Search - Vincenzo Bellini, Domenico Cimarosa, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart :: Cimarosa: Il Credulo

Uninteresting opera in ugly sound

Paul E. Hartman | Los Angeles | 12/30/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Cimarosa's comic opera ("farsa") "Il Credulo" comes here from an Italian RAI broadcast from 1956 conducted by the competent Alfredo Simonetto. It is advertised as "Previously Unpublished", and there may be good reasons why, after listening. As with Archipel CD issues, there is no libretto provided nor information about the artists or this particular radio broadcast occasion.

To begin with, unfortunately, the music has little to capture the imagination, falling short both in infectious humor as well as musical inspiration. What ensues is a fairly straightforward mediocre 18th century Italian comic opera setting in one Act, with the usual solo/ensemble numbers separated by recitatives.

The cast contains the wonderful Cesare Valletti, a lyric tenor who is not at his fabulous best here, and Sesto Bruscantini, in fine voice. Dora Gatta provides adequate coverage of the female lead but nothing to write home about; she displays a fresh but rather high-pitched light soprano to essay this very undemanding music.

The filler is a series of arias with Bruscantini, two from Mozart, and one each from operas by Rossini, Bellini and Verdi.



The sound is another matter also. Archipel can either mess up the sound, or produce great sound (e.g. the Furtwangler Tristan Acts 2 and 3 from 1947 an example of their ability to produce superb sound quality). Here, however, it sounds as if a metal lathe is operating in the next room, an unpleasant metallic loud hum accompanies the music from the outset, plus additionally a smattering of pops and drops. As an afficionado of older live performance recordings, I am often not deterred by faults of this nature, but here, with little to inspire in the music, it proves to be an annoying tedious affair.



I would not recommend purchasing this CD, unless you are a stubborn Cimarosa opera completist, or rabid fan of Cesare Valletti or Sesto Bruscantini."