Search - Gioachino Rossini, Maurizio Benini, Scottish Chamber Orchestra :: Rossini: Zelmira

Rossini's Glorious, Triumphant Masterpiece

Frank Elliott | Hendersonville, NC United States | 01/12/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the first time I found myself bursting at the seams to review an audio opera before I finished listening - it IS a 3 disc set, after all; and more emotive,thrilling, goose bump joy than one can handle at one sitting. Don't be surprised if you have to let out a gasp and break away for a respite from the sensory overload. The liner notes/libretto describes it as page after page of penultimate Bel Canto from the era OF Bel Canto. This is the crown jewel from that era - an age when oil painting had reached its absolute, technically consummate skill level, and never to be reached again after the soon-to-be turn of the century... painting which makes today's million dollar canvases look like stagnant slurry by comparison. No wonder , then, that no one is really interested in what's at today's galleries and "haute couture" museums.

The libretto is well worth studying first, and attempting to follow; yet this task is daunting, owing to the constant, powerful undertow/riptide of just wanting to close one's eyes and glory in the music...storyline- shmoryline. You just want to be carried along this musical white water rafting experience...of course, with the periodic drifts through the placid, sparkling ponds.



I will have to return with a more cogent and descriptive review - namely about the great story. But I will say this about the libretto's antagonist...a smarmy brat who took over the kingdom while everyone was off to war; and upon the return, discovered that the King was deposed, (thought to be dead by our pair of bad boys taking over the country ). Zelmira is the King's daughter, and the wicked scheme is to pin the murders on her and finish off all "pretenders" to the throne in future. Happily, it turns out to be "curses, foiled again thanks to our spiffy good guy= Zelmira's returning war veteran husband.

I underscore this, for each word in the libretto is underscored by Rossini with the perfect tone, mood, tempo, key and melody line. There is every human emotion known to man here, and each emotion can be read by listening to the music alone. This is Rossini's genius - along with the phenomenal, "Is this guy ever going to quit creating utterly captivating tempo and melody?" No....he never stops. Even the recitatives serve as a prelude to next pictographic musical tableau.

Forgive this paltry review. I will try to compose myself and do this right next time. In the meantime, do overcome the reluctance to spend this amount on a "mere" little-known work, in audio only. It is a nicely done box set, and lovely libretto. There are places to buy one for about 38 samolians. It will be your favorite. You will not lend this one out."

Less than the sum of the parts

John Cragg | Delta(greater Vancouver), B.C Canada | 06/15/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This opera contains some of Rossini's loveliest and most imaginative music, with unusually rich orchestration. Here we have a recorded concert version from the 2003 Edinburgh festival. By and large it is a solid effort. The two principal women are in fine voice, particularly soprano Manuela Custer whose ravishing voice contrasts nicely with Elizabeth Futral's in the title role. The two low-voice male roles are also handled very well. The adjective that comes to mind for tenor Bruce Ford is "reliable" rather than, say "exciting", but he does turn in a very creditable performance. Similarly, the adjective for the conducting is "competent", but even that has to be modified for a few strange moments that occur. The weak performance is by the second tenor, Antonino Siragusa, whose tone and technique are far from flawless.



The weaknesses are three: first, the opera has a really stupid libretto, which should never have been set. Not only is it ludicrously implausible, the libretto is peopled with cardboard cut-out characters for whom no development occurs. Second, Rossini does not always write music suitable for the words -- indeed often quite the music seems inappropriate -- though this is an all too frequent feature of Rossini's serious operas. Some items to which this applies is the best music in this work, so it may be better to listen without the libretto. But such a recommendation is frustrated by there being a lot of rather boring recitative, accompanied largely by "drammatic" and sporadic orchestral chords which are musically uninteresting. In addition, Rossini's inspiration is highly variable in this opera, particularly disappointing being the aria and cabaletta for Zelmira in the finale. The final weakness is the production. The miking of the soloists sometimes is off a bit; more serious is the mis-handling of applause. The recording is excellent in that one is not aware of audience noise, and applause does not start until the music ends. But then there is often a long, loud and ugly burst of applause that I found detracted from enjoyment of the music. But even with these weaknesses, this is a worthwhile and satisfying set."