World Premiere recording of the new Critical Edition
Krassimira Stoyanova (Maria di Rohan), José Bros (Riccardo), Christopher Purves (Enrico), Brindley Sherratt, Loïc Félix (Armando di Gondì), Graeme Broadbent (Il Visconte di Suze), Christopher Turner (Aubry), Riccardo Simonetti (Un Familiare di Chevreuse); Enkelejda Shkosa (mezzo - appendix arias)
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According to the late Donizetti expert William Ashbrook, Maria di Rohan (1843) is the composer‘s ‘tautest, most melodramatic opera’ and shows him ‘in complete control of his musico-dramatic goals’. The work was first performed in Vienna, but Donizetti revised it for its Paris premiere, changing the tenor role of Armando di Gondì to mezzo-soprano. Working from the new critical edition of the score, with the period-instrument Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under Sir Mark Elder, Opera Rara has recorded the original Vienna (June 1843) two tenor version as well as some of the appendices from the Paris (November 1843) revision, including those written for the mezzo-soprano, sung here by Enkelejda Shkosa. Set during the time of Cardinal Richelieu, the opera focuses on Maria (Krassimira Stoyanova), secretly married to Riccardo, Duke of Chevreuse (José Bros), who has wounded the Cardinal’s nephew in a duel. In seeking assistance for his plight from Enrico, Count of Chalais (Christopher Purves), Maria finds her former love for the latter revived. The rest of the opera centres on how this intricate and explosive triangle of relationships plays out. As a handful of recent productions have demonstrated, the result shows Donizetti rightly claiming his position as one of the nineteenth-century’s greatest musical dramatists.
The 2CD set, studio recording, comes with a lavishly illustrated book including a complete libretto with an English translation, comprehensive article and synopsis by the eminent 19th-century musical scholar, Jeremy Commons.
"Krassimira Stoyanova, radiant and impassioned, beautifully captured Maria's ambivalent glamour and the private hell beneath her cool allure" Tim Ashley, The Guardian (reviewing the concert performance at the Royal Festival Hall, November 2009)
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January 2012
****
“Though not the first Maria di Rohan on CD, this set comprehensively eclipses the 1996 one...above all for Mark Elder's marvellously strong, supple conducting...Opera Rara's cast imaginatively features the warmly sympathetic Bulgarian soprano Krassimira Stoyanova, who rises with unaffected eloquence to all of Maria's demands, expertly partnered by the excellently stylish Catalan tenor Jose Bros...Highly recommended.”
26th November 2011
****
“No one today has keener stylistic antennae for this repertoire than Elder: conducting the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, he shapes a performance of urgency and light-footedness, with a cast headed by Krassimira Stoyanova’s sprightly Maria and José Bros’s agile Riccardo.”
February 2012
“Stoyanova is glorious: she catpures the despair of this troubled character, especially in her preghiera (where she is partnered by a beautifully phrased cor anglais solo)...On a par with Stoyanova is Christopher Purves, with his subtle performance as Chevreuse: in his Act 3 solo he produces an immaculate legato, then shows that he can storm barns with the best...Mark Elder conducts with his usual fire and exemplary attention to dynamic markings.”
February 2012
“[Stoyanova's] voice is well placed, focused and crystalline, with a tang that enables it to inject a dramatic touch, yet it possess a softer element for the intimate portions of the story...Bros is stylistically suited to the music and his technique is flexible enough for him to articulate the notes with accuracy and clarity...[the appendix arias] find a praiseworthy proponent in Enkelejda Shkosa, whose voice of dark velvet ripples and flows”
17th November 2011
****
“the dramatic tautness that was such a feature of the live event comes across vividly on disc. It's one of Donizetti's most economical scores, its mood sombre and threatening, and Elder and the period instruments of the OAE bring out all the dark tints in the scoring. The wonderfully secure soprano Krassimira Stoyanova is the conflicted heroine”
The Independent on Sunday
15th January 2012
****
“There is little wastage. Musky period brass and woodwind intensify the sense of entrapment. Christopher Purves's multi-faceted, volatile Chevreuse dominates. Krassimira Stoyanova is a cool, eloquent Maria, while Enkelejda Shkosa shines as the second Gondi, transformed into a trouser-role for an ungrateful French audience.”
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