| ABOUT THE PROGRAM
- Opera parts with personality Tancredi, Armida, Anna Bolena and
Mefistofele – four totally different operas by three as different composers.
In Rossini s Tancredi and Armida elements of 18th century bel canto and
of the opera seria, already dying down, are still dominant and Anna Bolena
of Donizetti, is characteristic of Romanticism in literature and theatre
of the beginning of the 19th century, while Boito intended to bridge the
late 19th century Italian opera and the German culture. Trying to find
similarities between the leading soprano parts of these works, one may
at most conclude that they are hard to pigeonhole, but also that these
are parts that especially seem to appeal to singers with an exceptional
vocal individuality. As Amenaide in Tancredi one might imagine a singer
who only possesses a fine vocal instrument, a good technique and feeling
for the Rossini style, yet here too, the emotional involvement of the performer
appears to be able to lend an unexpected dramatic colour to the music.
This applies even more to the sorceress Armida, the only and all-dominant
female character, and also the key character in an opera with a series
of tenor part that take quite some doing. The soprano, however, who manages
to keep the general attention caught during a twenty minutes’ final scene
at the end of a four hours’ performance of Anna Bolena, is sure to emanate
both strong personality and emo- tional involvement. The same occurs in
Boito s Italian Faust opera Mefistofele, to the unhappy Margherita, who
appears on the scene only twice in the entire opera, but who in her death
scene, must face an excellently written tenor part and one of the most
striking bass parts of the entire opera literature. The fact that the Rumanian
soprano Nelly Miricioiu has all these four parts in her repertoire, already
indicates that it is hard to place her in one of the traditional pigeonholes
of voices. What is really special, however, is that the recordings on this
compact disc were all made during concertante performances of these operas
in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. For, on the concert stage, without any
decors, costumes or theatrical entourage, much more than in the theatre,
the vocal personality of the singers is decisive. A person who stands such
a test with distinction, may rightfully be counted among the great vocal
personalities of the opera stage.
ROSSINI: Tancredi (1813) Scene ’Di rnia vita infelice’ and cavatina ’No, che il morir non e’ (act II) The opera is enacted in Syracuse on Sicily in the year 1005 at the time of the war with the Saracens. Amenaide, daughter to the Sicilian leader Argirio, is wrongly accused of treason and is unable to prove her innocence. In a long recitative she laments that she is not only regarded as a traitress by her father, but also by the knight Tancredi, with whom she is secretly in love. In the following aria however, she comforts herself with the thought that Tancredi will one day see her innocence and will also understand that she has actually sacrificed her life for him. Scene and aria ’Giusto Dio’ (act II)
ROSSINI: Armida (1817) Finale ’Dove son io?’ (act
III)
Beautiful Armida has applied all her magic powers to keep as many crusaders away from the liberation of Jerusalem. Her plans fail, however, and the crusaders, including her beloved Rinaldo, manage to escape her power. Armida, left behind alone, feels how her love for Rinaldo must give way to an all-consuming pursuit of revenge and, surrounded by a chorus of furies, she disappears on her dragon-cart in a sea of smoke and fire. BOITO: Mefistofele (1868) Act III
DONIZETTI: Anna Bolena (1830) Scene and finale
’Chi puo vederla - Piangete voi? - Al dolce guidami’ (act II)
The self- reproach of her page, who has unwittingly contributed to her fall, sets her mind wandering again and she begs heaven for peace. Festive noises from outside take her back to reality once more: the people are celebrating the new wedding of Henry VIII with the lady-in-waiting Jane Seymour. Anne declares that to complete the crime only her blood is lacking, but that she wishes to die with a forgiving word instead of a plea for justice on her lips. |
NELLY MIRICIOIU, soprano The
Rumanian born Nelly Miricioiu received her first singing lessons from her
mother, a soprano herself. After this she received an education at the
George Enescu school of music and at eighteen she already made her debut
in her place of birth Adjud as the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Zauberflo’te.
This was followed by a contract at the opera theatre of Brasov. After a
continued study in Italy she deci- ded to try her luck at the opera contest
of Ostend and the vocal competition of Den Bosch, in 1979. The awards that
she won and the offers from various opera theaters in Western Europe supported
her in her decision to turn her back to her native country and in 1981
Nelly Miricioiu (named after the Australian diva Nelly Melba) settled in
London. From there she built up an international carreer that was soon
to bring her great fame in various opera centres like the Royal Opera Covent
Garden, La Scala in Milan, Paris Opera, Vienna State Opera, San Fransisco
Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Washington Opera,
Bavarian State Opera in Munich and New York Metropolitan Opera. One of
the most exciting and versatile artists of our days, her repertoire extends
from the title roles in Donizetti s Maria Stuarda, Anna Bolena, Lucia di
Lammermoor and Lucrezia Borgia to the heroines of Puccini s Manon Lescaut
and Tosca. Following her widely acclaimed performances of belcanto roles
at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Nelly Miricioiu has won her way into the
Dutch public’s hearts and is frequently invited to sing in all kinds of
italian operas. In addition to performances in concert
and on stage new recordings are currently being planned for the future
to add to her highly praised debut recital in London at the Wigmore Hall
and her complete recording of Tosca. A new recording by Opera Rara has
been released in September 1995 in which she performs the role of Camilla
in Mercadante’s rarely performed opera Orazi e Curiazi. Recordings of Donizetti
s Rosmonda d’Inghilterra have been released in the course of 1996, with
Miricioiu in the role of Leonora (with Renee Fleming and Bruce Ford), as
well as a CD with arias from Mercadante’s Emma D’Antiocchia. In June 1995
she completed a recording of Rossini’s Ricciardo e Zoraide for Opera Rara
in the role of Zoraide. In the same year she recorded the title role in
Pacini’s Maria Regina D’Inghilterra. In 1996 a CD with arias of among others
Rossini's Tancredi and Armida, and Donizetti’s Anna Bolena was released.
Also shortly after the Prinsengrachtconcert, held in Amsterdam in August
1996, a CD was produced of that live recording.
| Nelly Miricioiu, Kenneth Montgomery, Claudio Scimone, Sergiu Comissiona - Nederlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, Nederlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Nederlands Radio Choir, Nederlands Men's Choir, Piero Visconti, Roberto Scandiuzzi, Gregory Kunde, Arrigo, James Doing, Mark Glanville, Helene Schneiderman, Felice Romani [1 CD] |
