Search - Vincenzo Bellini, Pinchas Steinberg, Edita Gruberova :: Bellini: Beatrice di Tenda / Steinberg, Gruberova, Kasarova

Beatrice Di Tenda

wbenedon | Encino, CA USA | 03/30/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This was a new find for me. Having heard Gruberova in Fille de Regiment I selected this version of Bellini's opera. It is a soprono's tour de force and Gruberova does an oustanding job. It is a worthy addition to any opera collection. Seldom, if ever performed, it should be performed more often. The applause was a slight disappointment, but after listening to it, I felt like joining in. Heavy on choral with some tuneful arias.If you like baritones and soparanos, this is for you. I must confess that I now must hear the Sutherland performace, since she is quite an advocate of Bellini and this is a challenging assignment. She may have a sweeter voice than Gruberova. It is an enjoyable opera and may be worthy of two artists."

Very desirable Beatrice di Tenda

J. Luis Juarez Echenique | Mexico City | 05/03/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I wonder why record companies keep recording Toscas and Turandots without capable singers and ignore gorgeous operas like Beatrice di Tenda. Therefore my thanks to Edita Gruberova for making this recording available to us. Yes, it is a live recording but with very good sound, since it seems to have been a concert performance, the voices are steady and are well caught. Gruberova gives a remarkable performance, needless to say secure vocally and emotionally involved. The rest of the cast is mostly excellent. Instead of buying a dreadful Traviata with Cheryl Studer, or a new needless Turandot recorded live in Beijing, I urge you to investigate this little known gem of an opera."

Definitive recording

M. Montenegro | mexico | 06/18/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Beatrice di Tenda is one of my favorites operas. The music is great (the final aria was Chopin's favorite) and the relation of it with the text could not be better. This opera is the last colaboration between Bellini and the libretist Felice Romani. Donizetti's Anna Bolena had been a tremendous success and the similarity between the two works was something that Romani believed a guarantee to a fiasco. The opera was well received, but with some reserves and it has never been a part of the traditional opera repertoire, nevertheless, Beatrice has been a favorite of great divas, including Leyla Gencer and Joan Sutherland.



From all the recordings of this opera (Sutherland, Gencer, Aliberti, etc.), this one is, in my opinion, the best choice: Gruberova is in excelent form... pianissimi, forte, legato, cadenze... everything you expect from a bel canto diva, but Gruberova is more than mere virtuosity: she really gets inside the drama and communicates it very efficiently. When you hear her last scene, you understand why Chopin was in love with this music. The rest of the cast is also in a very high level, including a very youg mezzosoprano who was to become more than a diva's companion: Vesselina Kasarova.



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