Search - Giuseppe Persiani, Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana Enrique Mazzola, Maria Dragoni :: Persiani - Ines de Castro / Dragoni · Sempere · Gagliardo · Houben · Mongiardino · Cisman · Lorenzo Cescotti · E. Mazzola

NO MISSED MASTERPIECE BUT WORTH LISTENING TO

darfernan | TORRELAVEGA, CANTABRIA Spain | 02/12/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Giuseppe Persiani, Fanny Tacchinardi's husband, impresario and composer with 11 operas to his credit, signs, together with his libretist Cammarano, a nice piece of work in the purest bel canto style. Now and then Persiani hits on some beautiful melody and shows considerable craftmanship, and eventhough his melodic inspiration is definitely far from Bellini's and his Inés de Castro is no Lucia, you shouldn't let that stop you. There's much to enjoy here: if you could listen to highlights such as Don Pedro's Ivi traffiti, Inés' final scene or the second act terzetto, you'd agree with me -I've found myself humming their melodies days after the first listening-. The cast is good enough. The Spanish tenor José Antonio Sempere, making a remarkable career in theatres that include Vienna Staatsoper, gives us a good Don Pedro: heroic yet subtle when required, he possesses a natural gift for phrasing. Maria Dragoni is in fine form and does justice to the difficult role of Inés (her last scene being as moving as those of most bel canto masterpieces). The rest of the cast is quite provincial, but somehow Enrique Mazzola manages to keep everything going and make of the listening a worthwhile experience. Even if you are just a little interested, you should stop, think and possibly buy it."

Interesting-But Not A Lost Masterpiece

dwadefoley | New York, New York United States | 06/24/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Thank goodness there are still a few opera companies around who aren't afraid to dig deeply into Europe's archives to find and resuscitate lost bel canto works. The Teatro Pergolesi in Jesi has given a number of these forgotten works in recent years, and Ines de Castro is one of the most historically important and adventurous works to benefit from their efforts. Giuseppe Persiani's main claim to fame is as the husband of Fanny Tacchinardi-Persiani, creator of Lucia, Pia de' Tolomei and Rosmonda for Donizetti. Yet Persiani was an artist in his own right, composing operas until devoting himself to managing his wife's career full time. Ines de Castro is his most successful work, and held the stage from its premiere in 1835 until 1851. During this time, it was a vehicle for Malibran, Carolina Ungher and Fanny Persiani herself. This is enough to make the aficionado of rare bel canto works foam at the mouth at the prospect of hearing this opera. Unfortunately, the interpreters in this performance, recorded at Jesi in September of 1999, are not of the stellar class needed to make a case for further revivals of Ines de Castro. Cammaranno's libretto has an ample supply of dramatic situations. Like many of Donizetti's operas, the antagonist is introduced first. Here he is a tenor, Gonzales, a rejected suitor of the heroine. The widowed Ines herself is secretly entangled in an affair with the king's son Pedro, by whom she has had two illegitimate children. The King, Alfonso, has other plans for his son: a politically expedient marriage to Bianca, Princess of Castile. Pedro defies his father by refusing to marry Bianca. Gonzales, who through spying has discovered Pedro's affair, reveals it to the King. Gonzales kidnaps Ines's children and brings them to the castle, forcing Ines to come looking for them. There, she begs the King to give them back, and in her hysteria reveals that they are his heirs in front of Bianca. The King has Ines imprisoned, and Bianca visits her, threatening her with execution if she does not go into exile. The King appears, and Ines begs only for the opportunity to see her children once more. Moved by her pleas and the touching sight of her farewell to her children, Bianca persuades the King to relent and allow Ines to marry Pedro and recognize their children as his heirs. Their joy is short-lived, however, for Gonzales poisons Ines and stabs both of her children in their sleep. These events hasten the aging King's death, and a despondent Pedro has only the hollow satisfaction of running Gonzales through with his sword. Maria Malibran, for whom the work was originally composed, was no ordinary singer. Her vocal range was astonishing, encompassing the soprano, mezzo, and contralto ranges easily. Judging by the music Persiani wrote for her, she must have had incredible agility as well, for the role abounds in florid decoration. Maria Dragoni, the Ines in this performance, makes a commendable effort to do justice to the role's difficulties, but her abilities are stretched beyond their limits by the demands Persiani makes. I can't imagine any soprano, save perhaps Callas, comfortably singing the role. This is not Dragoni's fault. Her voice is quite beautiful within the normal ranges. It would have been wise to adjust the tessitura of the role to more comfortably suit a less freakish voice than Malibran's. This was common practice in the 19th century, and has been done by modern companies as well when the need arose. The rediscovery of a lost masterpiece is exciting, but Ines de Castro is not such a work. Although the dramatic argument is clearly in the popular romantic vein of the time, the music does not have the same level of craftsmanship that distinguishes the operas of Bellini, Donizetti, or Mercadante. The music is certainly pleasant enough, but seldom bears any relationship to the grisly and shocking dramatic situations. The overture's cheerful and bouncy tunes suggest that perhaps the curtain is about to rise on a Rossini comedy. Indeed, much of the opera shows more kinship to Rossini than Donizetti or Bellini. I found the recitatives on the whole dull and unimaginitive. The orchestration serves only the purpose of accompanying the voices, and does not achieve anything like the depth and subtlety found in Donizetti's or Mercadante's works. The final scene, however, rises above the rest of the opera. Persiani gives Ines a combined death/mad scene, which presents the lead soprano a great opportunity to show off her vocal and dramatic aptitudes. The opening prelude is suitably foreboding and ominous, and the recitative that follows allows Ines to display a wide range of powerful emotions. The final slow cabaletta as Ines expires is a touching melody, peaceful and resigned, yet astonishingly difficult with its stratospheric high notes (all sung pianissimo), perilous leaps, and subtle shadings. The final scene alone makes the CD worth the price. Dragoni is at her best here, though again she is through no fault of her own unable to encompass the role comfortably. Also noteworthy is the duet for Pedro and Ines in the first act. The other singers are solid. Both Massimiliano Gagliardo as Alfonso and Jose Sempere as Don Pedro give involved portrayals, and are up to the vocal challenges of these roles without being outstanding. The secondary Roles of Bianca and Gonzales, respectively undertaken by Lisa Houben and Gianni Mongiardino, are adequate but undistinguished. Conductor Enrique Mazzola makes the best of a rather uninspired score. Strangely, Bongiovanni gives us not one, but two booklets, one containing an English-Italian libretto, and a second with a history of the opera and a synopsis. This recording can be recommended to those who intrisically value the opportunity to hear such a work, but its appeal will be limited otherwise."