More amazing rare Pergolesi from Jesi
Last year saw the Blu-ray release of Adriano in Siria, the first Pergolesi opera made available through a new initiative by the Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini to not only stage new editions of all the existing opera works by the composer - all of them rare, most all-but forgotten - but to have them all released to the public on DVD and, if we're lucky, Blu-ray. The hopes raised by Adriano in Siria at the possibility of recovering some unheard of masterpieces are met with yet another extraordinary work (or should I say pair of works, since the composer's Intermezzos are also being recorded and released alongside the main works) in the 1732 dramma per musica Il Prigionier Superbo (The Proud Captive), which is released here alongside its rather more famous Intermezzo, La Serva Padrona. And, happily, it's another exceptionally well-performed production of a work that truly merits rediscovery and re-evaluation, which...
Pergolesi in Iesi
Read the reviews by Keris Nine and Giordano Bruno first. Everything they say is bang on. (Even their points of disagreement make sense. You won't get unanimity about this DVD.)
First, what's good about this DVD and why should you buy it if you are a serious music lover and opera afficionado?
1.) Pergolesi's music, melodically straightforward, often hard-driving, often rhythmically inventive (in a way that makes it fun to listen to, but tricky to play.) Most music lovers know and love Stravinsky's Pulcinello, which is based on the music of Pergolesi. Stravinsky has beautifully captured the charm of Pergolesi's music, and given it a neo-classical update.
A good many of us know about La Serva Padrona, which changed the course of opera and opened the way for longer and more "serious" applications of commedia dell'arte, such as The Marriage of Figaro (which may not have been possible without Serva.) The evening recreated by these DVDs is one of the most...
Weirder Ain't Always Gooder!
Read Keris Nine's review before continuing with mine. Keris says all the nice things about these two productions that I would prefer to say, and Keris is a consistently fine reviewer. However ...
These two DVDs make a very good case for the value of sound-only CDs. The staging of La Serva Padrona, mis-en-scene in a circus, is not offensive. In fact, it's modestly amusing. But it completely disregards and diminishes both the humor and the earnest social commentary of the libretto, which is all about class consciousness and class resentment. If the drama is so dispensable, why not just stage it as a concert, even though it was the drama more than the rather workaday music that kept this intermezzo popular far longer than any other stage piece by Pergolesi?
"Il Prigionier Superbo" is another matter. Several of the arias and ensemble pieces in it are very fine, fiery/luscious Vivaldi-worthy Baroque, and some of the principal singers are musically magnificent in their...
Click to Editorial Reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment