Search - Francesco Cavalli, Alberto Zedda, Maria Luisa Maesso :: Cavalli: Gli amori d'Apollo e di Dafne

A belligerent and amateurish fiasco

Steven Guy | Croydon, South Australia | 02/26/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this recording last week. I didn't have time to listen to it until yesterday and I only wish I'd listened to it before I bought it.



I had some high hopes for this recording. However, I am usually forgiving of slightly less than perfect recordings if the singers, musicians and conductor exhibit a dedication to and love of the music and the composer. The conductor here does exhibit a love of a composer, unfortunately, the composer he loves is manifestly NOT Francesco Cavalli! I get the impression that he would have rather been conducting Rossini, Donizetti or Verdi or, maybe even Puccini!



The youth orchestra on this recording is playing music and playing it reasonably well - with their modern instruments and a warm vibrato. However, the composer on display here is usually the conductor, with his Rossini fantasies in the way of us hearing and feeling the music of Cavalli.



The singers sing with patently 19th century styles - or, should I say, patently old fashioned 20th century styles we normally associate with 19th century Grand Opera - wide and constant vibrato and a melodramatic style.



This isn't how Cavalli should be done. This isn't how a Cavalli opera needs to be presented. This isn't the sort of recording that is going to please fans of Cavalli's music. It won't please fans of Rossini and Verdi.



The whole enterprise is an unhappy fiasco.



I returned my copy to the music shop and demanded my money back.



Hopefully, my fellow music lovers won't have to get that far and they will give this hapless recording a wide berth in the first place.



Yes, we do need a recording of Gli Amori d'Apollo e di Dafne, but we need a sympathetic and stylish recording."