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Rossini - Amici e Rivali

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Label: Erato

Cat No: 9029526947

Barcode: 0190295269470

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Genre: Opera

Release Date: 13th November 2020

Works

Rossini, Gioachino

Armida

» In qualle aspetto imbelle

Elisabetta regina d'Inghilterra

» Deh! Scusa i trasporti

Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville)

» All'idea di quel metallo

La donna del lago

» Nume! Se a'mei sospiri

» Qual pena in me gia

Le Siege de Corinthe

» Celeste providence

» Cher Cleomene

» Grand Dieu, faut-il qu'un peuple

Otello

» Ah! vieni, nel tuo sangue vendichero le offese

» Che fiero punto e questo

» Non m'inganno

Ricciardo e Zoraide

» Donala a questo core

» S'ella mi e ognor fedele... Qual sara mai la gioia

» Teco or sara

Artists

Lawrence Brownlee (tenor)
Michael Spyres (tenor)
Tara Erraught (mezzo-soprano)
Xabier Anduaga (tenor)
I Virtuosi Italiani

Conductor

Corrado Rovaris

Works

Rossini, Gioachino

Armida

» In qualle aspetto imbelle

Elisabetta regina d'Inghilterra

» Deh! Scusa i trasporti

Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville)

» All'idea di quel metallo

La donna del lago

» Nume! Se a'mei sospiri

» Qual pena in me gia

Le Siege de Corinthe

» Celeste providence

» Cher Cleomene

» Grand Dieu, faut-il qu'un peuple

Otello

» Ah! vieni, nel tuo sangue vendichero le offese

» Che fiero punto e questo

» Non m'inganno

Ricciardo e Zoraide

» Donala a questo core

» S'ella mi e ognor fedele... Qual sara mai la gioia

» Teco or sara

Artists

Lawrence Brownlee (tenor)
Michael Spyres (tenor)
Tara Erraught (mezzo-soprano)
Xabier Anduaga (tenor)
I Virtuosi Italiani

Conductor

Corrado Rovaris

About

Two of today’s most brilliant tenors, Michael Spyres and Lawrence Brownlee, strike sparks off each other as they celebrate the star tenors of Rossini’s time, such as Andrea Nozzari, Giovanni David, and Manuel García. Amici e Rivali – ‘Friends and Rivals’ – comprises arias, duets and trios from seven of the composer’s operas, including the ever-popular Il barbiere di Siviglia and the rarely heard Ricciardo e Zoraide. The ‘duelling tenors’ are joined by the effervescent Irish mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught, the prize-winning young Spanish tenor Xabier Anduaga, I Virtuosi Italiani and conductor Corrado Rovaris.

Sound/Video

Paused

1

01 - Il barbiere di Siviglia, Act I - All'idea di quel metallo
2

02 - Ricciardo e Zoraide, Act I - S'ella mi Ã¨ ognor fedele
3

03 - Ricciardo e Zoraide, Act I - Qual sarÃ mai la gioia
4

04 - Ricciardo e Zoraide, Act II - Donala a questo core
5

05 - Ricciardo e Zoraide, Act II - Teco or sarÃ
6

06 - La donna del lago, Act II - Nume! Se a' miei sospiri
7

07 - La donna del lago, Act II - Qual pena in me già
8

08 - Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra, Act II - Deh! Scusa i trasporti
9

09 - Otello, Act II - Non m'inganno; al mio rivale
10

10 - Otello, Act II - Ah! vieni, nel tuo sangue vendicherÃ² le offese
11

11 - Otello, Act II - Che fiero punto e questo
12

12 - Le SiÃ¨ge de Corinthe, Act III - Grand Dieu, faut-il qu'un peuple
15

15 - Armida, Act III - In quale aspetto imbelle

Europadisc Review

It takes genius of vocal writing like Rossini to bring off successful duets between two lead-role tenors with such consistency - that and an opera ensemble that boasts the resources to cope with such demands on a regular basis. And that's what the Teatro San Carlo in Naples had during the second half of the 1810s in star singers Andrea Nozzari and Giovanni David, with their contrasting tone colours: David the lighter, more florid and with brilliant top notes, Nozzari (who had started his career as just such a tenore di grazia) more baritonal with a well-developed lower register. The collegial competition that existed between them undoubtedly crept into their casting in a series of works as rivals, sometimes overt, at others more covertly but with no less spectacular results.

The legacy of music that Rossini composed for David and Nozzari is the starting point for a stunning new disc from two of the finest tenors working in the Italianate repertoire today: Lawrence Brownlee and Michael Spyres, the former a tenore di grazia par excellence, the latter more heroic with baritonal timbre in his lower range. And, as if to prove the point and highlight the contrast from the outset, they open with the great Almaviva-Figaro duet from the opera that immediately preceded Rossini's move to Naples: Il barbiere di Siviglia. It's a bold opera disc that starts (however briefly) with an unaccompanied voice, as the eponymous barber (Spyres) takes us into his confidence with 'All'idea di quel metallo portentoso', but it works brilliantly, and when Brownlee enters not 55 seconds later you know you're in for a treat. The humourous exchanges as Figaro dreams up disguises for the young Count are pure delight, with just enough knowing indulgence for repeated listening, and voices working in perfect (and nicely contrasted) harmony. Spyres shows himself thoroughly adept at the comedic baritone role, while Brownlee's voice has just the lightness and sweetness of tone needed in this repertoire. Their quickfire exchanges are ably supported by stylishly nimble playing from the Virtuosi Italiani under Corrado Rovaris, who are an important factor in the success of the disc as a whole.

After this lighthearted start, we launch into more serious dramatic territory, but still with that unmistakably Rossinian featherlight touch that makes these operas, however weighty their subject matter, such a joy to listen to. In the first of two scenes from the exotically themed Ricciardo e Zoraide (1818), Brownlee's Ricciardo is joined by another tenor, the excellent Xabier Anduaga in the minor role of Ernesto, but it is the ease with which Brownlee takes the top D at the end of their duet that really steals the show here. In the second extract, Spyres's King Agorante is duped into friendship by Ricciardo in disguise (both are rivals for Zoraide's affections); in the second half of their duet, Spyres has a chance to demonstrate his own upper register, and the music hops along with delightful (if feigned) amiability.

Brownlee and Spyres are joined by mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught for music from La donna del lago, with Brownlee as the heroic Uberto and Spyres as the doomed Rodrigo, and the cabaletta trio with its its corruscating vocal lines in all three parts (one at a time, then all together) is truly spectacular, however regrettably fleeting (in the theatre, this performance would surely meet with demands for an encore). The mood spills over into an excerpt from Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra, the violins taking over where the Scott-ian voices left off. Here Brownlee is the villainous Norfolk to Spyres's heroic Earl of Leicester, and it's a constant marvel how such duplicitous dealings can be cloaked in music of such airy grace and beauty.

In a more extended extract from oft-derided but musically compelling Otello (1816), Anduaga returns in the much-reduced role of Iago to Sypres's Moor, and the dreamy textures as he worms away at Otello's suspicions are again a moment of unlikely beauty. Brownlee here is Otello's love rival Roderigo, with Erraught as Desdemona vainly trying to placate the two men in music of thrillingly increased agitation: this, like their Donna del lago trio, is a track you'll probably want to encore immediately.

The French-texted Le Siège de Corinthe (Paris, 1826) brings a complete change of mood, with Brownlee as the young officer Néoclès, Spyres as the governor Cléomène and Erraught as the latter's daughter, Pamira. This is music of intense emotion, not least Néoclès's tremendously touching 'Céleste providence!', before all three characters join forces to meet their unhappy fate.

Finally, a return to Naples and to the world of chivalric camaraderie in Armida (1817) with a heartwarming (and rare) trio of tenors: Spyres as Rinaldo (demonstrating some glorious top notes of his own), with Brownlee and Anduaga as his knightly sidekicks. It's tremendously uplifting, as is the disc as a whole, a sumptuous (and generously-filled) vehicle for two magnificent singers, the one grippingly heroic, the other fabulously honey-toned, in a pairing of utter perfection, with a magnificent supporting cast. An opera disc, in brief, that really cheers the soul.