5つ星のうち5.0Splendid Il Re Pastore by Classical Opera under Ian Page
2015年12月5日に英国でレビュー済み
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It's the very ambitious intention of Classical Opera, under the guidance of its knowledgeable Artistic Director and Conductor, Ian Page, to record all of Mozart's operas & other stage works. The latest to be issued is Il Re Pastore, composed by Mozart while still in his teens, and showing strong signs of the musical and dramatic genius that produced the mature masterpieces to come. The libretto, by Metastasio, is a little rum-ti-tum, involving a shepherd who turns out to be the heir to a kingdom, but the music is very fine, with some magnificent arias, clearly foreshadowing Mozart's later dramatic works. The cast is quite exceptional, all individually distinguished from one another. Sarah Fox leads the three sopranos as Aminta, with the warm tones of Anna Devin as Tamiri and the more incisive singing of Ailish Tynan as Elisa providing dazzling support. John Mark Ainsley has never sounded better, as Alessandro, and the young tenor, Benjamin Hulett, pours his heart out in 'Sol può dir come si trovo' in one of the final scenes. Ian Page's conducting is a model of clarity and brightness. There is, of course, a libretto with a full English translation, and a very informative essay by Ian Page. There have been a number of recordings of Il Re Pastore over the years; this, I think, in its brightness and immediacy, will be difficult to surpass.
This is such a fun opera and a pleasure to listen to. It comes in around just under two hours, and one wishes it were even longer. How often can you say that about an opera? The present recording is first-rate, and I look forward to hearing other performances from this proposed complete Mozart cycle with Ian Page, conductor. John Mark Ainsley has had a long and distinguished career. While his voice has aged since his youth, it's in better shape than many other late-career Mozart tenors (e.g. Peter Schreier). He handles the coloratura well, although he only seems to sing a real vowel on the first and the last note of each run, with everything in between being kind of a muffled "uh." But the ear soon gets used to this, and it is more than made up for by the beautiful, vibrant women's voices on this set. A great second recording after the Complete Mozart Edition operas on Philips, a steal at less than the cost of one full-length opera recording:
Middle Italian Operas: Comp Mozart Edition 14
as part of the volume of Middle Italian Operas.