Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) - Bajazet
Europa Galante - Fabio Biondi
BAJAZET: Ildebrando D'Arcangelo bass-baritone
TAMERLANO: David Daniels countertenor
ASTERIA: Marijana Mijanovic mezzo-soprano
ANDRONICO: Elina Garanca mezzo-soprano
IRENE: Vivica Genaux mezzo-soprano
IDASPE: Patrizia Ciofi soprano
Europa Galante
dir: Fabio Biondi
Virgin Classics - 724354567629
Recording: Musica Numeris, Flagey Studio 4, Brussels, Belgium, 10-15 April 2004
Eac / Ape (img+cue+log) / Mp3 (lame vbr --alt preset)
Total playing time: 73:37 (cd 1) + 72:49 (cd 2)
Full covers & booklet (scan @ 300dpi)
This stunner of an opera involves the proud sultan Bajazet (bass) and his battle with his bloodthirsty rival-tyrant Tamerlane (counter-tenor). More than 50 operas were composed on the subject. Here Vivaldi has composed all the recitatives and marvelous arias for the dignified, fine characters and used arias by other composers--Hasse, Giacomelli, Carlo Broschi--for Tamerlano and the nasties. The music is energetic and virtuosic throughout. Fabio Biondi leads Europa Galante and soloists with urgent, theatrical precision, making the story come to life. The singing could not be better: Ildebrando d'Arcangelo is a remarkably sympathetic Bajazet, singing with fluency and power; David Daniels amazes as Tamerlano; Marijana Mijanovic sings the role of Asteria (Bajazet's daughter) with love and precision; and Viveca Genaux dazzles with her perfect coloratura as Irene. This is a treasure trove of singing. Highly recommended.
Reviews:
Classicstoday.com
This stunning work is one of the 50 operas composed on the subject of the bloody rivalry between the Tartar tyrant Tamerlano, whose methods of intimidation included constructing towers made up of his enemies heads (120 towers of 750 heads in Baghdad alone), and the proud Ottoman sultan, Bajazet, who after being imprisoned by Tamerlano opted for suicide rather than submission. In the opera, Tamerlano, though promised to the selfish princess Irene, loves Bajazet's daughter Asteria, who tries to kill Tamerlano twice. Asteria loves and is loved by Andronico, a confederate of Tamerlano's; Idaspe is a confidante of Andronico. Believe it or not, after Bajazet's suicide, Tamerlano is satisfied, and he pardons Asteria and Andronico.
The opera is a pastiche: It contains music by Vivaldi, some original, some adapted from earlier operas (all the recitatives and arias for Bajazet and Asteria); arias by Hasse, Giocomelli, and Carlo Broschi (brother of the famous castrato, Farinelli) reworked by Vivaldi; and three (also by Vivaldi) that have been chosen by conductor Fabio Biondi where they were missing from the score. With the exception of the last three mentioned, though, it must be remembered that the work was entirely overseen by Vivaldi; it is assuredly "his".
Conductor and cast throw themselves into this recording with a theatrical passion rarely encountered on CD: only René Jacobs' recent Cosi and Figaro come to mind, and by nature those operas are more stageworthy. Recits are spat out in this vicious story, and the arias--many of the simile type (I'm a turtledove; I'm like a ship on a storm-tossed sea)--actually are put across as if they were relevant. Bajazet, here sung and acted to perfection by Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, touches the heart with his desperate, second-act "Dov'è la figlia", in which he thinks his daughter has betrayed him by marrying Tamerlano; elsewhere, he sings with noble mien and fluent coloratura.
David Daniels may have too beautiful a voice for the role of Tamerlano, but his delivery is forceful, grand-mannered, and tough, and the singing itself is ravishing. Marijana Mijanovic sings the role of Asteria forcefully and with great dignity, her dark, lower register as stunning as her free middle and top. Vivica Genaux dazzles with her perfect coloratura as Irene in two arias composed for Farinelli; you wish the part were larger. Patrizia Ciofi's Idaspe contains the opera's highest-lying music; she handles it with ease, a pinched very high note aside. And Elina Garanca makes the most of Andronico's music, delivering it with princely abandon.
Praise cannot be high enough for Fabio Biondi and his Europa Galante, who play with such verve and such smooth tone that all issues about "early music performance" are moot. The horns, although they don't appear often (most arias are accompanied by strings in various formations), are played with great security and genuinely grand tone. The sonics are ideal, a slightly different acoustic for the recits aside. A bonus DVD featuring each of the singers performing an entire aria (and two for Bajazet) in rehearsal is great fun. What are you waiting for?
This stunning work is one of the 50 operas composed on the subject of the bloody rivalry between the Tartar tyrant Tamerlano, whose methods of intimidation included constructing towers made up of his enemies heads (120 towers of 750 heads in Baghdad alone), and the proud Ottoman sultan, Bajazet, who after being imprisoned by Tamerlano opted for suicide rather than submission. In the opera, Tamerlano, though promised to the selfish princess Irene, loves Bajazet's daughter Asteria, who tries to kill Tamerlano twice. Asteria loves and is loved by Andronico, a confederate of Tamerlano's; Idaspe is a confidante of Andronico. Believe it or not, after Bajazet's suicide, Tamerlano is satisfied, and he pardons Asteria and Andronico.
The opera is a pastiche: It contains music by Vivaldi, some original, some adapted from earlier operas (all the recitatives and arias for Bajazet and Asteria); arias by Hasse, Giocomelli, and Carlo Broschi (brother of the famous castrato, Farinelli) reworked by Vivaldi; and three (also by Vivaldi) that have been chosen by conductor Fabio Biondi where they were missing from the score. With the exception of the last three mentioned, though, it must be remembered that the work was entirely overseen by Vivaldi; it is assuredly "his".
Conductor and cast throw themselves into this recording with a theatrical passion rarely encountered on CD: only René Jacobs' recent Cosi and Figaro come to mind, and by nature those operas are more stageworthy. Recits are spat out in this vicious story, and the arias--many of the simile type (I'm a turtledove; I'm like a ship on a storm-tossed sea)--actually are put across as if they were relevant. Bajazet, here sung and acted to perfection by Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, touches the heart with his desperate, second-act "Dov'è la figlia", in which he thinks his daughter has betrayed him by marrying Tamerlano; elsewhere, he sings with noble mien and fluent coloratura.
David Daniels may have too beautiful a voice for the role of Tamerlano, but his delivery is forceful, grand-mannered, and tough, and the singing itself is ravishing. Marijana Mijanovic sings the role of Asteria forcefully and with great dignity, her dark, lower register as stunning as her free middle and top. Vivica Genaux dazzles with her perfect coloratura as Irene in two arias composed for Farinelli; you wish the part were larger. Patrizia Ciofi's Idaspe contains the opera's highest-lying music; she handles it with ease, a pinched very high note aside. And Elina Garanca makes the most of Andronico's music, delivering it with princely abandon.
Praise cannot be high enough for Fabio Biondi and his Europa Galante, who play with such verve and such smooth tone that all issues about "early music performance" are moot. The horns, although they don't appear often (most arias are accompanied by strings in various formations), are played with great security and genuinely grand tone. The sonics are ideal, a slightly different acoustic for the recits aside. A bonus DVD featuring each of the singers performing an entire aria (and two for Bajazet) in rehearsal is great fun. What are you waiting for?
Gramophone
Strong cast and imaginative playing bring this strong Vivaldi opera to life
The time when recordings of Vivaldi operas were almost unheard of is absurdly recent, yet in the past couple of years they have been coming thick and fast, the suddenness of their acceptance and perceived marketability threatening to make even the past decade’s rise of Handel operas seem slow. Whether Vivaldi can match up to his contemporary’s heavyweight reputation as a musical dramatist is no doubt too early to judge – though in truth it seems unlikely – but, hey, so what? Lovers of Vivaldi and Baroque opera will certainly not be complaining at the appearance on disc of so much ‘new’ music.
Bajazet was Vivaldi’s opera for the 1735 Carnival season at Verona, and is based on the same libretto as Handel’s Tamerlano. The Ottoman sultan Bajazet has been defeated and taken captive by the ruthless Tartar emperor Tamerlano, but defiantly refuses to submit to him. Tamerlano wishes to marry Bajazet’s daughter Asteria, for whom he is prepared to ditch his fiancée Irene, but Asteria, after some confusions, remains loyal to her true love Andronico, one of Tamerlano’s allies. Just as the furious Tamerlano is promising all manner of dire punishments, Bajazet’s suicide brings him to his senses and the original relationships are restored.
This is strong stuff and Vivaldi responds with sound dramatic sense. His recitatives especially show a conversational realism that allows them to be more than just a functional advancement of the plot, and indeed Bajazet’s biggest moment – his bitter denouncement of the daughter he believes unfaithful – is a powerful accompanied recitative.
Vivaldi also works harder at characterisation than is often the case, if by unusual means: Bajazet is partly a pasticcio, which is to say that it borrows and adapts arias from other operas, and in this case, while the arias for ‘conquered’ characters such as Bajazet and Asteria are by Vivaldi, those for the conquerors – Tamerlano, Andronico and Irene – are other men’s work. What is more, these men are exponents of the fashionable and suave Neapolitan style, composers such as Hasse and Giacomelli who by the 1730s were beginning to dominate the operatic world. In his booklet-note, Frédéric Deleméa suggests a conscious allusion by Vivaldi to proud old Venetian opera succumbing to an arrogant Neapolitan new order. That is as maybe, but it cannot be denied that Vivaldi chose his arias well. A composer with his penchant for spectacular vocal writing would, of course, have appreciated the crowd-pleasing virtuosity of an aria such as ‘Qual guerriero in campo armato’, originally written for Farinelli by his brother Riccardo Broschi; but here it aptly expresses Irene’s near-deranged indignation at being dumped by Tamerlano. Clever choices such as this make Bajazet a real opera, not just a hotch-potch.
The same can be said for the performers here. The cast has hardly a weak link: David Daniels is in typically beautiful voice as Tamerlano, yet at the same time manages enough hardness to suggest the spiteful anger of the man; Elina Garanca conveys a suitable measure of weakness as the indecisive Andronico; and Marijana Mijanovic’s moving and dignified Asteria never looks like losing her moral high ground. Vivica Genaux gives a show-stopping display as Irene (not least in that ‘Farinelli’ aria) and Patrizia Ciofi proves no less equal to the tough technical challenges set by the role of Andronico’s friend Idaspe. Only Ildebrando D’Arcangelo as Bajazet disappoints slightly, failing to reach to the Sultan’s defiant heart, and rushing at his big recitative – a major missed opportunity.
The orchestra’s contribution, on the other hand, is a major bonus. Fabio Biondi has never been one to miss details and he and his players bring out countless nuances in the score with their usual array of interpretative devices ranging from gentle cello chords in recitative to sparky off-beat accents and pizzicati, and even some acid sul ponticello. There could hardly be a better way to bring this opera to life.
Tracklisting:
Disc 1
1. Sinfonia : Allegro
2. Sinfonia : Andante Molto
3. Sinfonia : Allegro
4. Acte 1, Scène 1 : Prence Lo So, Vi Devo
5. Acte 1, Scène 1 : Del Destin Non Dee Lagnarsi
6. Acte 1, Scène 2 : Non Si Perda Di Vista
7. Acte 1, Scène 2 : Nasce Rosa Lusinghiera
8. Acte 1, Scène 3 : Principe, Or Ora I Greci
9. Acte 1, Scène 3 : In Si Torbida Procella
10. Acte 1, Scène 4 : Il Tartaro Ama Asteria
11. Acte 1, Scène 4 : Quel Ciglio Vezzosetto
12. Acte 1, Scène 5-6 : Or Si, Fiero Destino
13. Acte 1, Scène 5-6 : Vedeste Mai Sul Prato
14. Acte 1, Scène 7-8 : Non Ascolto Piu Nulla
15. Acte 1, Scène 7-8 : Amare Un'Alma Ingrata
16. Acte 1, Scène 9 : Cosi La Sposa Il Tamerlano Accoglie?
17. Acte 1, Scène 9 : Qual Guerriero In Campo Armato
18. Acte 1, Scène 10 : E Bella Irene
19. Acte 1, Scène 10 : Non Ho Nel Sen Costanza
20. Acte 2, Scène 1 : Amico, Tengo Un Testimon Fedele
21. Acte 2, Scène 2 : Sarete Or Ostinato
22. Acte 2, Scène 2 : Anche Il Mar Par Che Sommerga
23. Acte 2, Scène 3 : Gloria, Sdegno Ed Amore
24. Acte 2, Scène 3 : Stringi Le Mie Catene
Disc 2
1. Acte 2, Scène 4 : Ah, Disperato Andronico!
2. Acte 2, Scène 4 : La Sorte Mia Spietata
3. Acte 2, Scène 5 : Signor, Vergine Illustre
4. Acte 2, Scène 5 : Cruda Sorte, Avverso Fato!
5. Acte 2, Scène 6 : Senti, Chiunque Tu Sia
6. Acte 2, Scène 6 : La Cervetta Timidetta
7. Acte 2, Scène 7 : Gran Cose Espone Asteria
8. Acte 2, Scène 7 : Sposa, Son Disprezzata
9. Acte 2, Scène 8 : Dov'E Mia Figlia, Andronico?
10. Acte 2, Scène 8 : Dov'E La Figlia?
11. Acte 2, Scène 9 : Asteria, Siamo Al Soglio
12. Acte 2, Scène 9 : Si Crudel! Questo E L'Amore
13. Acte 3, Scène 1 : Figlia, Siam Rei
14. Acte 3, Scène 1 : Veder Parmi, Or Che Nel Fondo
15. Acte 3, Scène 2-3 : Andronico, Il Mio Amore
16. Acte 3, Scène 2-3 : Barbaro Traditor
17. Acte 3, Scène 4 : Lascero Di Regnare
18. Acte 3, Scène 4 : Spesso Tra Vaghe Rose
19. Acte 3, Scène 5-7 : Eccoti, Bajazette
20. Acte 3, Scène 5-7 : Verro Crudel, Spietato
21. Acte 3, Scène 8 : Signor, Fra Tante Cure
22. Acte 3, Scène 8 : Son Tortorella
23. Acte 3, Scène 9 : Signore, Bajazette
24. Acte 3, Scène 10 : E Morto, Si, Tiranno
25. Acte 3, Scène 10 : Svena, Uccidi, Abbatti, Atterra
26. Acte 3, Scène Finale : Deh, Tu Cauto La Segui
27. Acte 3, Scène Finale : Coronata Di Gigli E Rose
Interview with Fabio Biondi (click to enlarge):
Click here to download
TAMERLANO: David Daniels countertenor
ASTERIA: Marijana Mijanovic mezzo-soprano
ANDRONICO: Elina Garanca mezzo-soprano
IRENE: Vivica Genaux mezzo-soprano
IDASPE: Patrizia Ciofi soprano
Europa Galante
dir: Fabio Biondi
Virgin Classics - 724354567629
Recording: Musica Numeris, Flagey Studio 4, Brussels, Belgium, 10-15 April 2004
Eac / Ape (img+cue+log) / Mp3 (lame vbr --alt preset)
Total playing time: 73:37 (cd 1) + 72:49 (cd 2)
Full covers & booklet (scan @ 300dpi)
This stunner of an opera involves the proud sultan Bajazet (bass) and his battle with his bloodthirsty rival-tyrant Tamerlane (counter-tenor). More than 50 operas were composed on the subject. Here Vivaldi has composed all the recitatives and marvelous arias for the dignified, fine characters and used arias by other composers--Hasse, Giacomelli, Carlo Broschi--for Tamerlano and the nasties. The music is energetic and virtuosic throughout. Fabio Biondi leads Europa Galante and soloists with urgent, theatrical precision, making the story come to life. The singing could not be better: Ildebrando d'Arcangelo is a remarkably sympathetic Bajazet, singing with fluency and power; David Daniels amazes as Tamerlano; Marijana Mijanovic sings the role of Asteria (Bajazet's daughter) with love and precision; and Viveca Genaux dazzles with her perfect coloratura as Irene. This is a treasure trove of singing. Highly recommended.
Reviews:
Classicstoday.com
This stunning work is one of the 50 operas composed on the subject of the bloody rivalry between the Tartar tyrant Tamerlano, whose methods of intimidation included constructing towers made up of his enemies heads (120 towers of 750 heads in Baghdad alone), and the proud Ottoman sultan, Bajazet, who after being imprisoned by Tamerlano opted for suicide rather than submission. In the opera, Tamerlano, though promised to the selfish princess Irene, loves Bajazet's daughter Asteria, who tries to kill Tamerlano twice. Asteria loves and is loved by Andronico, a confederate of Tamerlano's; Idaspe is a confidante of Andronico. Believe it or not, after Bajazet's suicide, Tamerlano is satisfied, and he pardons Asteria and Andronico.
The opera is a pastiche: It contains music by Vivaldi, some original, some adapted from earlier operas (all the recitatives and arias for Bajazet and Asteria); arias by Hasse, Giocomelli, and Carlo Broschi (brother of the famous castrato, Farinelli) reworked by Vivaldi; and three (also by Vivaldi) that have been chosen by conductor Fabio Biondi where they were missing from the score. With the exception of the last three mentioned, though, it must be remembered that the work was entirely overseen by Vivaldi; it is assuredly "his".
Conductor and cast throw themselves into this recording with a theatrical passion rarely encountered on CD: only René Jacobs' recent Cosi and Figaro come to mind, and by nature those operas are more stageworthy. Recits are spat out in this vicious story, and the arias--many of the simile type (I'm a turtledove; I'm like a ship on a storm-tossed sea)--actually are put across as if they were relevant. Bajazet, here sung and acted to perfection by Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, touches the heart with his desperate, second-act "Dov'è la figlia", in which he thinks his daughter has betrayed him by marrying Tamerlano; elsewhere, he sings with noble mien and fluent coloratura.
David Daniels may have too beautiful a voice for the role of Tamerlano, but his delivery is forceful, grand-mannered, and tough, and the singing itself is ravishing. Marijana Mijanovic sings the role of Asteria forcefully and with great dignity, her dark, lower register as stunning as her free middle and top. Vivica Genaux dazzles with her perfect coloratura as Irene in two arias composed for Farinelli; you wish the part were larger. Patrizia Ciofi's Idaspe contains the opera's highest-lying music; she handles it with ease, a pinched very high note aside. And Elina Garanca makes the most of Andronico's music, delivering it with princely abandon.
Praise cannot be high enough for Fabio Biondi and his Europa Galante, who play with such verve and such smooth tone that all issues about "early music performance" are moot. The horns, although they don't appear often (most arias are accompanied by strings in various formations), are played with great security and genuinely grand tone. The sonics are ideal, a slightly different acoustic for the recits aside. A bonus DVD featuring each of the singers performing an entire aria (and two for Bajazet) in rehearsal is great fun. What are you waiting for?
This stunning work is one of the 50 operas composed on the subject of the bloody rivalry between the Tartar tyrant Tamerlano, whose methods of intimidation included constructing towers made up of his enemies heads (120 towers of 750 heads in Baghdad alone), and the proud Ottoman sultan, Bajazet, who after being imprisoned by Tamerlano opted for suicide rather than submission. In the opera, Tamerlano, though promised to the selfish princess Irene, loves Bajazet's daughter Asteria, who tries to kill Tamerlano twice. Asteria loves and is loved by Andronico, a confederate of Tamerlano's; Idaspe is a confidante of Andronico. Believe it or not, after Bajazet's suicide, Tamerlano is satisfied, and he pardons Asteria and Andronico.
The opera is a pastiche: It contains music by Vivaldi, some original, some adapted from earlier operas (all the recitatives and arias for Bajazet and Asteria); arias by Hasse, Giocomelli, and Carlo Broschi (brother of the famous castrato, Farinelli) reworked by Vivaldi; and three (also by Vivaldi) that have been chosen by conductor Fabio Biondi where they were missing from the score. With the exception of the last three mentioned, though, it must be remembered that the work was entirely overseen by Vivaldi; it is assuredly "his".
Conductor and cast throw themselves into this recording with a theatrical passion rarely encountered on CD: only René Jacobs' recent Cosi and Figaro come to mind, and by nature those operas are more stageworthy. Recits are spat out in this vicious story, and the arias--many of the simile type (I'm a turtledove; I'm like a ship on a storm-tossed sea)--actually are put across as if they were relevant. Bajazet, here sung and acted to perfection by Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, touches the heart with his desperate, second-act "Dov'è la figlia", in which he thinks his daughter has betrayed him by marrying Tamerlano; elsewhere, he sings with noble mien and fluent coloratura.
David Daniels may have too beautiful a voice for the role of Tamerlano, but his delivery is forceful, grand-mannered, and tough, and the singing itself is ravishing. Marijana Mijanovic sings the role of Asteria forcefully and with great dignity, her dark, lower register as stunning as her free middle and top. Vivica Genaux dazzles with her perfect coloratura as Irene in two arias composed for Farinelli; you wish the part were larger. Patrizia Ciofi's Idaspe contains the opera's highest-lying music; she handles it with ease, a pinched very high note aside. And Elina Garanca makes the most of Andronico's music, delivering it with princely abandon.
Praise cannot be high enough for Fabio Biondi and his Europa Galante, who play with such verve and such smooth tone that all issues about "early music performance" are moot. The horns, although they don't appear often (most arias are accompanied by strings in various formations), are played with great security and genuinely grand tone. The sonics are ideal, a slightly different acoustic for the recits aside. A bonus DVD featuring each of the singers performing an entire aria (and two for Bajazet) in rehearsal is great fun. What are you waiting for?
Gramophone
Strong cast and imaginative playing bring this strong Vivaldi opera to life
The time when recordings of Vivaldi operas were almost unheard of is absurdly recent, yet in the past couple of years they have been coming thick and fast, the suddenness of their acceptance and perceived marketability threatening to make even the past decade’s rise of Handel operas seem slow. Whether Vivaldi can match up to his contemporary’s heavyweight reputation as a musical dramatist is no doubt too early to judge – though in truth it seems unlikely – but, hey, so what? Lovers of Vivaldi and Baroque opera will certainly not be complaining at the appearance on disc of so much ‘new’ music.
Bajazet was Vivaldi’s opera for the 1735 Carnival season at Verona, and is based on the same libretto as Handel’s Tamerlano. The Ottoman sultan Bajazet has been defeated and taken captive by the ruthless Tartar emperor Tamerlano, but defiantly refuses to submit to him. Tamerlano wishes to marry Bajazet’s daughter Asteria, for whom he is prepared to ditch his fiancée Irene, but Asteria, after some confusions, remains loyal to her true love Andronico, one of Tamerlano’s allies. Just as the furious Tamerlano is promising all manner of dire punishments, Bajazet’s suicide brings him to his senses and the original relationships are restored.
This is strong stuff and Vivaldi responds with sound dramatic sense. His recitatives especially show a conversational realism that allows them to be more than just a functional advancement of the plot, and indeed Bajazet’s biggest moment – his bitter denouncement of the daughter he believes unfaithful – is a powerful accompanied recitative.
Vivaldi also works harder at characterisation than is often the case, if by unusual means: Bajazet is partly a pasticcio, which is to say that it borrows and adapts arias from other operas, and in this case, while the arias for ‘conquered’ characters such as Bajazet and Asteria are by Vivaldi, those for the conquerors – Tamerlano, Andronico and Irene – are other men’s work. What is more, these men are exponents of the fashionable and suave Neapolitan style, composers such as Hasse and Giacomelli who by the 1730s were beginning to dominate the operatic world. In his booklet-note, Frédéric Deleméa suggests a conscious allusion by Vivaldi to proud old Venetian opera succumbing to an arrogant Neapolitan new order. That is as maybe, but it cannot be denied that Vivaldi chose his arias well. A composer with his penchant for spectacular vocal writing would, of course, have appreciated the crowd-pleasing virtuosity of an aria such as ‘Qual guerriero in campo armato’, originally written for Farinelli by his brother Riccardo Broschi; but here it aptly expresses Irene’s near-deranged indignation at being dumped by Tamerlano. Clever choices such as this make Bajazet a real opera, not just a hotch-potch.
The same can be said for the performers here. The cast has hardly a weak link: David Daniels is in typically beautiful voice as Tamerlano, yet at the same time manages enough hardness to suggest the spiteful anger of the man; Elina Garanca conveys a suitable measure of weakness as the indecisive Andronico; and Marijana Mijanovic’s moving and dignified Asteria never looks like losing her moral high ground. Vivica Genaux gives a show-stopping display as Irene (not least in that ‘Farinelli’ aria) and Patrizia Ciofi proves no less equal to the tough technical challenges set by the role of Andronico’s friend Idaspe. Only Ildebrando D’Arcangelo as Bajazet disappoints slightly, failing to reach to the Sultan’s defiant heart, and rushing at his big recitative – a major missed opportunity.
The orchestra’s contribution, on the other hand, is a major bonus. Fabio Biondi has never been one to miss details and he and his players bring out countless nuances in the score with their usual array of interpretative devices ranging from gentle cello chords in recitative to sparky off-beat accents and pizzicati, and even some acid sul ponticello. There could hardly be a better way to bring this opera to life.
Tracklisting:
Disc 1
1. Sinfonia : Allegro
2. Sinfonia : Andante Molto
3. Sinfonia : Allegro
4. Acte 1, Scène 1 : Prence Lo So, Vi Devo
5. Acte 1, Scène 1 : Del Destin Non Dee Lagnarsi
6. Acte 1, Scène 2 : Non Si Perda Di Vista
7. Acte 1, Scène 2 : Nasce Rosa Lusinghiera
8. Acte 1, Scène 3 : Principe, Or Ora I Greci
9. Acte 1, Scène 3 : In Si Torbida Procella
10. Acte 1, Scène 4 : Il Tartaro Ama Asteria
11. Acte 1, Scène 4 : Quel Ciglio Vezzosetto
12. Acte 1, Scène 5-6 : Or Si, Fiero Destino
13. Acte 1, Scène 5-6 : Vedeste Mai Sul Prato
14. Acte 1, Scène 7-8 : Non Ascolto Piu Nulla
15. Acte 1, Scène 7-8 : Amare Un'Alma Ingrata
16. Acte 1, Scène 9 : Cosi La Sposa Il Tamerlano Accoglie?
17. Acte 1, Scène 9 : Qual Guerriero In Campo Armato
18. Acte 1, Scène 10 : E Bella Irene
19. Acte 1, Scène 10 : Non Ho Nel Sen Costanza
20. Acte 2, Scène 1 : Amico, Tengo Un Testimon Fedele
21. Acte 2, Scène 2 : Sarete Or Ostinato
22. Acte 2, Scène 2 : Anche Il Mar Par Che Sommerga
23. Acte 2, Scène 3 : Gloria, Sdegno Ed Amore
24. Acte 2, Scène 3 : Stringi Le Mie Catene
Disc 2
1. Acte 2, Scène 4 : Ah, Disperato Andronico!
2. Acte 2, Scène 4 : La Sorte Mia Spietata
3. Acte 2, Scène 5 : Signor, Vergine Illustre
4. Acte 2, Scène 5 : Cruda Sorte, Avverso Fato!
5. Acte 2, Scène 6 : Senti, Chiunque Tu Sia
6. Acte 2, Scène 6 : La Cervetta Timidetta
7. Acte 2, Scène 7 : Gran Cose Espone Asteria
8. Acte 2, Scène 7 : Sposa, Son Disprezzata
9. Acte 2, Scène 8 : Dov'E Mia Figlia, Andronico?
10. Acte 2, Scène 8 : Dov'E La Figlia?
11. Acte 2, Scène 9 : Asteria, Siamo Al Soglio
12. Acte 2, Scène 9 : Si Crudel! Questo E L'Amore
13. Acte 3, Scène 1 : Figlia, Siam Rei
14. Acte 3, Scène 1 : Veder Parmi, Or Che Nel Fondo
15. Acte 3, Scène 2-3 : Andronico, Il Mio Amore
16. Acte 3, Scène 2-3 : Barbaro Traditor
17. Acte 3, Scène 4 : Lascero Di Regnare
18. Acte 3, Scène 4 : Spesso Tra Vaghe Rose
19. Acte 3, Scène 5-7 : Eccoti, Bajazette
20. Acte 3, Scène 5-7 : Verro Crudel, Spietato
21. Acte 3, Scène 8 : Signor, Fra Tante Cure
22. Acte 3, Scène 8 : Son Tortorella
23. Acte 3, Scène 9 : Signore, Bajazette
24. Acte 3, Scène 10 : E Morto, Si, Tiranno
25. Acte 3, Scène 10 : Svena, Uccidi, Abbatti, Atterra
26. Acte 3, Scène Finale : Deh, Tu Cauto La Segui
27. Acte 3, Scène Finale : Coronata Di Gigli E Rose
Interview with Fabio Biondi (click to enlarge):
Click here to download
I just discoverd your blog, during a lazy afternoon. It made my day!!
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