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CD Review
Gaetano Donizetti
La Favorite
- Vesselina Kasarova (Léonor)
- Ramon Vargas (Fernand)
- Anthony Michaels-Moore (Alphonse XI)
- Carlo Colombara (Balthazar)
- Francesco Piccoli (Don Gaspar)
- Abbie Furmansky (Ines)
Bavarian Radio Chorus
Munich Radio Orchestra/Marcello Viotti
Recorded Live at the Philharmonie am Gasteig, Munich, April 11, 1999
RCA 74321-66229-2 2CDs 1:49:49
Here is a perfectly fine account of Donizetti's French opera, La Favorite. When this work has been performed and recorded, it has usually been in an Italian translation, or "adaptation", as some would prefer to describe it, since parts of the story were changed for various reasons. As far as I can tell, this RCA issue is only the third recording of the work in its original French version, there being a scrappy Donato Renzetti-led live performance on the Italian label Ricordi and a recent reissue of a 1912 performance on the Marston label. This RCA La Favorite would definitely be the preferred recording among the three French versions, and inasmuch as the Italian one, few recordings of it as there have been anyway, is not as authentic, this new set sweeps the boards in this neglected masterpiece.
The singing here is splendid, with Carlo Colombara continuing to impress with both his rich bass voice and fine sense for drama. Vesselina Kasarova is also quite exciting and demonstrates her considerable vocal and dramatic range. This performance offers further proof that she is one of the major mezzos on the world's opera stages. One singer in the cast we should all begin to watch (and listen to!) is the American soprano Abbie Furmansky. Try her Act I, Scene III aria, Silence! Silence!, sung with chorus. You can only wish she had more of a role in this opera.
In any event, the rest of the cast is more than decent, with Anthony Michaels-Moore's baritone voice a most pleasing instrument. Swiss-born (of Italian parentage) Marcello Viotti leads the proceedings with a deft hand, fully capturing the spirit of this dark drama. His orchestra and chorus are in splendid form throughout in this live recording. By the way, as is the case these days with so many recordings derived from live performances, you won't notice any background audience noise or hear applause following arias or climactic moments. But you might notice some editing - no doubt a few retakes were done after the performance. There's a noticeable splice, for example, on the second disc (track 6) as Léonor sings to Ines, "Sera trop peu…" But the sound and other production qualities are just fine. Some might find the singers a tad too close to the microphones, but it didn't bother me. All in all, this is a splendid effort and a must for lovers of good opera.
Copyright © 2001, Robert Cummings
