Search - Gioachino Rossini, Piero Bellugi, Montserrat Caballé :: Rossini - La Donna del Lago / Caballé, Bonisolli, Hamari, Bottazzo

A Bargain Classic

Halvor | United States | 08/27/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Here's a recording I disliked on first hearing. By the second playing I began to enjoy it; and now this performance is on Halvor's Personal Favorites List. The excellent Chorus and Orchestra of RAI Torino are conducted with expertise and flair by Piero Bellugi in this lively reading. Montserrat Caballe's lush, sumptuous vocalizing and her elegant phrasing are the highlights of this 1970 live performance. This may even be one of her better recordings! Franco Bonisolli is more musically subtle than other times I have heard him. He sings more gracefully and is less noisy, though he does have the necessary muscle to carry over large ensembles. His vocal articulation is also much better than I had expected it to be. Julia Hamari also has a beautiful voice and can handle the coloratura of her big aria quite well. Hers is a straightforward reading; there are no embellishments to speak of. The rest of the soloists, especially Paolo Washington, are extremely good. The recording itself is somewhat bright sounding, and has a very quiet audience for a live recording. There is also little or no stage noise, cluing me that this was a concert performance, probably taped for Italian radio broadcast. As for other things, there is an English synopsis, but no libretto at all. (The libretto is probably inane anyway.) This is a highly enjoyable performance available at a bargain price. (The folks at Opera d'Oro done good here!) Four thumbs up! Go for this one!"

The Best of the Available Recordings

pat_boyle_2001 | Oakland | 01/08/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Caballe is sensational. She is far better tahn Riciarelli on Sony. This is one of her best recordings ever.Franco Bonnisoli of course is crazy - everyone says so. He is a real hoot here. If you don't know his voice be prepared for a surprise. He has a very dark baritonal voice with a huge top. He is most famous for his Manrico. He recorded it with Von Karaian and Price. He sounds quite a bit like Mario Lanza but perhaps has even worse musical taste.La Donna has of course two lead tenor parts. One was written for Andrea Nozzari the other for Giovanni David. Nozzari's roles were written to exploit his bigger and more dramatic voice with many low extensions. The Neopolitan Rossini operas didn't have baritone roles. Instead they had the unique Nozzari tenor parts.The David parts were written for a higher and sweeter voice. Today Chris Merrit makes his living on the Nozzari parts. Merrit of course has the best low notes of any major tenor in opera history. The David parts are now-a-days taken by someone like Stanford Olsen - someone with a very free light and beautiful sound.Strangely enough Bonisolli chooses to sing the David role. I told you he's crazy. It isn't really right but it is wonderful. You won't hear anyone else sing Oh Fiamma Soave like this.The other tenor doing the Nozzari role has a very strange strangled sound. Pity. He's the worst of the three Roderick's on record.Buy this recording for Caballe and Bonisolli."

Very excellent

pat_boyle_2001 | 10/07/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is alive recording but the sound is good. I agree that the singers are not necessarily (especially the men) my first choice in this music, which is very difficult, and very high lying. Yet, they come across with excitement. Caballe is wonderful, but Hamari does nothing for me. To me, she hasn't the slightest clue of how to make this music come alive. For those into live recordings, and pirates, there is a far better recording of this work with Marilyn Horne and Von Stade. It is sung with real excitement and with all the masterful embellishments those singers are able to do. It far surpasses the studio recording with Ricchielli (which is boring at times), and the sound quality is clear. This recording of this work is very good, but if you can find the other, it is superior."