Gaspare Spontini Riccardo Muti Montserrat Caballeacute - Spontini Agnese di Hohenstaufen Caball Stella Bruscantini Muti (16 tracks) +Album Reviews

An excellent piece from the unfamiliar repertory

J. E. ASENCIO-NEGRON | Guaynabo, Puerto Rico USA | 04/29/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Montserrat Caballé (soprano) embarked herself over the last 3 decades upon an astonishing exploration of unfamiliar repertory. This includes Spontini's La Vestale & Agnese di Hohenstaufen, Gluck's Armide, Salieri's Les Danaïdes, Donizetti's Sancia di Castiglia, Pacini's Saffo, Cherubini's Medea & Démophon, Rossini's Ermione & Il Viaggio a Reims, Respighi's La Fiamma, and Massenet's Hérodiade.As you have seen from the aforementioned list, she has a remarkable enthusiasm for tackling forgotten works. In this, she has has in fact gone considerably further than Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland, who were also interested in discovering forgotten operas from classical & romantic repertoire. This recording captures Ms. Caballé in the extraordinary demanding role of Agnese (which she performs superbly), in Spontini's last opera: Agnese di Hohenstaufen (premiered as "Agnes von Hohenstaufen", 1827, Berlin). Her vocal prowess and pleasing bel canto is evident is the 2nd act aria (CD2 Track 2): "O Re dei Cieli". Spontini's elaborate & rich orchestration, as well as his imaginative harmonization in ensembles with chorus are quite evident since the beginning of the opéra (CD1, Track 1). If you are a fan of Caballé, and appreciate an excellent soprano performance, I assure you would not like to miss this performance of the 1970's revival of : "Agnese di Hohenstaufen" under Riccardo Muti (director)."

Grand opera at its grandest

B. Cathey | Wendell, NC United States | 01/08/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"AGNESE di HOHENSTAUFEN truly epitomizes the 'grand' in grand opera. This performance features the unexcelled vocalism of Montserrat Caballe, with excellent support from the underappreciated Bruno Prevedi and Giangiacomo Guelfi. Spontini's considerable talent (and reasons for criticism!) are all on display--the vocal lines seem never to end...arias become duets, which become quartets, only to become choruses and then arias again...there is a steady stream of gorgeous music (that certainly caught Wagner's attention).
The Opera d'Oro issue is presently the only current one available of this justly memorable performance; an earlier issue by Rodolphe Productions had clearer and more detailed sound, but is sadly out of print. Still the price is right...so recommended, at least until Myto or some other enterprising label reissues it. Note: there is a video of this production, although not the same performance (and with a different conductor), that can be found in specialty shops."

An Interesting Opera

Halvor | United States | 09/03/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This opera was revived in 1925 for the great Rosa Ponselle, and in the nineteen fifties for the equally great Anita Cerquetti. (You should hear Cerquetti sing the opera's big aria, "O Re die Cieli!" It is sensational!) The recording currently under discussion was made in Rome in 1970. Montserrat Caballe is the star of this show, singing with power and passion in the title role. In the quieter passages, she is simply ravishing. Antonietta Stella, a La Scala favorite, sings a firm and controlled Irmengarda, and our two tenors, Bruno Prevedi and Giangiacomo Guelfi, are powerful singers. They are required to sing over the huge orchestra for long periods of time; both do it well and don't sound as if they are tiring. Their lyrical passages involving smaller instrumental forces are also very well executed. Sesto Bruscantini, that versatile basso, is excellent in his role as the Duke of Burgundy. (I have heard Bruscantini sing a wonderful Don Pasquale and a Vivaldi opera many years ago. What a diversity of roles!) The secondaries for the most part sing well. Riccardo Muti conducts the capable RAI Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of Rome with poise and balance, never burying the singers. The recording itself sounds old fashioned and is subject to tape saturation in loud places, but it still listenable. There is a booklet with some history of the opera in it, but no libretto. If you like your opera on a large scale, then this is for you."

A Fine Performance at a great price

John Cragg | Delta(greater Vancouver), B.C Canada | 06/14/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Muti and Caballe team up to bring to life an otherwiseunfortunately neglected opera. The cast is splendid with not onlyCaballe, but also Stella and Bruscantini contributing strongly and Prevardi providing the really strong tenor that Spontini seems to need. He is a very suitable foil for Caballe. This is big production French Opera -- even though written originally to a German libretto and here sung in Italian. The orchestra and chorus play major roles, and under Muti exciting ones, while the choral singing as well as the individual performances are magnificant.There are unfortunately two weaknesses to this release. The first is the sound, which is often muffled, especially of the orchestra but also of the singers, and occasionally distorted. This is too bad since it seriously detracts from a set of performances which when properly miked and engineered are supurb.The second is the farcical booklet. This consists of nothing but a short essay by Bill Parker and a somewhat inaccurate track index -- which gives no indication of what is being sung. There is no libretto, and the essay spends most of its time on what a character Spontini was and trivia about the opera's early performances. The synopsis is remarkable in occupying only part of a very short paragraph. There is no serious discussion of what choices were made for this recording, or what was the occasion of its being made. As a result, I don't have the foggiest idea of what is going on, but the performers -- and this listener -- are having a fine time.Of course, for [this price] with over two hours of splendid and grand opera, one really shouldn't complain -- this set is a fantastic bargain!"

Superb performance of an underrated opera

madamemusico | Cincinnati, Ohio USA | 07/18/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Gasparo Spontini's "Agnes von Hohenstaufen," here sung in Italian to a cut version of the score, provides a wonderful view of a highly underappreciated score. The original opera was written in German (because Spontini was Court Composer in Berlin at the time) and lasted around four hours--a fatal flaw which led to its non-popularity--set to a rather confused and turgid libretto. But this work is much like Verdi's "Il Trovatore," which also has a flawed and confused text set to some of the most stunning music imaginable.Spontini was virtually the creator of massed choral and vocal scenes with shifting rhythms and harmonies within a continuous flow, and so was really Wagner's predecessor. (Wagner greatly admired Bellini's "Norma," Meyerbeer's "Les Huguenots" and the operas of Spontini and Berlioz.) Indeed, this continuous musical flow is one of many things that sets Spontini apart from his more famous "bel canto" brethren, even from early Verdi who followed in their footsteps. And the music is truly stunning. In the finale of Act 2, for instance, one hears the four principal soloists singing a polyphonic ensemble against the massed orchestra and chorus to their left, while to their right and offstage one hears a chorus of nuns singing to the accompaniment of what sounds just like an organ. But Berlioz, in his "Evenings With the Orchestra," points out that this was NOT an organ but a small body of wind instruments who mimic an organ to perfection. In such small but important details one realizes the great genius of Spontini.The singing is by and large superb, though in my view Montserrat Caballe lacks the grand dramatic note necessary for this role. Don't get me wrong, she had a gorgeous voice and could float like an angel, but feeling the drama "from the inside" the way Callas, Suliotis and Gencer were able to do, was quite beyond her powers. In this very early example of his powers, Riccardo Muti conducts with drama and passion, and the cast is remarkably stellar for a revival of what was then (and remains today) a little-known work. In addition to Caballe and the fine tenor Bruno Prevedi, we also get Antonietta Stella in the second soprano role, the excellent Italian bass Ferruccio Mazzola, and two of Italy's finest baritones of the era, Sesto Bruscantini and Giangiacomo Guelfi (who was NOT a tenor as another reviewer has mentioned). This luxury casting brings out the best in the music, which is noble, lyrical and expressive. One will also note that Spontini, unlike his bel canto brethren, worked primarily with the middle ranges of his voices, not the high range as they (and Verdi) liked to exploit.Though the sound is a trifle boxy, it is real stereo, which adds to your enjoyment of the work. Highly recommended despite the lack of a libretto."

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