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Arias from Puccini's Suor Angelica, La rondine, La Bohème, Turandot and
Manon Lescaut; Mascagni's Iris and Lodoletta; Catalani's La
Wally; Leoncavallo's
La Bohème and Zazà, Cilea's Gloria, Giordano's Fedora and Siberia, and Zandonai's
Conchita Arias from La Vestale, Norma, L'africana, Il trovatore,
Aida, La gioconda, Iris, La Wally, Loreley, Siberia and Tosca Arias from Norma, Saffo, Il trovatore, Otello, Mefistofele,
Adriana Lecouvreur, Zulma, La fanciulla del west, La forza del destino,
Aida,
L'africana, Mefistofele and Cavalleria rusticana; Bettinelli: Bacio vivo,
Lontananza Arias from L'elisir d'amore, La favorita, Rigoletto, Mefistofele,
La bohème, Tosca, Mignon, Manon, La traviata, Fedora, La damnazione
di Faust, Mignon, and Werther Arias from La traviata, La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly,
Simon Boccanegra, Fedora, Manon Lescaut, and La fanciulla del west Renée Fleming's latest disk is a generous selection of verismo arias focusing on the relatively unknown. She states with this disk she wanted "to share a broader selection from an especially rich tradition of Italian opera." All of the music is presented as heard in the operas, so we havea chorus when appropriate, several other fine singers—and the luxury of Jonas Kaufmann in a scene from La Rondine. Marco Armiliato is the perfect accompanist. Of particular interest is the world-premiere recording of the original manuscript version of the aria ‘Sola, perduta, abandonata! from Puccini’s Manon Lescaut. Fleming is in top form and will not disappoint her admirers. This elaborate Decca production includes the expected number of glamour photos of the diva. Recorded sound is state-of-the-art, with voices perfectly balanced with the orchestra. Complete texts are provided. Ester Mazzoleni had a remarkable career. Born in Dalmatia of Italian parents, she had no intention of becoming a professional singer, but after limited study made her debut as Leonora in Il trovatore in 1906, learning the role in only three days. It was a stunning debut, and soon she became a favorite of Arturo Toscanini and in 1908 made her La Scala debut as Queen Isabella in Franchetti's Cristoforo Colombo with Toscanini on the podium. This was only one of many relatively unknown operas in which she was featured, others including Giordano's Siberia, Catalani's Déjanice, the premiere in 1924 of Lualdi's La figlia del re, and Mancinelli's Paolo e Marzzoleni. She sang her first Norma in 1910 and ended her career in 1924 with that opera. In August 1913, Mazzoleni appeared in the first opera presented in the Verona Arena, Verdi's Aida. In Egypt she met "a gem of a man" and retired from the operatic stage, devoting her life to her two daughters and teaching. She was paralyzed after an automobile accident after which she lived a secluded life in Palermo where she died May 17, 1982 at the age of 100. Preiser's CD offers recordings mostly made from 1909-1911 and feature her in some of her most famous roles. A true verismo soprano, she had a wide vibrato that some may find distracting, but her agility and interpretive gifts are obvious and it is easy to understand her inclusion in Michael Scott's The Record of Singing as a major voice of her time. Tempestuous Italian soprano Eugenia Burzio had a two-decade career that included many triumphs but experienced major health problems. Born near Turin in 1879, she made her debut in 1899 as Santuzza and soon was singing in many major opera houses in Italy. Like Mazzoleni, Burzio sang many obscure operas including Franchetti's La figlio di Iorio, Pacini's Saffo, as well as the premiere in 1916 of Leoncavallo's Goffredo Mameli. Burzio replaced Mazzoleni in a 1908 performance of La forza del destino at La Scala after Toscanini had a major misunderstanding with the latter; Burzio was triumphant, although apparently all other singers were not as fortunate. Although Toscanini had qualms about Burzio's mental state, he chose her for the premiere of La fanciulla del west in 1911, in which she scored another triumph (an aria from this opera is included on this disk). Burzio's final performance was in April 1919 in Ponchielli's Marion Delorma. She died May 18, 1922 in Milan. On Preiser's CD we hear Burzio in recordings made 1907-1913. She seemed to have it all, except for a trill, which she doesn't even attempt. In general, the opera world doesn't know tenor Giovanni Malipiero, but aficionados of the tenor voice rate him very highly, and for good reason based on what is heard on Preiser's new disk devoted to him. Born in Padua April 21, 1906, he made his deb ut in 1930 as the Duke in Rigoletto. Most of his career was spent in Italy although he also was a favorite in Monte Carlo. In addition to standard roles, Malipiero also sang in Rabaud's Marouf, Massenet's Le Jongleur de Notre Dame, Milhaud's Le Pauvre Matelot, Mascagni's Lodoletta, and sang the p remieres of Donb Chisciotte by Frazzi, and La Luna dei Caraibi by Lualdi. Toscanini chose Malipiero for the concert marking the reopening of La Scala May 11, 1946. He died in Milan April 11, 1970. It is surprising that Malipiero didn't make more recordings. Those heard on Preiser's CD were recorded 1930-1940 with conductors Ugo Tansini, Franco Ghione and Umberto Berrettoni. These are first-class performances by an unjustly neglected tenor. Another quality tenor who was rather neglected was Giuseppe Campora (1923-2004). He made his highly successful debut in 1949 as a last-minute replacement for Galliano Masini, and his La Scala debut in Adriana Lecouvreur with Renata Tebaldi. His quality singing brought him recognition in the operatic world and he soon appeared in many major Europoean opera houses. In 1951 he sang the part of Radames in the film of Aida (Tebaldi and Ebe Stignani also were heard but not seen: on-screen one sees Sophia Loren in the title role and other actors. Campora was a favorite of Rudolf Bing singing 90 performances 1954-1965, nine roles including Lucia di Lammermoor with Maria Callas. He also appeared with a number of other American opera companies, and was founder and director of the Cincinnati Grand Opera. When his career ended, Campora returned to Italy where he was a renowned teacher. He died December 4, 2004 in Tortona. Preiser's CD offers highlights from La traviata (with Rosetta Noli, Giulia Olini and Carlo Tagliabue) originally issued on Remington, as well as Decca recordings made in 1949-1951, and HMV recordings made in 1957. Conductors are Umberto Berrettoni, Gabriele Santini, and Alberto Erede. This is a welcome disk, one of the few available recordings displaying Campora's artistry. R.E.B. (September 2009) |