Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur
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CD Details
Performer: Sherrill MilnesPerformer: Giancarlo Luccardi
Performer: Paul Hudson
Composer: Francesco Cilea
Conductor: James Levine
Performer: Ann Murray
Performer: Yelena Obraztsova
Orchestra: Ambrosian Opera Chorus
Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra of London
Performer: Lillian Watson
Performer: Renata Scotto
Performer: Florindo Andreolli
Performer: Paul Crook
Performer: Pl?cido Domingo
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1989-10-11
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- Act 1. Michonnet, della bianca!
- Act 1. Io son l'umile ancella
- Act 1. Adrianna!.. che c'??
- Act 1. La dolcissima effige
- Act 1. Or dunque, Abate?
- Act 1. Ecco il monologo
- Act 1. Neppure una parola!
- Act 2. Acerba volutt?
- Act 2. O vagabonda stella d'Oriente
- Act 2. Principessa. Finalmente!
- Act 2. L'anima ho stanca
- Act 2. Vi cogliam, Conte, sul fatto
- Act 2. Ma, dunque, ? vero?
- Act 2. Ebbene? Che granchio!
- Act 2. E sia! Non risponde
- Act 3. Eh via! cos? non va
- Act 3. Commossa io sono per s? grande onor
- Act 3. Il russo M?ncikoff
- Act 3. Dormi, dormi o pastorello!
- Act 3. ? quella dama al certo!
- Act 4. Preludio
- Act 4. So ch'ella dorme
- Act 4. Amico mio!
- Act 4. Bambina, non ti crucciare
- Act 4. Ma sottintesa
- Act 4. Poveri fiori
- Act 4. Adrianna!.. Non odi?
- Act 4. No, la mia fronte
- Act 4. Che? Tu tremi!
Music reviews of Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur
Music Review: Buying Adriana in an uncertain economy
Rating: 4 Stars
Dear frugal opera lover, I have bad news for you: you'll have to buy two Adrianas. You see, one Adriana has to be sung by Magda Olivero - almost certainly, there is a law against not having an Olivero recording of this role, since it was hers from the moment she first adopted it- and Olivero Adrianas only come in live recordings, which is almost never the best thing, and definitely not if the recording predates digital technology. So, whatever recording of Olivero is presently available will give you the best Adriana there ever was, and will likely be wanting in all other aspects.
I have a recording that doesn't seem to be listed on Amazon - perhaps it's out of print - as well as this one, with Renata Scotto. Scotto is very good, but she is absolutely no match for Olivero, not vocally (she loses control in her fortissimi, while Olivero's strike you with a force seldom encountered outside of the Wagner fach) and not as an actress: don't forget that some of the most prominent scenes in Adriana are actually spoken.
Why has it been so difficult to find a decent Princess Bouillon over time? Obrasztova is dreadful, and so is Mimi Aarden on my Olivero recording: their voices are almost identical, and both sound like dying horses. It makes you appreciate a fine alto when you finally run into one.
But with Scotto you also get an outrageous Domingo: I say "outrageous" because I'm not really convinced that he's portraying his Maurizio correctly; no mistaking a military man here, but there is absolutely not tenderness, no seductive grace - you wonder what could have possibly attracted Adriana to this aggressive macho... unless she liked aggressive machos, of course. Domingo sings like he's determined to bust his vocal chords, and whether right or wrong in terms of the role, vocally he is never less than superlative. Corelli? No, never mind Corelli. This is tenor singing without compare.
You also get James Levine and a splendidly illuminated interpretation of the score. Why is this so important in a verismo opera, where we principally focus on the grit of bloody events before us? Well, because the grit in question is rather mediocre, while the score is quite good. Be advised: Adriana Lecouvreur is by no means a great libretto; although both Adriana and Maurizio really existed, their occasionally sad and often sordid affair had little to do with Arturo Colautti's ho-hum adaptation. While there is some charm in the humorous behind-the-scenes look at the life of actors, mostly the libretto is a contrived bore that mistakes soap for verismo.
Cilea's music is a different matter altogether. Although he stole bits and pieces here and there, from Verdi, Puccini, and yes, even from early Wagner, and although he threw in a custom that must have been quite dead by his time--a ballet intermezzo in the middle of act two--he did all of this very, very well. The actual arias are few (arguably, there is only one for Adriana that qualifies as a true aria), and I wouldn't blame you if you decided that you could live happily with just the arias, found on diverse compilations. But if you want a full Adriana, in order to hear dramatic recitation that just might impress you, you're stuck: you need Olivero and you need someone recorded in a studio. Scotto will do fine.
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