Search - Jan Durco, Richard Haan, Ottorino Respighi :: La bella dormente nel bosco

Good, but waiting for a definitive recording

Nicolas M. Reveles | Bonita, CA United States | 10/19/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"There aren't many operatic versions of "Sleeping Beauty", so it was a delight to realize that the composer of "The Pines and Fountains of Rome" had produced this charming work back in the 1920s (revised in 1933). Interest was piqued by a recent production at Spoleto (Charleston) which traveled to Lincoln Center this past summer. I didn't attend either of these productions, but the reviews caught my attention and I ordered this, the only recording of the work that I know of. The piece is pretty well conducted and overall well sung, although the Italian diction is not as idiomatic as one would wish from this (mostly) Slovak cast. Guillermo Dominguez (Prince April) and Adriana Kohutkova (Blue Fairy/Nightengale) are standouts. It's a lovely work that certainly deserves another recording, this time with plummy, Italian voices that are more comfortable with Respighi's style. I have to admit that the Act III setting in the 1930s from the 'fairy tale time' of Acts I and II is something of a shock, especially the appearance of an ugly American (Mr. Dollar Checques) and the 'fox trot' finale. Perhaps more sympathetic performers could have brought it off."