Performer:Lopez Cobos Jésus: conductor Casa Bayer Jordi: chorus master Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Real Elena/Riccardo - Rosique Ruth Costantino - McPherson Robert Edmondo - Pirgu Samir The Governor of Arles - Santamaria Eduardo Carlo - Regazzo Lorenzo Anna - Cantarero Mariola Urbino - Menéndez David Teatro Real, Madrid, 2009
Media:2 CD
PROGRAM INFORMATION: In the exceptionally rich history of non-Italian composers of opera in Italian, Ramón Carnicer holds more than a minor place. In younger days, Carnicer was an admirer of Mozart, but the sudden appearance of Rossini’s star in the European musical firmament quickly converted him to the Italian’s camp. Unlike his other non-Italian counterparts, who spent at least some time involved in study in Italy, Carnicer spent practically his entire career as composer in Spain, going to Italy only to engage performers and to get a clearer idea of the aesthetic tendencies and fashions of the moment. With its premiere on June 16, 1821, at the Teatro de la Santa Cruz in Barcelona, Elena e Costantino was enthusiastically received; it is still universally considered one of Carnicer’s greatest works. The libretto is based on an earlier work of Tottola’s, set to music by Giovanni Simone Mayr and first performed at the Teatro dei Fiorentini in Naples on January 28, 1814. This opera calls itself a ”heroic-comic drama in two acts”, and hence belongs to the semi-serious genre. The currents of Rossini that underlie Elena e Costantino are obvious from the very opening bars of the first overture; it is clear from this that Rossini’s musical language had given rise, in the span of a very few years, to a sort of common international language freely used by all composers of Italian music. Here the average level of the opera, taken all in all, is very high.
WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING ON CD.
Track List: CD 1 Act 1 1. Sinfonia 07’05 2. Come veloce, ruota, tu giri (Coro) 02’39 3. Rosa vezzosa, vago giacinto (Anna) 02’20 4. Attenti alla fatica (Urbino) 06’29 5. Ebben, figliuola mia (Carlo) 02’20 6. Buon dì, padron garbato (Riccardo) 03’01 7. O ciel! Qual turbamento! (Riccardo, Carlo) 05’36 8. Or via, or che siam soli (Carlo) 03’48 9. Sola resto: infelice! (Riccardo) 00’33 10. Stemprati pure in pianto (Riccardo) 06’46 11. Orsù, Annetta (Carlo) 00’23 12. Cantiam dei nostri cori (Coro) 02’02 13. Son solo finalmente (Costantino) 03’58 14. Ah! Se mirar potessi (Costantino) 02’27 15. Sposa, mio ben, ti miro (Costantino) 05’02 16. A dire il ver (Carlo) 03’57 17. Oh ciel! Che miro! (Costantino, Riccardo) 00’46 18. Stelle! Dei mali miei (Costantino) 02’49 19. Adolfo, il figlio mio, vive? (Costantino) 05’12 20. Alle corte, hai capito (Anna) 05’33 21. Ah sì che un placido (Edmondo) 02’56 TT. 75’44 CD 2 1. Di Tarascon mi scrive (Edmondo) 01’40 2. Mio signor, voi qui giungeste (Governatore) 06’33 3. Quel Costantino, oh Dio! (Edmondo, Carlo) 02’29 4. Un barbaro carnefice (Costantino) 04’14 Act 2 5. Ultrice giustizia dal cielo discenda (Coro) 02’26 6. Entriamo, e al conte Edmondo (Anna) 01’29 7. Tergere, ohimè, le lacrime (Anna) 06’53 8. Galantuomo, che fate? (Governatore) 04’48 9. Vi ringrazio, o sommi dèi (Edmondo, Carlo) 05’45 10. A qual tremendo stato (Elena) 02’25 11. Perché così punirmi (Elena) 03’01 12. Ma chi s’appressa: è Anna (Elena) 03’02 13. Lungi, oh Dio! dal ben ch’adoro (Elena) 02’11 14. Oh sposa, dove sei? (Costantino) 02’15 15. Deh! Lasciami almeno (Elena, Costantino) 06’05 16. Ah! Si vada. (Costantino, Elena) 03’11 17. Non ho più pace (Edmondo) 02’20 18. Tu che intendi i voti miei (Edmondo) 03’26 19. Costantino! (Guardie e Governatore) 02’36 20. Popolo d’Arles! (Costantino) 02’47 21. Romualdo! (Tutti) 05’23 TT. 75’12
ELENA E COSTANTINO
