Patrizia Ciofi (Alaida - 'The stranger'), Mark Stone (Il barone di Valdeburgo), Darío Schmunck (Arturo), Enkelejda Shokas (Isoletta), Graeme Broadbent (Il Priore), Roland Wood (Il signore di Montolino) and Aled Hall (Osburgo)
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Three of Bellini’s operas – La sonnambula and Norma (both 1831), and his last work, I puritani (1835) – remain classics of the bel canto repertoire, yet the slightly earlier La straniera (The Stranger) remains curiously neglected. In fact, this highly romantic melodrama, first staged at La Scala in1829, was initially a success and only fell from grace when the bel canto style itself became unfashionable. Its plot centres on the identity of the mysterious woman who roams, heavily veiled, through the landscape of Brittany. Ignorant peasants suppose her to be a witch, little suspecting that she is the castoff wife of the King of France. But she has attracted the attention of the local Count, Arturo, who is supposed to be engaged to Isoletta, and who finds himself jealous of her visitor, Valdeburgo. The result is confusion, violence and a tragic ending. The score points forward to Bellini’s greatest works and on its own account includes superb dramatic writing and those characteristic ‘long, long melodies of which he alone had the secret’, as Verdi put it. Opera Rara’s cast boasts singers with the vocal skills and dramatic insight to enliven this neglected masterpiece of romantic opera, which has been lost to Bellini fans for far too long.
The 2CD set comes with a lavishly illustrated book including a complete libretto with an English translation. Article and synopsis by Benjamin Walton – Lecturer of Music, Jesus College, Cambridge.
Vincenzo Bellini: La straniera
Act I: Introduction: Sinfonia - Scene 1: Voga, voga, il vento tace (Chorus of Men, Women)
Act I Scene 2: Recitative: Trista, pensosa, mentre a te d'intorno (Valdeburgo, Isoletta)
Act I Scene 2: Duet: Io la vidi (Valdeburgo, Isoletta) - Scene 3: La Straniera! (Chorus, Isoletta, Valdeburgo) - Scene 4: Qual rumor? (Montolino, Isoletta, Chorus, Osburgo, Valdeburgo)
Act I Scene 5: Recitative: Osburgo? … Io non divido (Montolino, Osburgo)
Act I Scene 6: Scene and Romanza: E sgombro il loco … (Arturo, A Voice, Alaide)
Act I Scene 7: Scene and Duet: Alaide! (Arturo, Alaide)
Act I Scene 8: Campo ai veltri (Osburgo, Chorus)
Act I Scene 9: Ti trovo alfin (Valdeburgo, Arturo) - Scene 10: Eccola! (Arturo, Alaide, Valdeburgo)
Act I Scene 11: Che mai penso? (Arturo, Osburgo, Chorus)
Act I Scene 12: Trio: Ah! non partir: gia stende (Alaide, Valdeburgo, Arturo)
Act I Scene 13: Trio: Leopoldo! (Arturo, Valdeburgo) - Scene 14: Qual rumor! (Alaide, Arturo, Distant Voices, Voices) - Scene 15: La Straniera! (Chorus, Alaide, Osburgo)
Act II Scenes 1-4: Scene and Aria: Udimmo. Il tuo racconto (Prior, Osburgo, Chorus, Alaide, Arturo, Valdeburgo, A General Cry)
Act II Scene 5: Scene: Tu che osasti mentir in faccia a questo (Prior, Osburgo) - Scene 6: Voi che presenti foste (Prior)
Act II Scene 7: Scene: A tempo io giungo … (Arturo, Valdeburgo)
Act II Scene 8: Scene: Ne alcum ritorna? … Oh cruda (Isoletta) - Scene 9: Esulta: eil riede! (Chorus, Isoletta)
Act II Scene 10: E dolce la vergine (Ladies, Knights) - Scene 11: Dolce di un padre al cor suona (Montolino, Isoletta, Arturo)
Act II Scene 11: Scene and Quartet: Valdeburgo! (Arturo, Valdeburgo, Isoletta) - Scene 12: Gia dell'altare (Prior, Montolino, Arturo) - Scene 13: Che far vuoi tu (Valdeburgo, Arturo, Isoletta, Alaide)
Act II Scene 14: Scene: Sono all'ara … (Alaide) - Scene 15: Vaneggia … (Chorus, Arturo, Alaide) - Finale: Che veggio? (Prio, Arturo, Alaide, Valdeburgo, Chorus)
November 2008
“…this… is the first studio recording of the work, and Opera Rara has done it proud. David Parry leads the LPO in a gripping account of a tricky piece. Patrizia Ciofi is meltingly pathetic and then imperious when necessary. Dario Schmunck makes a virile and ardent Arturo, and in the crucial role of Valdeburgo... Mark Stone is suitably warrior-like. The contribution of the Geoffrey Mitchell Choir are splendid. A must for lover of the bel canto repertory.”
February 2009
****
“Opera Rara has fielded what is probably as good an ensemble of young singers as you are likely to be able to gather together for this early work; and David Parry coaxes some stylish playing from the London Philharmonic Orchestra…”
2010
“ La straniera was Bellini's fourth opera, first performed at La Scala in February 1829. During the composer's lifetime, and for a few years after his death in 1835, it enjoyed considerable international success, though contemporary reviewers were sometimes hostile, criticising its lack of set-piece arias and complaining of the 'continual interruptions' to the musical line. It is this that strikes the modern listener as one of the most interesting aspects of the score. Bellini was experimenting with something, if not exactly through-composed, then sacrificing vocal fireworks for the sake of the dramatic structure. The libretto concerns the woes of the exiled Queen of France, Agnese, who is obliged to live incognito in Brittany as Alaide – 'The Stranger'. She spends the whole opera refusing to tell anyone, including her beloved Arturo, who she really is. When he at last finds out – at his wedding to another woman – he stabs himself to death at the Queen's feet. It is a blood-andthunder piece of gothic melodrama, with the inevitable courtroom scene in which the heroine is wrongly accused. Renata Scotto, Montserrat Caballé and Elena Souliotis have sung the work but this set is the first studio recording of the work, and Opera Rara has done it proud. David Parry leads the LPO in a gripping account of a tricky piece. Patrizia Ciofi is meltingly pathetic and then imperious when necessary. Dario Schmunck makes a virile and ardent Arturo, and in the crucial role of Valdeburgo (also in disguise, he is Agnese's brother), Mark Stone is suitably warrior- like. In the rather ungrateful role of the 'other woman', Enkelejda Shkosa gets quite a jolly little rondo towards the end of Act 2. Among the other highlights are a catchy hunters' chorus and the trio in which the two men fight for the stranger's affection. The scene in Act 1, when they both end up in the lake apparently drowning, is a rousing finale. The contributions of the Geoffrey Mitchell Choir are splendid. A must for lovers of the bel canto repertory.”
10th October 2008
***
“Bellini's decision to replace his usual flexible coloratura with something more altogether angular leads, however, to a score that his contemporaries considered radical...Made in tandem with Opera Rara's revival last November, the recording makes a strong case for the work”
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Act I: Introduction: Sinfonia - Scene 1: Voga, voga, il vento tace (Chorus of Men, Women)
