Corelli and Tebaldi in Gioconda ---------- Click the link below to visit the La Gioconda page in our store, where you can hear a sample from each of these performances. belcantosociety.org/store/product_info.php?products_id=255 La Gioconda Two Performances (Philadelphia, Feb. 18, 1964; complete performance). Corelli, Curtis-Verna, M. Dunn, Bardelli, Giaiotti; Guadagno, cond.; Philadelphia Lyric Opera. Plus La Gioconda (October 18, 1966; 71 mins. of highlights). Corelli, Tebaldi, M. Dunn, Chookasian, Colzani, Hecht; Guadagno, cond.; Philadelphia Lyric Opera. Booklet includes synopsis, biographies, photographs, and an article by Steve Cohen about The Philadelphia Lyric Opera. (3 CDs) $17.95 (Originally $29.95) belcantosociety.org/store/product_info.php?products_id=255 This CD Set is also available as a Download or Webcast: belcantosociety.org/store/product_info.php?products_id=1282 For more titles with Corelli please use this link: belcantosociety.org/store/advanced_search_result.php?search_in_artists=1&keywords=corelli ---------- Stefans new book Franco Corelli and a Revolution in Singing: Fifty-Four Tenors Spanning 200 Years, vol. 1 by Stefan Zucker, 6 X 9 X 384 pp., with nearly 200 lithographs and photographs. Please read the free samples and look at the photographs. belcantosociety.org/store/product_info.php?cPath=5&products_id=1543 ---------- Corelli sang Gioconda many times with the Met but never elsewhere--apart from these two Philadelphia performances. These are his only available Enzos, and this is their first-ever release. The CDs were made from tapes supplied by Steve Cohen, the official recording engineer for The Philadelphia Lyric Opera. On the 1964 Gioconda Corelli combines larynx lowering with mask placement. He uses less mask above the staff, for example, on the interpolated high C at the end of Enzo Grimaldo, Principe di Santafior. On the 1966 Gioconda he begins Cielo e mar with his larynx down and no mask placement, which, however, he introduces after a few bars, while keeping his larynx low. In several places he accelerates a phrase and slows back down in the following phrase, with the conductor, Guadagno, in lock step. In lyrical passages such as the opening of the third-act ensemble, Già ti vedo, he places in the mask without lowering his larynx. But when his music goes above the staff or the full orchestra comes in or he is joined by Tebaldi he adds brilliance by dropping his larynx. He uses hardly any mask placement on his two interpolated high Cs, in Acts II and IV, respectively. In general the combination of warmth from from the mask placement and steely brilliance from the lowered larynx is quite something. He sings caressingly in the love scenes with Dunn and with anguish in the third act ensemble. In both performances he is in wonderful voice. Above all, as in no other role, he expresses blind fury, in his confrontations with Curtis-Verna and Tebaldi. --Stefan Zucker ---------- Kenneth Meltzer, writing in Classical CD Review This release documents two of Franco Corellis appearances in Philadelphia, a city the Italian tenor returned to with frequency and great success. In many ways, Philadelphia offered Corelli an ideal venue. Its close location to New York allowed the Italian tenor to coordinate appearances at the Metropolitan Opera and the Academy of Music. And a bit of separation from the pressures of New York and the Met seemed to put Corelli in a more relaxed frame of mind. As a result many of his Philadelphia performances capture Corelli in a freewheeling mood and sterling voice. That is certainly the case with the two Gioconda performances included on this Bel Canto Society release. The first two discs encompass the complete performance from 18 February 1964. The third disc features extended highlights, starting with Act II, from a staging 18 October 1966. In both cases Corelli is in glorious form. The upper register has amazing security and power. In fact Corelli interpolates some unwritten high notes, including blazing Cs in the Act I Enzo Grimaldo duet and the final-act trio. Corellis trademark mastery of the long line and dynamic shading is very much in evidence, perhaps most notably in the stunning Cielo e mar! from the 1966 performance. Throughout Corelli is entirely convincing as the passionate, heroic Enzo. Its a shame Corelli never recorded Enzo commercially. Fortunately we have this Bel Canto Society release, plus a 1962 Met broadcast, to show how impressive Corelli was in a role tailor-made for his unique gifts. In both performances Corelli is joined by worthy partners. American soprano Mary Curtis-Verna is a fine Gioconda, floating a lovely B-flat in Act I, and lavishing ample voice and temperament throughout. The lack of a strikingly beautiful or individual timbre consigned Mary Curtis-Verna to a ranking below such stars as Zinka Milanov, Renata Tebaldi, and Leontyne Price. But she was a most valuable singer, and would certainly be an important presence on the current opera scene. And speaking of Renata Tebaldi, the 1966 Gioconda finds her in representative form for this stage of her career. The middle of the voice is absolutely glorious, the upper register less so, both in terms of tonal quality and pitch. Tebaldi, whose acting skills were often given short shrift, throws herself completely into the role, and to great effect. Overall Tebaldi gives a riveting performance, and her Gioconda is a welcome addition to this set. Mignon Dunn is a fresh-voiced and passionate Laura in both the 1964 and 1966 performances. Gladys Kriese contributes a heartfelt Voce di donna in the 1964 Gioconda. Cesare Bardelli (1964) and Anselmo Colzani (1966) exude the kind of masculine, vibrant Italian vocalism that was so plentiful among Italian baritones of their generation. Bonaldo Giaiotti, always a reliable singer, is a fine Alvise. The 1964 Gioconda is marred by a frequent lack of coordination between the orchestra pit and stage. Anton Guadagno, the conductor on both occasions, achieves a much more disciplined performance two years later. ---------- John T. Hughes, reviewing in Classic Record Collector Philadelphia was the venue in 1964 and 1966 for Franco Corellis assumption of Enzo, a role to which he brought that exciting, virile sound, virtually unmatched at the time. It is not a matter of barnstorming vociferation, for Corelli alters the weight of his tone to suit the situation. The 1966 recording starts at Cielo e mar, but the 1964 offering is complete and presents Mary Curtis-Verna as a Gioconda lightish but effective, her voice focused. The sonorous bass of Bonaldo Giaiotti is well suited to Alvise, and one hears Cesare Bardelli (1911-2000), of whom I know no studio recording, as a biting Barnaba. In 1966 Gioconda is Renata Tebaldi at her most dramatic, even using chest-notes. ---------- Robert Levine, reviewing in Classics Today What were presented with here is a complete Gioconda from 1964 in Philadelphia with Franco Corelli, Mary Curtis-Verna, Mignon Dunn, and Cesare Bardelli, and 71 minutes from a 1966 performance (Act 2 from Cielo e mar to the end, Act 3 somewhat abridged, and all of Act 4) in which Corelli is joined by Renata Tebaldi, Dunn, and Anselmo Colzani. Both performances are led by Anton Guadagno. There are thrills galore--sometimes pretty sloppy thrills in ensembles, in the orchestra, and in the stage-pit relationship, but theyre thrills nonetheless. Most of them come from Corelli, who is in crazily big voice, with every note secure, and a bonus high-C at the end of the first-act duet with Barnaba and in the trio in the last act. His animal magnetism comes through and it cant help but make you tingle. That having been said, there are very few moments when he sings softly (the gorgeous melody, marked pianissimo, that begins the Act 3 finale with the words Gia ti veggo... has little effect here sung so loudly) and its a pity--you just know he can do it if he wants to. The other cast members are not dismissable: Mary Curtis-Verna was a fine spinto soprano with a good career in the 60s; shes reliable, concerned, and manages a glorious, soft high B-flat in Act 1. Shes everything but unique or interesting. As Laura, Dunn is the same in both performances--workmanlike and big-toned. Colzani outsneers Bardelli, but both make pretty vivid impressions. The Alvises and Ciecas are good enough. Happily, Tebaldi turns in a thrilling late-career performance, singing her heart out, pushing excitingly at both ends of her range. Too bad the first act of her performance is missing. These performances catch the spirit of this blood-and-guts opera. --------------------------------------------- To see all our downloads, please use this link: belcantosociety.org/store/index.php?cPath=27 To see all our products, please use this link: belcantosociety.org/store/all_products.php To contribute to Bel Canto Society: belcantosociety.org/store/index.php?cPath=30 --------------------------------------------- Bel Canto Society, a not-for-profit corporation, offers more than 400 opera videos, CDs, DVDs, books, downloads and webcasts on its website. Our homepage is BelCantoSociety.org.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 20:54:15 +0000
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