Search - Vincenzo Bellini, Gabriele Ferro, Turin RAI Orchestra :: Bellini: Bianca e Fernando

An interesting addition to the Bellini discography

Ralph Moore | Bishop's Stortford, UK | 05/11/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am mildly surprised that no-one has seen fit to review this set so far, given that there seems to be no studio recording and only one other live one, which looks good but is more expensive than this. The good news is that the sound is excellent - clean stereo with very little audience noise and just a little print-through audible when you listen on heaphones - and the singers are very good, too. Savastano was a second rank tenor; more of a "tenorino" than the real article, with a rather piercing sound, but he had splendid top notes and a good sense of line and style, despite the rather pinched tone. Yasuko Hayashi might be more familiar to collectors; she is an excellent Rachel in the Opera d'Oro "La Juive" (Richard Tucker in great form quite late in his career) and a vivacious, touching Adina in the live Gala 1976 "L'Elisir d'Amore" with a youthful Carreras. The bass Enrico Fissore is especially fine - a really rich, robust, Italianate voice and the baritone Mario Machi is very expressive. The music is charming, melodic and occasionally quite dramatic, if not especially memorable - some snippets are recognisable because they are later recycled in "Norma", Bellini's masterpiece - but there is a fair amount of drama in the Act Two confrontation between brother and sister and Hayashi's delivery of the most famous aria "Sorgi, o padre" is exquisite. Bel canto enthusiasts and Bellini "completists" will want this, his second opera - and at this price, with this quality of performance, it is hard to see why they should not acquire it."