Search - Cilea, Zilio, Kelen :: Cilea: L'Arlesiana

Verismo rarity

daniel0302 | New York, NY United States | 04/10/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

""Adriana Lecouvreer" is still in the repertoire, but other than that, Cilea's place in opera history is one of relative obscurity. In its day, "L'Arlesiana" was a big hit, due to the star power and popularity of Enrico Caruso, who used it as a vehicle. Caruso had spectacular success with the one well- known aria from the opera, "E la solita storia del pastore". The libretto has a major flaw; the primary antagonist, the Arlesian girl of the title, never appears on stage. Federico, the tenor protagonist to whom she is betrothed, learns of her fallen virtue in the first act; the ensuing two acts basically consist of him tediously moping about in self-pity, like a low rent Werther, until he takes his own life. As Federico, Peter Kelen's voice is sometimes astringent and can get a little tiresome. The well known aria is competently sung - if a little over zealous with its optional high notes - but anyone interested in this famous piece will want to listen elsewhere. Check out Roberto Alagna's haunting, melancholy version on his 1995 recital disc, or the excellent interpretations recorded by Jose Cura, Luciano Pavarotti, or Jose Carreras. Kelen simply does not compete with these others in this aria, but his overall performance is reasonably successful, and he does capture much of the neurotic despair of the character, without being quite as tiresome as the character could easily be. Elena Zilio sings the central mezzo role or Rosa Mammai, Federico's mother. Despite the wobble - is this a requirement in Italian mama roles? - she gives a forceful and idiomatic portrayal. The soprano role, secondary in importance to the tenor and mezzo, is here performed by the lovely, and seldom recorded, Maria Spacagna. Spacagna contributes some truly beautiful singing and makes the most the music. Under the smart guidance of Charles Rosenkrans, this recording successfully builds on the works strengths and succeeds at minimizing many of its flaws. As versimo operas go, "L'Arlesiana" lacks the over the top passions of, say, "Fedora" or "Tosca", and it is by no means a neglected masterpiece such as "L'amor dei tre re", but if you like these operas, or the works of Leoncavallo and Mascagni, you will enjoy discovering "L'Arlesiana"."

E la solita storia..

Manrico | 12/27/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"L'Arlesiana still has some good stuff to bring to us, and the most important one is the famous tenor aria, e la solita storia (lamento di Federico) , which is perhaps one of the most amazing tenor arias ever written.
In this version, I think Peter Kelen doesn't do a bad job, he's not the best but he is pleasant to hear in a big part of the opera. He sounds quite sure in the top of his register and is not bad technically, not impressive though.
About THE aria, I must say that Kelen sings it fine. I would recomend versions by BENIAMINO GIGLI, Tito Shipa, Giussepe di Stefano and I think Alfredo Kraus sang it quite well too.That's all I'll write for the moment.
Bye!"