in her recording career as a great exponent of Bach, with influential recordings of the Art of Fugue and the French Suites. After a long wait she now returns to his music with her interpretation of one of his greatest works, the Goldberg Variations. |
 Schubert - ImpromptusAlexei Lubimov (piano)“Educated in the Soviet school of vividly coloured pianism, Alexei Lubimov brings muscularity and vision to the fortepiano. It took five years just to find the right instruments for this recording...and the result is breathtaking.” The Independent on Sunday, 14th February 2010 |
 Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E flat major 'Symphony of the Thousand'Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Schweizer Chamber Choir, WDR Rundfunkchor Köln, David ZinmanHaving completed several cycles, among them the complete Beethoven symphonies (with over 1 million copies sold internationally), the orchestral works of Richard Strauss and Schumann, in 2007 David Zinman embarked on a recording of Mahler’s complete symphonies with Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich. This is the eighth release, with each issue being released in numerical order, and the cycle will be completed later in 2010. The initial release is in SACD format, but once stocks run out this will be replaced by the standard CD version so be quick if you enjoy the extra depth which SACD offers. |
 Masaaki Suzuki plays BuxtehudeMasaaki Suzuki (playing the Klapmeyer Organ of St Nicolai Church, Altenbruch)Masaaki Suzuki here performs a varied selection of Buxtehude’s organ works ranging from brief chorale preludes to the magnificent Te Deum Laudamus and the celebrated Ciaccona in E minor. Although he is most widely known for his on-going, highly praised series of Bach’s cantatas on BIS, Masaaki Suzuki in fact began his professional career as a church organist at the age of twelve, later studying the instrument both in Tokyo and in Amsterdam. |
 Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di PoppeaEmanuela Galli (Poppea), Roberta Mameli (Nerone), Josè Maria Lo Monaco (Ottone), Xenia Meijer (Ottavia), Ian Honeyman (Arnalta) & Raffaele Costantini (Seneca), La Venexiana, Claudio Cavina (direction)This recording from La Venexiana unchains those passions stirred originally with the arrival of one of the most dazzling masterworks of Baroque musical theatre: Il Nerone, ossia L’incoronazione di Poppea. For a long time attributed only to the exceptional talents of Claudio Monteverdi, today this opera is considered additionally to be the result of the combined contributions of various composers over a period of time, among them being Francesco Cavalli, Benedetto Ferrari and Francesco Sacrati. Following directly after a recent La Venexiana staged production, Glossa and the ensemble of Claudio Cavina present here a highly-charged reading of the art of Monteverdi and his heritage, as transmitted by him and through composers after him – an art which created, enlivened and ultimately completely changed the musical world of their times. |
 Rachmaninov: AlekoSergey Murzaev (Aleko), Evgeny Akimov (Young Gypsy), Gennady Bezzubenkov (Old Man), Svetla Vassileva (Zemfira), BBC Philharmonic & Coro del Teatro Regio di Torino, Gianandrea NosedaOpera is one of the great musical passions of Gianandrea Noseda, who has explored it to stunning effect with the BBC Philharmonic. In September 2009 he became Music Director at Teatro Regio in Turin, one of Europe’s leading opera houses. Here he presents Aleko, recorded following a highly acclaimed performance at the Stresa Festival with the Coro del Teatro Regio di Torino and the BBC Philharmonic. The ‘all-Russian’ cast of soloists are Sergey Murzaev (soloist with the Bolshoy Theatre), Evgeny Akimov and Nadezhda Vasilieva (both soloists with the Mariinsky Theatre Company), Gennady Bezzubenkov and the world-renowned soprano Svetla Vassileva. |
 Victoria - Lamentations of JeremiahThe Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips (director)Victoria’s nine Lamentations contain some of his most intense, mystical and moving music and rank alongside the Requiem as one of his greatest achievements. This is The Tallis Scholars’ 50th album for Gimell and marks the 30th Anniversary of the first Gimell recording sessions in March 1980. |
 BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewSaturday 3rd April 2010 |
Building a Library - Pergolesi: Stabat Mater |
 First Choice(coupled with Pergolesi: Salve Regina in A minor & Porpora: Salve Regina)Maria Grazia Schiavo (soprano), Stephanie d'Oustrac (mezzo soprano), La Cappella de' Turchini, Antonio Florio |
Disc of the Week |
 Pergolesi: Saint Emidius MassVeronica Cangemi, (soprano), Sara Mingardo (contralto), Choir of Swiss Radio and TV, Orchestra Mozart, Claudio Abbado (conductor) |
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