Search - Saverio Mercadante, Giuliano Carella, Orchestre Philharmonique de Pays de Loire :: Mercadante: Il Giuramento

Mercadante - a much underrated Composer

Alec M. Raymond | Brisbane, Australia | 02/25/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"""Il Giuramento" was the first composition of Mercadante I had ever heard or bought. Since then I have bought other operas of his and his early clarinet and flute concerti (which are very tuneful and entertaining). As I listened to this opera, I became aware of a composer who took care over his orchestrations, and was working towards better musical characterisation. Writing clearly in the Bel Canto tradition of the first half of the C19th, he strives to achieve this without undue vocal display for its own sake. The plot resembles the later "La Gioconda" but is handled in what I now realise is Mercadante's own style. I don't wish to single out performers, as I enjoyed the ensemble feel of the cast working together to do justice to a sadly neglected score which has proved even more entertaining on repeated listening. It's a good live perfromance and there is a libretto in Italian, but at full price, Nuova Era could present parallel English/French/German translations, or as some other companies do, have them available at their websites for downloading. However this and other Italian companies are doing opera lovers a great service by making much previously unrecorded Opera repetoire available."

A Pleasant Surprise

Esteban Molina | San Francisco | 12/16/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I fully agree with the three people who have posted reviews: this is an opera that merits more exposure. The more I hear it, the more I like it. In fact, I can say the same for Mercadante himself and I am now a bona fide fan. I only wanted to add a caution to what has already been said by others. Based on the raves about the tenor, I was expecting something that, in the event, was simply not there. Morino's mid-range is very pleasing and becomes more so as the opera progresses; his upper range is another matter. Though he has agility and is able to infuse his voice with conviction, the truth is that the voice in the upper reaches is not basically a very ingratiating sound. I wince fairly often at the moments the other reviewers seem to praise: not for any lack of accuracy, but simply because his sound on top is far from beautiful. For me the highlight is the soprano who raises the whole performance to a higher level. So, you have my caveat. With her in place, and the over-all ensemble feel of the performance, you have a very enjoyable experience of a fine opera. The sound of the live performance is very good. Voices are natural and forward; the orchestral sound is slightly lacking in depth; but after a few moments one becomes accustomed to the acoustic and there is no real problem. In short, I like it very much!"

A MUST HAVE OPERA

Alfredo R. Villanueva | New York, NY United States | 12/03/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY THE WORK OF COMPOSERS SUCH AS MERCADANTE AND PACINI HAS BEEN SO UNJUSTLY NEGLECTED FOR SO LONG. MAYBE PRESSURE ON SINGERS FROM AUDIENCES AND OPERA HOUSES WHO NEED TO FILL AN AUDITORIUM WITH THE SAME WORK HORSES YEAR AFTER YEAR. THIS IS A VERY GOOD RECORDING OF A BEAUTIFUL OPERA THAT DESERVES CAREFUL ATTENTION. VERY CAPABLE ENSEMBLE SINGING, BUT AMONG THE CAST, GIUSEPPE MORINO, WHO HAD SUCH AN UNFORTUNATE DEBUT IN "IL PIRATA" NEXT TO APRILLE MILLO FOR EVE QUELER--HE WAS PANNED BY THE PUNDITS AT THE NYT--IS OUTSTANDING. HIS OPENING ARIA IS A SHOW STOPPER--HIS TECHNIQUE HARKS BACK TO FERRUCIO TAVIAGLINI. AND JUST WAIT FOR THE HIGH C'S! THE LIBRETTO IS ONLY IN ITALIAN, BUT IF YOU ARE AN REAL FAN OF THIS MUSIC, YOU SHOULD HAVE LEARNED THE LANGUAGE A LONG TIME AGO!"