Never Thought I'd See The Day

This morning, on the WQXR all-night show, I for the very first time in my life heard a complete performance of Rossini's Il barbière. I had no intention at all of listening through the complete performance, but thought I'd stick around for the overture (who can resist a Rossini overture?; certainly not I).

When that was over, I said to myself, Well, OK, I'll stick around for the Largo al factotum (who can resist a well done Largo al factotum?). Not very well done, actually, and something of a disappointment. Colorless is, I guess, the best way to put it.

But I said to myself, Well, I've gone this far, so how can I not stick around to hear Una voce poco fa (who can resist a well-done Una voce poco fa?). It wasn't all that well done, either, but neither was it badly done. It was ... how to put it? ... strangely done; the singer not quite up to it technically, and the voice not nearly brilliant or beautiful enough, but the whole still curiously engaging; engaging enough that I said to myself, Well, OK, I'll stick around for the first act Finale (who can resist a Rossini Finale?).

Then came the intermission when I discovered I was listening to a performance by the London Philharmonia Orchestra (conductor, Alceo Galliera, whom I've never heard of), and with singers Luigi Alva, Mario Carlin, Gabriella Carturan, Fritz Ollendorf, Tito Gobbi, and Maria Callas.

Maria Callas? Oh. That explains that Una voce poco fa. But what was so engaging about the performance of the whole number despite its manifest deficiencies?

And Tito Gobbi turning in a disappointing Largo al factotum? Huh? I thought he was a superstar Italian-opera baritone. How could he turn in so colorless a Largo al factotum?

Those questions — questions for which I had (and have still) no answer — and a generally (but not entirely) first-rate orchestral realization compelled me to listen to Act II in its entirety, and, indeed, things seemed to go much better for those two singers in the second act.

Or maybe I just wanted them to.

But I'm glad I listened through the whole thing. What delicious music! All of it. The vocal writing is positively brilliant, and everything done with a wink, never taking itself too seriously, as indeed none of it is. In other words, quintessential Rossini, and so, though I thought I'd never see the day, I must now buy a recording of this opera, after which it will be the only Italian opera recording ever to have a permanent place on my library shelves with the exception of Verdi's Falstaff and Otello.

So, please, Italian opera mavens and Italian opera freaks of the blogosphere, Which recording? (Comments have been enabled for this post for 10 days for your convenience.)

P.S. Did I mention I'm crazy for Rossini?

Oh.

So I did.

Comments

[George Hunka]

I can't resist noting that, though Wagner was the 19th century composer with the greatest admiration for Schopenhauer, Schopenhauer named Rossini as the composer who best exemplified his ideas about music as the highest of the art forms.

[Leon Dominguez]

The weirdness doesn't stop: of all of Rossini's operas (and indeed of all operas), Il Barbiere di Siviglia is the last one I would ever think to put on the old CD player. To me, it's one of those operas better seen live than savored on records. Therefore, I only have maybe three or four complete Barbiere recordings (all in relatively pristine condition)--as opposed to dozens of Traviatas and Aidas, Lucias and Normas and such. Sieglinde recommends to get a juicy Callas Norma (Serafin, EMI) instead (if you're inclined to spend good money on the Callas Barbiere). I know: no dice. Otherwise, Sieglinde is oddly silent on this matter.

[A.C. Douglas]

George: Ah! Arthur, it seems, was right concerning just about everything.

Sieglinde: Traviata? Lucia? Norma? And (gasp!) Aida? My dear fellow! What *could* you be thinking? With the exceptions of Otello and Falstaff, any Italian opera that even *hints* at the serious is simply intolerable even to contemplate. And as for Callas, considering her wide following she must have possessed some sort of magic, but I'll be damned if I can figure out just what it might have been, or of what it consisted. Perhaps, like the Shadow, she possessed the power to cloud men's minds. That would go a long way toward explaining her wide appeal as an opera singer.

ACD

[Lisa Hirsch]

Now that I've picked myself up off the floor.....

Rossini comedies are, alas, in the very tiny subset of music I Just. Can't. Stand. I've seen Barbiere, Cenerentola, and Italiana and have taken a vow of never again. I don't own a recording of any Rossini comedy: if I need to hear the show-stopping arias, well, I have plenty of Supervia around, and now there's Florez in the tenor rep.

I can, however, highly recommend "William Tell;" that fabulous overture is the prelude to a very great and serious opera. You'll want the Martinelli excerpts, in Italian, and, hmmm, I'd get the complete in French, not Italian.

[A.C. Douglas]

Even though Wagner himself had some nice words to say about _William Tell_ (which for me are somewhat suspect as he said them directly to Rossini in Rossini's own home), I rather agree more with Beethoven who counseled Rossini never to write operas other than opera buffa like _Il barbière_ (which he genuinely liked, as did Wagner) as Italians were simply unsuited and ill equipped to write serious opera of any sort.

Sounds right to me.

ACD

[Lisa Hirsch]

Mmmm, well, mileage does vary on that.

[Kevin Michael Grace]

"The only Italian opera recording ever to have a permanent place on my library shelves..." Surely that doesn't include the immortal da Ponte-Mozart trilogy, does it? Does it?

[Sarah]

Not a huge Barbiere fan, me; but I can tell you that if I were in the market, I'd be making a beeline for either of the sets featuring the lovely Teresa Berganza, Rosina assoluta. The 1971 set has the added bonus of Hermann Prey.

[A.C. Douglas]

Kevin: The "da Ponte-Mozart trilogy" Italian opera(!)? My dear fellow! What an idea. That Mozart utilized Italian opera forms, and da Ponte wrote libretti to match, are matters of mere mechanical detail. Whatever Mozart touched he transformed entirely. His operas, from Idomeneo forward, are the supreme exemplars of their type in the domain of opera; sui generis; and above and beyond all categories. If one must attach a single covering name for them all, that name can only be: Mozartian. That says it all, and all that need be said.

(P.S. Good to hear from you again.)

ACD

[A.C. Douglas]

On the recommendation of an old friend with an encyclopedic knowledge of opera and its available recordings, I've just ordered two sets of _Barbiere_: The EMI Gui, and the Decca (Philips) Marriner. Those ought to keep me busy for a couple months learning the work by ear. Whether I'll ever get to the point of studying it in score is another question; one too early to answer.

Positive or negative comments on those readings welcome.

ACD

[Straussmonster]

In part out of a belief that opera should be seen and not simply heard, if one has a DVD player, the Ponnelle film of _Barbiere_ (with Luigi Alva, Teresa Berganza, and Hermann Prey) is utterly delightful. It was also the first recording made from the Rossini critical edition's work, restoring the opera to its original proportions, orchestration, and vocal assignments after over a century's accretions and distortions. Alas, "Cessa di piu resistere" is cut, but it is invariably cut for difficulty (but the excellent Juan Diego Florez sings it elsewhere).

As for serious Rossini opera, I greatly enjoy _Ermione_. All the available recordings are inadequate, and it's a pity.

[And then, out of curiosity, where do Gluck's Italian reform operas fall in your seemingly Kerman-modeled pantheon of styles and genres?]

[A.C. Douglas]

Thanks for your comment, Straussmonster.

I wasn't aware that anything I said was other than reflective of the standard categories of Italian opera with the exception of Mozart's operas beginning with Idomeneo which, as I noted, I hold to be above all categories, and sui generis in the whole domain of opera.

I can't answer your question concerning Gluck's "Italian reform operas" (and I suppose that here you're referring to his Orefeo and his Alceste) as I've no experience of either of those operas (surprise!), but I assume both could be classed nominally as opera seria. Whether Gluck's reforms altered their form significantly enough to warrant assigning them a separate classification, however, is a question beyond my competency to answer.

ACD