Rossini - Tancredi / Podles, Jo, Olsen, Spagnoli, di Micco, Lendi, Zedda

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Music reviews of Rossini - Tancredi / Podles, Jo, Olsen, Spagnoli, di Micco, Lendi, Zedda

Music Review: Stendhal thought it Rossini's masterpiece.
Rating: 4 Stars

The opera itself dates from the same period as Rossini's first masterpiece, 'L'Italiana d'Algieri'. If it's not the equal of that infectious comedy, 'Tancredi' is an enjoyable melodrama in its own right. There are few of the accumulative ensembles and choruses, or violent musical snowballing that have become synonymous with the composer - all is melodious and restrained, which is just as well, as the halting and repetitive plot (after Voltaire, but with the ending changed), is not the most dramatic Rossini ever had to work with. Like his great successor Verdi, Rossini was primarily interested in the interplay between the private and the public, individual desires and communal needs, and how relationships might or might not mediate between the two. The start of the opera is a brilliant demonstration of this - the opening urban pomp as two major clans join in reconciliation introduces the heroine who accepts public acclaim, but worries privately. This is followed by the arrival of the hero, with beautifully lyrical music evocative of love and nature. A more urgent example sees Amenaide fretting in prison while her former lover fights off stage - private anxiety becomes public exultation as we hear the rising cheers of victory.

Description of Rossini - Tancredi / Podles, Jo, Olsen, Spagnoli, di Micco, Lendi, Zedda

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