BaL 20.01.18 - Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

0930
Building a Library: Sarah Lenton considers the available recordings of Donizetti's evergreen comic opera, L'elisir d'amore or The Elixir of Love. It is one of the few Donizetti operas that has never been out of the repertoire since its first performance and that is largely because of the seemingly endless stream of melodies as well as an unusually well-crafted libretto from Felice Romani. The recordings spotlight the best of bel canto singing from the last few decades with singers such as Pavarotti, Domingo and Carreras, just to stick with the tenors. In fact the hit aria "Una furtiva lagrima" is a perfect demonstration of Donizetti's uncanny knack of writing effectively for the tenor voice.

Available versions:-

Bidù Sayão, Giuseppe Valdengo, Ferruccio Tagliavini, Salvatore Baccaloni, Paula Lenehner, Metropolitan Opera Chorus, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Giuseppe Antonicelli

Ekaterina Siurina, Peter Auty, Alfredo Daza, Luciano di Pasquale, Eliana Pretorian, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Glyndebourne Chorus, Maurizio Benini (DVD/Blu-ray)

Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Dominic Cossa, Spiro Malas, Maria Casula, English Chamber Orchestra, Ambrosian Opera Chorus, Richard Bonynge

María Bayo, Rolando Villazón, Jean-Luc Chaignaud, Bruno Praticò, Cristina Obregón, Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Daniele Callegari (DVD)

Mirella Freni, Luigi Alva, Enzo Sordello, Sesto Bruscantini, Emily Maire, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Glyndebourne Chorus, Carlo Felice Cillario

Ferruccio Tagliavini, Alda Noni, Paolo Montarsolo, Arturo La Porta, Santa Chissari, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Alberto Erede (DVD)

Rolando Villazón, Anna Netrebko, Leo Nucci, Ildebrando d'Arcangelo, Inna Los, Orchester & Chor der Wiener Staatsoper, Alfred Eschwé (DVD/Blu-ray)

Barbara Bonney, Gösta Winbergh, Rolando Panerai, Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Gabriele Ferro (download)

Heidi Grant Murphy, Ambrogio Maestri, Laurent Naouri, Paul Groves, Aleksandra Zamojska, Orchestre et Choeurs de l'Opéra de Paris, Edward Gardner (DVD)

Beniamino Gigli, Rina Gigli, Giuseppe Taddei, Italo Tajo, Anna Maria Borrelli, Gianandrea Gavazzeni

Renata Scotto, Carlo Bergonzi, Giuseppe Taddei, Carlo Cava (Dulcamara)
Orchestra and Chorus of the Maggio Musicale, Florence, Gianandrea Gavazzeni (CD/DVD)

Alfredo Kraus, Luciana Serra, Alessandro Corbelli, Simone Alaimo, Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Gianluigi Gelmetti

Miah Persson, Rolando Villazón, Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, Roman Trekel, Regula Mühlemann, Balthasar-Neumann-Choir and Ensemble, Pablo Heras-Casado (DVD)

Kathleen Battle, Luciano Pavarotti, Leo Nucci, Enzo Dara & Dawn Upshaw, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, James Levine

Kathleen Battle (Adina), Luciano Pavarotti, Juan Pons, Enzo Dara, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus, James Levine (DVD)

Silvia Dalla Benetta, Raùl Hernández, Damiano Salerno, Alex Esposito, Elena Borin, Orchestra and Chorus of the Bergamo Musica Festival Gaetano Donizetti & Flute Ensemble of the Istituto Musicale Gaetano Donizetti. Alessandro De Marchi (DVD)

Mirella Freni, Nicolai Gedda, Mario Sereni, Renato Capecci, Angela Arena, Orchestra e Coro del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Francesco Molinari Pradelli

Hilde Güden, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Fernando Corena, Luisa Mandelli, Renato Capecchi, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano della Rai, Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli (download)

Simone Alaimo, Roberto Frontali, Allesandra Ruffini, Vincenzo la Scola, Marianngela Sportono, Hungarian State Opera Orchestra, Hungarian State Opera Chorus, Pier Giorgio Morandi

Valeria Esposito, Aquiles Machado, Enrico Marrucci, Erwin Schrott Roberta Canzian, Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigian, Coro Lirico Marchigiano “V. Bellini”, Niels Muus
(CD/DVD)

Barry Banks, Mary Plazas, Ashley Holland, Andrew Shore, Philharmonia Orchestra, Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, David Parry (sung in English)

Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, Simone Alaimo, Roberto Scaltriti, Elena Dan, Orchestra & Chorus of l'Opéra National de Lyon, Evelino Pidò (download)

Roberto Alagna, Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Scaltriti, Simone Alaimo, Elana Dan, Lyon Opera Chorus & Orchestra, Evelino Pidò (DVD)

Ileana Cotrubas, Placido Domingo, Sir Geraint Evans, Ingvar Wixell, Lillian Watson, Orchestra & Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, John Pritchard

Luciano Pavarotti, Judith Blegen, Sesto Bruscantini, Brent Ellis, Louise Wohlafka, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Nicola Rescigno (DVD)

Roberta Peters, Carlo Bergonzi, Fernando Corena, Frank Guarrera, Loretta Di Franco, Orchestra and Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera, Thomas Schippers

Katia Ricciarelli, Susanna Rigacci, José Carreras, Leo Nucci, Domenico Trimarchi, Orchestra Sinfonica Della Rai Di Torino, Coro della RAI di Torino, Claudio Scimone (download)

Rosanna Carteri, Luigi Alva, Giuseppe Taddei, Rolando Panerai, Angela Vercelli, Coro del Teatro alla Scala, Orchestra Del Teatro Alla Scala, Tullio Serafin (download)

Roberto Alagna, Pietro Spagnoli, Bruno Pratico, Francesca Provisionato, Tallis Chamber Choir, English Chamber Orchestra, Marcello Viotti

[mikealdren]

Nobody interested yet? Well I'll stick my head above the parapet, I don't have a recording, only odds and ends on recital disks but I saw Glyndebourne touring do it a few years ago and it was great fun with delightful, tuneful music, I'll definitely be listening.

Mike

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

great fun with delightful, tuneful music

Yes. I'd agree with that, and I, too, will be listening. I doubt that I'll be rushing off to buy anything after the programme, though - for all its delights, I can't imagine (at the moment) wanting to hear it in preference to all the other stuff that I'd rather spend time listening to.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Of course, in this music, one expects Sutherland, Pavarotti and Bonynge to dominate, but we shall see.

[Parry1912]

I've got the Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, Orchestra & Chorus of l'Opéra National de Lyon, Evelino Pidò recording on CD which I don't imagine I'll feel the need to supplement.

[BBMmk2]

One BaL I will be not listening too!

[underthecountertenor]

Sarah Lenton’s careless pronunciation of Italian was an irritation throughout.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Sarah Lenton’s careless pronunciation of Italian was an irritation throughout.

True, but otherwise the content was informative.

[HighlandDougie]

Thoroughly enjoyable and informative so Ms Lenton's - at times - free way with her Italian (slightly surprising, that) is forgiven, not least as it had the desired effect of my adding the recommended recording to my extremely meagre library of bel canto opera.

[Nick Armstrong]

‘at times’? It was pretty much all the time. By the end I was beginning to wonder whether she was doing it deliberately. Evelino Paedo. Carlo Bigonzi. Una Footeeva Lagrima. Domenico TREEmarky. Etc. I don’t want the deliberately over-pronounced Italian of Ira Siff. But this came over as either ignorant or unforgivably lazy. Perhaps she’s a Brexit ‘sleeper’.

I have a distinct sensation of déjà lu ...

[underthecountertenor]

I have a distinct sensation of déjà lu ...

I wonder why

[Nick Armstrong]

One BaL I will be not listening to!

Same here. Life's too short for Donizetti and Sarah Lenton

[HighlandDougie]

Same here. Life's too short for Donizetti and Sarah Lenton

Oops! In my naïf way, I've clearly blundered into a minefield where Ms Lenton is a source of opprobrium among the OQs and others. If mangling a foreign language (a very English trait) is her worst sin, as opposed to mangling language in general (step forward various weekend Morning on Three presenters), it doesn't take away from the fact that, for a bel canto ignoranti like myself, it was an enjoyable programme.

[teamsaint]

Oops! In my naïf way, I've clearly blundered into a minefield where Ms Lenton is a source of opprobrium among the OQs and others. If mangling a foreign language (a very English trait) is her worst sin, as opposed to mangling language in general (step forward various weekend Morning on Three presenters), it doesn't take away from the fact that, for a bel canto ignoranti like myself, it was an enjoyable programme.

Yep, I enjoyed the bits I heard, well presented and to the point. Pity they didn't have it on on Kwikfit.

Perhaps they objected to her pronunciation and turned it off in disgust.

[underthecountertenor]

I have to say I thought that the content was pretty lightweight, to be honest, but perhaps I was prejudiced against her by the egregious pronunciation issues. Lenton’s writing is usually very good.