DONIZETTI ELVIDA & BELLINI ERNANI

GAETANO DONIZETTI ELVIDA Dramma per musica in un atto

Amur Massimiliano Fichera
Zeidar Maria Pia Moriyon
Elvida Cristina Pastorello
Alfonso Daniele Gaspari
Ramiro Luca Favaron
Zulma Stefania Miotto

Orchestra e Coro Cittfl di Adria/FRANCO PIVA
Teatro di Adria October 2004
Bongiovanni GB 2370-2 TT:56 mins

VINCENZO BELLINI ERNANI Sinfonia & Frammenti I-VII

PATRICIA MORANDINI, soprano (Ernani)
ROSANNA SAVOIA, soprano (Elvira)
PAOLO PELLEGRINI, tenore (Don Carlo)
PATRIZIO SAUDELLI, tenore (Don Sancia)
NINA BATATUNASHVILI, mezzosoprano (Ines)

OMBRE PACIFICHE Terzetto per due tenori e soprano
ROSANNA SAVOIA, PATRIZIO SAUDELLI, PAOLO PELLEGRINI

OLTENIA PHILARMONIC ORCHESTRA/FRANCO PIVA Spoletto, November 2002
Bongiovanni GB 2337-2 TT:44 mins

Two short CDs received from the Italian firm Bongiovann are lavishly produced and recommended to those interested in the byways of 19 c Italian opera. Not top-flight famous names, maybe, but everyone gives their best and there is a good feeling of teamwork and dedication, with judicious recorded balance. That is not meant to be at all patronising. Elvida (1826) is a one-acter by the young Donizetti which had success in its time. A Moorish tyrant holds a female prisoner (who his son loves) prisoner and her lover (a different man) frees her and forgives everyone, all set in Medieval Spain. Plenty of scope for the usual gamut of emotions. Excellent notes and unusually fetching photos of the principals; all participants including orchestral players and chorus singers listed by name and parallel Italian/English texts.

The Bellini fragments c. 1830 had a chequered history; it was banned for political reasons, eventually some of the music reappeared in later operas including La Sonnambula. The thick booklet goes into it all and gives a good picture of the artistic and operatic life of the period. Again, lovely melodies, well supported with full texts and translations.