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Presto News - 6th December 2010Vivaldi Operas - Ottone in Villa and Ercole |
 Though Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi is probably best known these days by his Violin Concertos, he was also a very significant opera composer. In a letter written by Vivaldi to his patron Marchese Bentivoglio he at one point claimed to have written 94 operas and, although this may well have been an exaggeration, there is certainly evidence for over 50. Of these only 16 have survived complete, but there are many others with enough substantial fragments still existing for someone with an intimate knowledge of Vivaldi’s style to reconstruct a very satisfactory performing edition. However, to date recordings of the operas remain something of a rarity, so it is something to celebrate that I’ve got two new recordings to tell you about this week.  Giovanni Antonini The first is the latest release in Naïve’s ongoing Vivaldi Edition and is of what is thought to be the composer’s first opera - Ottone in Villa. Composed and premiered in 1713 Vivaldi was by then 35 years old and already well known as Italy’s foremost violinist and composer of concertos. This is one of the sixteen surviving complete operas and for a composer’s first opera it is pretty impressive. True, musically it isn’t that interesting – proceeding with alternating secco recitatives and da capo arias, but that was the prevailing style of the time and some of the arias are really exciting. There is also no shortage of beautiful melodies, which the singers in this new recording ornament very elegantly indeed. In fact all the singers are good but I found the flawless technique and expressive range of Russian soprano Julia Lezhneva particularly outstanding. The recording also features the leading Baroque ensemble Il Giardino Armonico who are stylistically spot on and the performance is well paced by their music director Giovanni Antonini. It isn’t the first recording of this opera but must rank amongst the very best.  Fabio Biondi The other new Vivaldi Opera recording is really very exciting indeed – Ercole sul Termodonte – reconstructed from about 30 surviving arias and duets by conductor and musicologist Fabio Biondi. It dates from 1723 and a good libretto allows plots and sub-plots to develop which Vivaldi uses brilliantly to achieve great variety in the music. This was quite new in opera at the time and this variety in styles ranges from comic to amorous and heroic to desperate, and makes the opera much more exciting to listen to. But to pull this off successfully you do of course need an outstanding cast of singers capable of expressing these emotions, and this recording must have pretty close to the dream team – led by Rolando Villazón and Joyce DiDonato, but also featuring Diana Damrau, Vivica Genaux, Philippe Jaroussky, Patrizia Ciofi, Romina Basso and Topi Lehtipuu. Now, as regular readers will know I’m always honest and say exactly what I think. Well, despite listening to this a lot of times I’m still not one hundred percent convinced with the choice of Rolando Villazón for the lead role. He had an operation on his vocal cords last year and while clearly not quite back to his best yet, it is his stylistic approach being slightly at odds with the rest of the cast and a few moments of imperfect intonation that bother me more. That said though it is hard not to be bowled over by the way he throws himself into this role so completely and of course his natural bravura is entirely appropriate for the role of Ercole that he plays. There is a short video on the website so you can make your own mind up, and you’ll also hear in the video that everyone else is absolutely amazing! I’ve mentioned the term dream-team already, but I can’t emphasise enough quite how outstanding this cast is. They are superbly supported by Europa Galante under Biondi, who features as conductor and first violin (occasionally also grabbing the viola d’amore). His careful choice of tempi combined with his faultless balance and stylistic playing and direction make this a hugely satisfying performance with so much to enjoy within.
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 Vivaldi: Ottone in VillaSonia Prina (Ottone), Julia Lezhneva (Caio Silio), Veronica Cangemi (Cleonilla), Roberta Invernizzi (Tullia) & Topi Lehtipuu (Decio), Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini (director) |
 Vivaldi: Ercole sul TermodonteRolando Villazón (Ercole), Patrizia Ciofi (Orizia), Diana Damrau (Martesia), Joyce DiDonato (Ippolita), Vivica Genaux (Antiope), Topi Lehtipuu (Telemone), Philippe Jaroussky (Alceste), Romina Basso (Teseo), Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi |
Chris O'Reilly - chris@prestoclassical.co.uk |
Watch - short video trailer available for this itemNew Releases6th December 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. |
 Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 11Mariinsky Orchestra & Chorus, Valery GergievThe second release in Valery Gergiev’s Shostakovich Symphony cycle features Symphonies Nos 2 & 11. As with the first release in the series, which featured Symphonies Nos 1 & 15, nominated for two Grammy Awards, Gergiev conducts works from opposite ends of Shostakovich’s career. The Second and Eleventh symphonies are both inspired by Russian revolutions. |
 Mahler: Symphony No. 9 in D majorTonhalle Orchestra Zurich, David ZinmanHaving completed several cycles, among them the complete Beethoven symphonies (with over 1 million copies sold internationally) and the orchestral works of Richard Strauss and Schumann, in 2007 David Zinman embarked on this recording of Mahler’s complete symphonies with Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich. The final two volumes (of Symphonies 9 and 10) are released this month. |
 Mahler: Symphony No. 10 in F sharp majorTonhalle Orchestra Zurich, David ZinmanThe New York born David Zinman has recorded these works twice before, and feels that the time he has spent with them has allowed his understanding of them to broaden: “Mahler has been with me for over 40 years. I have much more insight into his work now than I used to have. You should not only follow your ego in interpreting him. It’s about discovering what exactly is written in the score. We all grow in our knowledge, as a human being, and I am sure I will still discover new things until my death.” |
 Glinka: Orchestral WorksMusica Viva Moscow, Alexander RudinThe ‘Father of Russian music’ as the Russian history books refer to Glinka, but what do we generally hear from Mikhaïl Glinka, apart from the echoes of Russlan and Ludmilla or from A Life for the Tsar? This CD includes the extraordinary dance interludes brought together by Peter Klimov. The Moscow Chamber Orchestra, who revealed Alyabiev (FUG539) offers a outstanding selection on this album. Besides well known works like The Kamarinskaïa or Nocnhoj smotr, popularised by Chaliapin, and predating Wolf and Mahler by 50 years, most of this disc’s repertoire is relatively unknown and unrecorded. |
 Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 6Budapest Festival Orchestra, Ivan Fischer'Two fundamentally different symphonies: both works explore feelings from an entirely different point of view. The Fourth is about human feelings and moods: obsession, love (what a melody in the second movement!), happiness, fun, wit, (Beethoven's most humorous finale!). The Sixth is about feelings that nature awakens in us: calmness, meditation, thankfulness. It has been an especially creative process to work on these masterpieces. We discovered that the Fourth Symphony sounds better with natural horns and trumpets. In the Pastorale we used a different seating arrangement, with the winds scattered among the strings, so that each soloist was surrounded by musicians playing the flow of Beethoven's nature music. After the storm, when we hear the first tentative call of the clarinet, answered by the horn from a different mountain, as it were, we found it appropriate to use a solo violin, which is gradually joined by the whole orchestra.' - Iván Fischer |
 Reger: Choral MusicConsortium, Andrew-John SmithAlthough Reger’s music has partly recovered from its deeply unfashionable reputation, much of this prolific composer’s work still remains underperformed. This disc offers a chance to redress the balance, both by bringing to light an aspect of Reger’s output that has been relatively neglected, and by demonstrating that the important influences on him were not just musical but literary. |
 Mahler: Symphony No. 2 in C minor 'Resurrection'Ricarda Merbeth (soprano) & Bernarda Fink (mezzo soprano), Netherlands Radio Choir & Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mariss JansonsThe Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is steadfastly progressing with its Mahler cycle under the direction of its chief conductor Mariss Jansons. Following its releases of the First, Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, the orchestra now turns its attention to the Second and Third Symphonies. The Second Symphony is released today, the Third is scheduled to follow in Spring 2011. |
 Marin Marais: Pieces for Viol from the Five BooksJordi SavallBetween 1975 and 1983, Jordi Savall recorded five albums including the most beautiful pieces from each of the five ‘Books of Pieces for the Viol’ composed by Marin Marais between 1686 and 1725. A silence of nearly 250 years came to an end. A repertoire - and even better, an instrument - returned from oblivion. 35 years after the beginning of this history-making enterprise, the five Astree albums are offered in a remastered sound that fully rewards the genius of Marin Marais and Jordi Savall. Luxuriously documented - as always with Alia Vox - this anthology is a must-have for any Baroque music lover. |
 BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewSaturday 4th December 2010 |
Critics' Choice - Discs of the Year |
In the absence of the usual Building a Library this week, Andrew McGregor was joined by Rob Cowan, Hilary Finch and Jeremy Summerly to discuss some favourite releases of 2010. You can view all their chosen discs here. |
Disc of the Week |
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 6Budapest Festival Orchestra, Ivan Fischer |
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