Search - Saverio Mercadante, Giuliano Carella, Jacek Laszczkowski, Sonia Lee, Nicolas Rivenq, Gregory Bonfatti Nana Gordaze :: Mercadante: Caritea regina di Spagna

A surprise treasure

John Cragg | Delta(greater Vancouver), B.C Canada | 09/01/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The people at the Festival della Valle D'Italia are doing a wonderful job of breathing life into obscure operas. This is, surprisingly, also true of this production - surprising since a rather ominous note in the booklet indicates that major cast changes had to be made at short notice. While the "show must go on" ethic of a festival makes overcoming such difficulties commendable, one can only confront the information with dismay after purchasing a recording - but here the dismay is quite unjustified. Instead, this is a very satisfying performance.Mercadante in this opera reveals himself to be a highly imaginative and effective composer of bel canto operas. The score is full of inventive touches and within the general category of Bel Canto, Mercadante has his own distinctive voice. This is not second-rate Donizetti or Bellini. It is as interesting as most of those composers' works and compares favorably with early Verdi. It repays repeated listening.There is no really outstanding voice in this production, but the principals are all highly competent, fresh, professional and enthusiastic. I am surprised that a search does not turn up more recordings by them, especially by Nana Gordaze who sings the title role with real distinction. The conducting of Giuliano Carella produces a good mix of forces and moves the plot along effectively.One of the surprises is the warm and effective recording of a live performance. The balance and clarity of the recorded sound would be quite creditable in a studio recording. Extraneous bangs from the stage are not overly prominent, especially in an opera where one would expect, based on the summary and the libretto, to have a lot of such noise. The audience is there, but is not a prime player as it is in so many live recordings.The booklet is a model of its kind, with a useful essay, synopsis and libretto in both Italian and English.Overall, this is a splendid performance. It is not just a curiosity for those with a passion for Bel Canto opera; instead it is a worthwhile performance of a lovely work that can stand on its own securely and that pleasurably widened this listener's horizons. I enjoyed it thoroughly. How one wishes that more opera companies would venture into this repertoire rather than producing one more the safe Bel Canto war horses!"