Ewa Podles Music

Ewa Podles is a dramatic contralto who is not as familiar to American audiences as she should be. She hasn't sung at the Metropolitan Opera in something close to 20 years, but is scheduled to sing the role of La Cieca in Ponchielli's "La Gioconda" there next year. There is speculation that she may be past her prime now, but this recording of her singing Rossini arias shows her off very nicely. Her singing is very distinctive and she is a committed performer.

Her voice is rich and warm but with an amazing agility - perfect for the coloratura mezzo-soprano and contralto roles that Rossini wrote for the virtuosa lower-voiced female singer. Her ornaments are showy and when she ends on a high note, the power and the range of her voice just amazes. She uses chest voice to great effect.

Great price also for this CD - it is a specialty recording for someone looking for something different but masterful.

why do some people with great knowledge of music confuse the type of voices and then write a review about it EWA PODLES is not a mezzo or thought the first time naxos releasd the rossini arias they did launch it as "ARIAS FOR MEZZO SOPRANO" IT AS SINCE BEING RIGHTLY RECTIFIED TO "ARIAS FOR CONTRALTO"AND WHAT IS THIS ABOUT HER VOICE NOT SOUNDING YOUNG ENOUGH FOR ROSINA(FROM ONE 5 STARS REVIEW CUSTOMER?)I'M AFRAID THEY'RE ARE ALOT OF MUCH YOUNGER SINGERS THAT COULD NOT DO HALF OF WHAT E PODLES DOES.
SHE WILL BE AT THE WIGMORE HALL IN JANUARY 2008 WITH RUSSIANS SONGS AND I CAN NOT WAIT WHILST I WOULD NOT CROSS THE PAVEMENT FOR CECILIA BARTOLI! BUT THAT'S MY CHOICE.(BY OTHER WAY I WILL PROBABLY MAKE SOME PEOPLE FURIOUS BY ADMITTING WITH PRIDE THAT MY FAVORITE SINGER IS WAIT FOR it!DAME JOSEPHINE BARSTOW!)what about that then?
#

In the 1960's, the great and immortal Marilyn Horne began her astonishing operatic career with her ability to use her mezzo soprano voice in the execution of the most intricate coloratura of Rossini. She was, in a very real sense, like Callas and Sutherland, a "restorer" rather than an "innovator". Revivals of Rossini operas like "Semiramide", "Tancredi", "L'Italiana in Algeri", "Ermione", "L"Assedio di Corinto" returned to the operatic repertoire because Marilyn Horne could sing them. She even sang Jocasta in Stravinsky's "Oedipus Rex", as well as works of Handel, Donizetti, and Bellini.
Now comes Ewa Podles, whose voice is NOT a mezzo-soprano, but a real contralto with a technical ability to match Horne's. Podles' voice is a truly amazing instrument, one which can encompass the lowest "basement" notes of Verdi's Ulrica and Azucena, and can then enter the world of florid Rossini coloratura and deliver it with the precision of a machine gun. Virtually all of the items on this recording have been previously recorded (in the most spectacular fashion) by Marilyn Horne. Her versions of these pieces are cherished vocal documents. Podles, in a very real sense, is even more amazing in the sense that she is a real contralto, a voice all but extinct today. This Rossini disc deserves a place alongside of Horne's versions. Voices of this caliber are from another planet.

The Polish-born Mezzo-soprano is truly magnificent on this CD. Her voice is amazing and one-of-a-kind: it is full, rich and strong with an unbelievable range and a nice coloratura. She maintains full strength throughout her range and her voice never wavers and is never weak or shrill. If you like the beautiful melodies of Rossini and the sound of a great Mezzo-soprano, you'll like this CD.

This is an amazing, surprising and refreshing way of looking/hearing Rossini. After years of hearing most mezzo-sopran and alt roles conquered just by force of numbers by counter-tenors and Cecilia Bartoli (don't get me wrong,she's really good, but have you ever asked yourself why she doesn't perform usually on big stages but on small ones or on studios? Her voice, though wonderful for coloratura, is small for a big audience), I have come to adore, simply adore, this polish singer. Her way of singing, her voice's colour, her strength and her ability to sing the most damned roles written for a low voice....including coloratura (just hear her in "Dovver, iustizia, amor..." from Handel's Ariodante) make her a wholesome alto. Which makes me hope for a better day for alto and mezzo-sopran voices. I must confess I don't like counter-tenors a bit, they sound too un-natural.

The ballet scene in this opera made it a must. I played it over and over.The rest of the opera is good but not great.

This is the most satisfctory of DVD opera recordings. All of the singers project beautifully and the ballet is memorable. The only downside is the lack of hair on the hero.

Let's do some justice here;there aren't many grounds to stage such an ordinary opera and its ridiculous plot just as "La Gioconda" surely is.A fine and powerful soprano performing the title role would be a strong reason to do that.You must to hear the thing at live once to catch that;clearly,Deborah Voigt's straussian voice is a challenge to the best of sound engineers,especially in its top register.So,I agree to Mr. Mardigan and maybe some of rewiewers bellow should scrutinize their stereo systems,then turn over and over again the Barcelona production in order to discover an infallible,golden tone-Gioconda that puts on shame most of Voigt's so acclaimed predecessors on this atrocious part.Especially amazing is her performance on final act;there aren't a single evidence of weariness in her voice,not even on that kind-of-coloratura duetto with Barnaba on last bars of the score.The only reason to one regrets would be her decision on devotes herself to such a poor music like this one(oh,please;go back to R.Strauss!).Anyway,besides the pleasure to watch her video premiére just here,my opinion is that Barcelona team provides an enjoyable performance,well staged with "gondolas" and beautiful wardrobe.Margison sings a fine Enzo,even it's hard a bit to conceive a bald and some overweight leading man in these High-Def times.Guelfi,Podles and the conductor are just ok if not all that great but Liceo's audience was very kind about its "La Cieca" that evening.Seconda Donna,Elizabetta Fiorillo runs attempting "to get the better of" for trying to crumble her colleagues so obviously.However her old fashioned singing and acting are just a gross performance of Laura Adorno;honestly,I was satisfied because she's sleeping most of time.Orchestra plays just "on average";my former Liceo dvd experiences(Wagner,Britten)and this one are not the best ones;surely there are problems to solve,especially on horns section.Much better was its big chorus and the couple of principal naked dancers.

Ponchielli's La Gioconda is exceedingly difficult to mount, largely because it requires six principal singers who are not only larger than life but required to sing very difficult music. There is no completely satisfying CD set of the opera, and the same is, alas, true of the choice of DVDs. This one has some things to recommend it, not least the stylish, almost minimalist but still traditional staging and sets by Pier Luigi Pizzi. Among the singers the standouts are the Barnaba of Carlo Guelfi and the Alvise of Carlo Columbara. Ewa Podles's La Cieca has its moments, but there are also some passages where the voice turns a bit fuzzy. Her acting was excellent, however. The Laura of Elisabetta Fiorillo is frankly negligible, both vocally and histrionically.

Which brings us to the main characters, Gioconda and Enzo Grimaldo. The Canadian tenor Richard Margison is a fine dramatic tenor and his performance overall is quite good, and I found his 'Cielo e mar' to be stirring. He is not a great actor, but the noble and stalwart character of Enzo doesn't really require much in the way of subtlety. This performance was recorded in 2005 and Deborah Voigt, the Gioconda, had lost a good amount of weight but it sounds as if her voice had not quite settled with the change in her body. Still, the voice rides above the ensemble when necessary. Her big aria, 'Suicidio', is not a triumph, however; there is a husky quality that creeps into the voice during that so-important dramatic third act aria. Otherwise, she was a believable and generally enjoyable Gioconda, especially in the lyrical passages.

By far the high point of this production is the Dance of the Hours in Act III. Choreography is by Gheorghe Iancu and it is utterly charming. Basically there is a corps de ballet of twelve women representing the twelve hours of the day and night and two soloists, Ángel Corella and Letizia Giuliani, the latter virtually topless. The solo dancers' choreography is both virtuosic and erotic. There is no doubt about why the audience went crazy at the conclusion of the dance. And it deserved all the applause it got.

The orchestra of Barcelona's Teatre del Liceu, under Daniele Callegari, is excellent and they are particularly good in the gossamer passages of the Dance of the Hours.

This is not the ultimate Gioconda but it will do until something better comes along.

Two DVDs. LPCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1. Subtitles in English, German, French, Italian and Spanish. Region code 0 (not 2 as listed at Amazon). TT 174 mins.

Scott Morrison

Excellent conducting, wonderful Deborah Voight, and all other principles make for a gripping experience of this often ridiculed opera. The Cieca, Barnaba, Enzo, Alvize..all are superbly sung, and this is a very demanding opera on all voices..but here there is sheer beauty and high drama and high notes in all the designated places, not short tops with Deborah Voight, ever!

Since Voght has lost so much weight, she acts with great force, and her voice now has those high notes, heretofore not focused at all.

The sets are very sparse, but it really is the vocal drama that dominates this, and here it is very compelling.

There are other versions, but this is the best, and there are CD versions to match..especially Callas' La Gioconda and Marton's on CBS. Avoid tat Umana one, but Placido Domingo is great.

Buy this and revel in the romance and the vendetta and that blazinbg final scene..all there before you in tantalizing sound!

I recommend this to everyone I meet who is into music of any kind. I recommend getting the DVD of this performance as well..it's absolutely hilarious. If you're a fan of Dessay, Petibon, Podles, and Fouchecourt like I am, then what are you waiting for? It's time to order, yo!

Love,
Chris

Excellent all around! Dessay and Podles stand out.

I love this opera and this particular CD. For me the highest mark goes to Natalie Dessay for her pure voice and her expression. Against the purists, I really miss the ouverture-pot pourri that you listen sometime on the radio.

I do not believe there are any cd's in my entire collection that I have listened to as many times as I have listened to this one! Tableaux Troix is nearly worn out! Thanks to a slight taste of the english lyrical versions of Offenbach on Lesley Garrett's 'Soprano in Red' album, I new I had to have more, and if Garrett was a taste then Desay is truly the meal! Everything about this album was great. The preformance of all the cast to the sound quality (which seems always to be of a high caliber with EMI) go beyond excellence! I can not recommend this cd but demand that you hear it and you will know what I am talking about!

This CD should be illegal - everyone from the singers to the musicians obviously had way too much fun - and so will you! Natalie Dessay shines as Eurydice and Laurent Naouri is a delightful (if rather roving) Jupiter, while Yann Beuron makes Orphee come alive. Ewa Podles gives Public Opinion exactly the right amount of santimonious self-rightousness.

A truly delightful recording - even if you aren't an opera lover, you owe it to yourself to listen to this wonderful romp to Mount Olympus and the Underworld...a case of Heaven in Hell!

Great performances all around, great sound...doesn't get any better (or more fun) than this.

"Ariodante" (1735) was intended for some of the leading performers of Handel's time. Stiff competition from Nicola Porpora and the threat of bankruptcy `forced' Handel to write works of higher quality for the first time since the Big Three: "Giulio Cesare" (1724), "Tamerlano" (1724) and "Rodelinda" (1725).

Two things make "Ariodante" and its sister opera "Alcina" (1735) exceptional: 1. singers of the four major voice categories (i.e. soprano, alto, tenor and bass). Often Handel operas do without low male voices, e.g. "Teseo" (1713) and "Amadigi" (1715). 2. the services of the notorious French ballerina Mlle. Salle and her ballet troupe.

The instrumentation of "Ariodante" is not as grand as in "Giulio Cesare", "Rinaldo" (1711) or "Teseo" which are designed to make a splash and to ravish the senses. In "Ariodante" the orchestra is `down-scaled' to strings, oboes, horns and continuo - a trumpet also appears when Ginevra is vindicated. Handel utilises the orchestra in such a way that the sound world varies from one aria to the next to capture the right mood to reflect and propel the drama.

Minkowski is onto something great with his version - and what an inspired reading it is! He keeps the drama moving at a fast pace (maybe too fast sometimes, like Dalinda's final aria). It's hard to believe it, but the singers and wonderful orchestra keep up with him in this live recording.

Minkowski has Anna Sofie von Otter as Ariodante, the role created for the talented castrato Cusanino. Handel wrote exceptionally demanding and expansive coloratura arias for Cusanino (see Teseo's arias in "Arianna in Creta"). Von Otter sings with a clinical precision that can be hard to listen to at times and her already androgynous voice does not lend much appeal to her interpretation; like Fischer-Dieskau she tries to colour every note and syllable to make it more meaningful - too much spice is just as undesirable as too little - but she sings the zipping coloratura of the first version of "Con l'ali" with unequalled skill! For me "Scherza infida" suffers the most from her overbearing colouration of the vocal line, and "Dopo notte" does not touch Janet Baker's first exulted recording. Nonetheless, I think few mezzos today can equal von Otter in this repertoire.

The Ginevra, Lynne Dawson, delivers an uneven performance. In moments Dawson's singing can be exquisite and in others painful. She does have a very beautiful voice, but at times she sounds strained. The demands placed on Anna Strada del Po, who first created this role, seem unreasonable at first - until you listen to Edith Mathis do justice to this role on the Leppard set.

Veronica Cangemi sings Dalinda. Her runs are delivered at a cracking pace - and one wishes sometimes that Minkowski had given her more breathing space, literally and figuratively. Even in the more reflective moments her character comes off like Blondchen on 78 speed. But she delivers the goods at all times.

Ewa Podles sings ("sings" being the understatement of the century) Polinesso. Nothing can quite describe how Podles transforms Polinesso's less spectacular music into something special. She delivers the most outstanding performance on this recording, turning every aria into a Gala Event! No words can convey the talents of Podles: coloratura, high notes, low notes, long phrases - none holds any terror for this incredible ARTIST. Perfect diction, perfect colouration of the vocal line without resorting to ham effects make it a complete mystery why this underrated singer is not more widely recorded.

Richard Croft as Lurcanio has the least interesting character next to Odoardo in this opera, but he brings Lurcanio to life in his arias. Croft's "Il tuo sangue" is probably one of the most exciting recorded Handel arias ever.

Denis Sedov as the The King has a beautiful, full and flexible bass voice. He has a few stunning arias, and he delivers a very fine performance.

"Ariodante" can really be seen as Handel's "Cosi". In both operas the focus is on the emotional turmoil of the characters and not the social implications of their actions. Two moments stand out here: the sinfonia introducing Act 2 and the first Ariodante/Ginevra duet. The King interrupts them before they can continue with the da capo!

"Ariodante" is not just pretty music. Handel was always ahead of his contemporaries: in "Io ti bacio" Ginevra leaves her father to await execution. The introduction consists of four notes in the continuo. Then the violins alone accompany the vocal line in unison until all the instruments join in harmony on a Neapolitan chord - the 18th century chord to convey great despair. Most revolutionary is the second Act ending with an accompanied recitative to reflect Ginevra's madness - in the Baroque era this is unheard of. Then there is the intimate Lurcanio/Dalinda duet which starts of as an aria for Lurcanio, but when you expect the B section to start Dalinda joins, and what magic, what bliss, when their voices unexpectedly unite in harmony at the end with the tenor singing a 3rd above the soprano - very Puccini! Mozart is said to have remarked: "Handel understands effect better than any of us - when he chooses, he strikes like a thunderbolt..."

I cannot resist mentioning the consecutive arias: Ginevra's "Volate amore"; The King's "Voli colla sua tromba" and Ariodante's "Con l'ali di costanza" which caused Burney to complain of Act 1 having nothing but "wings and flying"!

In closing: "Ariodante" appeals to our human and romantic nature, and unlike "Lotario" does not deal with the fate of nations, but rather the emotions of the individual. All these factors, and I wager the reduced orchestra, make us focus on the dark, distressing and mysterious atmosphere which pervades over this opera and its characters, an atmosphere perhaps only equalled in Wagner's "Lohengrin". I look forward to Minkowski's reading of "Arianna in Creta".

This review is a bit of an addendum to the one I wrote about the McGegan Ariodante. How lucky we are to have both his and Minkowski's superb recordings, so different yet both alive with vocal and dramatic excitement.

I've mentioned that I choose McGegan over Minkowski and it is for a number of reasons. That said, I feel that both are really excellent and either is a good choice. My main reservation about this set concerns the conducting. The tempos are all so extreme - on the one hand, Scherza Infida is so slow as to almost cripple poor von Otter (she's a good enough artist to get through - but it's a real challenge for the listener). Then on the other hand, much of the dance music and many of the arias (poor Veronica Cangemi in Dalinda's Act 1 number!) is taken at very, very high speed. The sound made by the Musiciens du Louvre is vibrant and alive but lacks the refinement and beauty of McGegan's orchestra. Minkowski is liberal - sometimes to a fault - with ornaments, and I feel that occasionally less would be so much more.

Fewer reservations about the singing. Von Otter is a wonderful hero, full and radiant of voice, rock-solid and exciting of technique. If she made just a little more of the words she would be the Ariodante of our time. Dawson's Ginevra has been highly praised here and elsewhere and whilst she sings most beautifully and with bags of feeling, I (heretic that I am!) find her range of vocal colour just a bit limited. Cangemi's voice is accurate but thin, whilst thin is never a term that could be applied to Podles' mighty contralto. She's not a subtle singing actress, but the sheer power and security of her singing is what impresses. Croft is certainly an improvement on his Harmonia Mundi counterpart.

A very, very good recording that for me isn't quite the equal of its main rival, but certainly wouldn't disappoint any Handel lover. Five stars, and no mistake.

IMHO, the negative comments of some about "Scherza infida" and the tempi of many arias are dead wrong. The greatness of this production is due to its tremendous sensitivity to the dramatic possibilities of each aria. You never feel that any of the great arias of Act 2 and 3 are static. Nor do you ever feel that the Da Capo offers the same experience as the aria's beginning. The singers and accompaniment seize on every nuance, varying the intensity and focus of the emotions by modulating emphasis, intonation, loudness, tempo, pauses, & balance with the orchestra, so that the entire aria is an unfolding of the emotions.
To me, Minkowski's "Scherza infida" is an overpowering expression of a simply crushed young man thrown down in a moment from the height of his youthful idealism and romantic passion on the eve of his wedding. Ariodante's joyful aria (Dopo notte) and duet in Act 3 are also thrillingly emotional. (And the balance of the voices is perfect in all of the duets.)
It's definitely worth listening to this with libretto in hand, since the singing and acting is so lovingly matched to the word. And this is true of every role!

The singing is glorious for the most part, but the overall effect of this interpretation seems calculated and super controlled at times and at other times careless (tempi) and produces an overall effect which lacks a certain fineness and sincerity of feeling which is annoying and troubling in a subtle and not easily definable way. This is true with the exception of Lynne Dawson's interpretation which is definately definitive. The tonal colors of this interpretation are silvery compared with the deep rich bronze tone colors in the McGegan (Harmonia Mundi) version.

This is a historic recording in every respect.
Before this recording many people thought that Händel operas were all the same and mostly un-dramatic. Minkowski definitely changed this with an extremely dramatic recording. Never before we heard these extreme emotions and tempos in a Händel opera. In 1998, when the recording appeared, there were mixed reactions.
Gramophone preferred the McGegan, because Minkowski was 'over the top', but on the European continent most reviewers recognized the importance and were baffled: the French magazine 'Diapason' even attributed a 'Diapason du siècle', this means that for them this was a recording of the century.
Even now, some people still prefer the McGegan which I can not understand. Just compare the beginning of the ouverture, and you hear that Minkowski enters the drama, he gets into the music. With McGegan it's just another lovely tune in the gallant Baroque style, but this is an opera=drama! In the second part of the ouverture Minkowski has 'drive', McGegan's version already falls flat. I won't go futher into McGegan's singers, which are honorable, but can't excel in the sort of routine direction he offers. Let's concentrate on Minkowski's cast: Lynne Dawson is a definitive Ginevra. Even Gramophone said she was 'the Händel soprano of this moment' and indeed: what a beautiful voice, what technical assurance! Listen to the first act 'volate amori', and you understand what they mean by a Händel prima donna. Ecstasy in every note, the bride is extremely happy at that point, not aware of what is ahead of her.
I am normally not a big fan of Von Otter, but here she is perfectly in place. Every line she sings is heartfelt and meant. On top of that you get the bravoura e.g. in the third act 'Dopo notte', which is really liberating after all the dramatic events that preceded.
The emotional climax of this recording is 'Scherza infida' where the music almost comes to a stand-still. It's really revolutionary to go to these extremes of tempo and dynamics and it is breath-taking.
Ewa Podles is a wicked Polinesso, no pleasant voice but very convincing. And the range of her voice is simply unbelievable, listen to 'Dover, giustizia, amor' in the 3rd act and marvel. Denis Sedov was very young at the time of the recording, but what a noble king! He has the greatest entrance : he interrups the da capo of the Ginevra-Ariodante duet 'prendi da questa mano' with a great line 'Non vi turbato, bell'alma innamorate' which can not sound more lovingly parental. Veronica Cangemi and Richard Croft conclude the cast of first-rate singers and the fact alone that they can keep up with Minkowski's extreme tempos is admirable.
I own over 50 Händel opera and oratorium recordings, and this is definitively one of my favorites (others are Nelson's Semele, Christie's Orlando and Hickox' Alcina). It is certainly the one I admire most, because everything is right.
But you must see a Händel opera as drama, and not just a chain of beautiful tunes ...

As a music educator, I've found the recorded excerpts to be wonderfully and logically organized and presented. I've always been an instrumental music teacher only, but find myself teaching general music classes this year, and absolutely love what I've used so far. The last disc alone shows the fascinating evolution of the modern orchestra. Every other track is narrative text, the script of which is printed in the booklet, and I present that info myself, modifying as needed and answering questions during that time. I've only skimmed the other information from the booklet on my own, and look forward to reading and learning more! I'll be buying another copy of Instruments of the Orchestra for my school to own in the near future.

Whether you're a music novice or pro, "The instruments of the Orchestra" is a very worthwhile purchase. The 7 CDs, with a total of 8 hours, are expertly narrated by Jeremy Siepmann. He's a great speaker, very much like the late Leonard Bernstein was. Mr. Siepmann takes you on an unforgetable musical journey covering the origins and use of the various orchestral instruments throughout musical history. The balance between his narration and a wealth of musical examples, which range from snippets to entire movements, is superb. The comprehensive enclosed booklet is excellent and faithfully follows the 7 CDs in content. Even with my 40+ years of music training I still learned new things from this wonderful collection. Considering the excellence of the content, and a cost that translates to about $5 per disc, this collection is a great value. Grab it, you won't regret that you did. Five solid stars!

This set lends itself to greatly enhancing one's knowledge of the orchestra, instruments in it, and their usage. I am a huge music buff, and I still picked up a great deal I previously did not know. I highly recommend this for all who wish to understand the origin of music, as well as the processes that are employed to create music!

This CD is excellent for the beginner or expert! To be able to haear the instrumets separately and then together really provides a good education. and/or refresher. The book thaty comes with the CD is alomost worth the price by itself!

I just listen to music, don't play an instrument or read music. This set greatly helped me know just WHAT was making the sounds I heard, and what the various instruments are capable of doing and the range they have. I still can't distinguish a violin from a viola very well---but I'm getting better. Overall I'm quite satisfied and plan to see if my grandchildren are interested.

This 2CD set from Naxos at super-budget price is a wonderful way for teens or adults to acquaint themselves with the Romantic Era of classical music. It contains complete movements from works ranging from Beethoven (the 'Eroica' Symphony that started the Romantic era) to Elgar (the Nimrod variation from the 'Enigma Variations'). And pegged to those selections is an extensive and clearly-written 100-page essay by David McCleery that gives all kinds of background information as well as blow-by-blow descriptions of the pieces being played [e.g., in Schubert's song, 'Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel', "when she imagines kissing him the piano stops its repetitive spinning motif, indicating that she is so overcome by the thought that she has stopped working."]. Accompanying the text are pictures of the composers as well a quotation from most of them, from the sober [Mahler: 'To write a symphony is, for me, to construct the world.'] to the humorous [Grieg: 'I am sure my music has the taste of codfish in it.']. Also, there are reproductions of historical documents that illustrate the social currents of each period of time, from the Declaration of Independence, illustrating the spread of the idea of democracy, to a letter from Dvorák to his music publisher taking him to task for his anti-Czech sentiments.

Composers represented by their music are Beethoven, Berlioz, Liszt, Chopin, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, Wagner, Glinka, Borodin, Tchaikovsky, Smetana, Dvorák, Fauré, Grieg, Mahler, Rachmaninov and Elgar. Among the musical selections are all sorts of music, from the Beethoven symphony movement, chamber music of Schumann, a song by Schubert, an operatic duet (from 'Don Carlo') by Verdi, Fauré's Romance for Violin and Piano, the first movement of Mahler's First Symphony, a Chopin polonaise, and a Liszt piano concerto. The recordings of all these works are excerpted from Naxos's huge library of releases of classical music, and the performances are universally quite acceptable and in good stereo sound.

Provided as a kind of background for the newcomer to classical music is a Timeline of the Romantic Era (music, history, art, literature) so they can place various composers and their works in a cultural context. There are extensive suggestions for further listening, a listing of Romantic era composers including many more than those whose works are included here, and a helpful glossary of musical terms written in everyday language.

This is a very thoughtfully done short-course in the Romantic era that will not only answer questions of casual classical music listeners but also stimulate interest in further exploration. I recommend it highly.

2 CDs TT=2hrs30mins and 161 page booklet in a slipcase

Scott Morrison

I remember feeling certain misgivings when I purchased this recording when it was first issued over ten years ago. The only names I recognised in the cast where those of Sumi Jo and Alberto Zedda. I wondered, "Who's Ewa Podles?" I put the first disc in the CD player and went straight to Tancredi's entrance. The glorious sound coming out of the speakers left me both slack-jawed and gob-smacked. I simply wasn't prepared to hear a true contralto voice that is so rich, so large and yet so flexible. Not only has Ewa Podles a rare voice, but she also possesses faultless technique, excellent musicianship and an unerring sense of drama. At that time, the only other person I had heard sing this role was Marilyn Horne and Ms Podles lost nothing by the comparison. Tenderness, anguish, fury -- Ms Podles pours them all forth with vocal and emotional reserves to spare.
Nor do any of the rest of the cast disappoint. Sumi Jo tosses off her coloratura with ease and éclat and Stanford Olsen makes the most of the rather thankless part of Argirio.
Alberto Zedda conducts a period orchestra using the critical edition as prepared by the Rossini Foundation of Pesaro. He opts to use the original happy ending. In performance, Marilyn Horne preferred the tragic ending Rossini wrote for the opera's first revival in Ferrara.
There are, or have been, several other fine recordings of this opera available. The RCA set with Vesselina Kasarova and Eva Mei has much to recommend it, especially as it includes both the happy and tragic endings. Harder to find, but worth looking for is a Warner set featuring Fiorenza Cossotto in the title role, with a good supporting cast. Marilyn Horne's live recording from the Teatro La Fenice is a souvenir of her in one of her most memorable roles. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast are a bit of a let down.
But, when all is said and done, you really can't do better than this set on Naxos. The performance is superb and the budget price should make it irresistible.
Note: "Tancredi" is also well-represented on DVD, but that's another reveiw.

Kudos for the tape. It was in outstanding condition. Thanks you very much. We are really enjoying it.

What a fabulous little recording this is!? A very good cast - look at 'em! - Ewa Podles and Sumi Jo, in particular - and a very engaging HIP approach.

I cannot add a lot more to the very positive reviews this recording has already attracted, but suffice it to say that I am enthralled by this recording.

If you have no Rossini, consider this one!

In March 2006 I attended a concert performance of Tancredi in Ann Arbor, MI. Ewa Podles sang the title role, with 5 lesser-known soloists singing the other parts. I thought that I would never hear a better performance. And then I bought this recording. Podles' voice has darkened since this 1995 recording. The combination of Ewa Podles and Sumi Jo is wonderful and the recording, while different from the live performance is superb. I have enjoyed this recording many times. And every one of my friends to whom I have played it have had the same response. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Tancredi is a real masterpiece and is Rossini through and through with beautiful melodies and intertwined choruses, solos, snd ensembles. This version of Tancredi was recorded Jan 26 through 31 1994 at the Poissy Theatre and the Centre Musical Lyrique Phonographique at Ile de France. The sound engineering is excellent and every note comes through crystal clear - as this is essentially a studio recording there is no background or crowd noise to get in the way. All the singers do a really fine job, especially Ewa Podles, Stanford Olsen, and Sumi Jo. The other supporting soloists are all strong and immensely enjoyable. The orchestra and instrumental soloists are also excellent. And the booklet, although lacking an Englishe version of the libretto is quite good with a track-by-track synopsis of the opera and an informative introduction to Rossini and his style of composition. Five stars on this one all around: the music, the performance, the sound quality, and the booklet.

Breathtaking, brilliant and hard driving orchestration, extraordinarily beautiful singing. It is almost as terrific as Gluck's masterpiece (no, not Orfeo, good as that is) but Iphegenia in Taurus. I love Mozart but can't fathom why Gluck isn't almost as popular.

It seems to be the general consensus that Armide, while quite good, is not Gluck's strongest work. While that could be true, it certainly is my favorite opera by that composer, and it is extraordinarily performed here. When I bought this, I had was not overly familiar with Gluck's works, having heard 'Paride ed Elena', which is a masterpiece in itself, and is perhaps the most "French" of all of Gluck's Italian operas, as well as the somewhat uninspired recording of 'Iphigénie en Tauride' done by Boston Baroque and Pearlmann. I was also, at that time, unfamiliar with the operas of Lully, Rameau, and even Handel. This, however, inspired me to look into those composers, and now, I would say, after hearing other works by Gluck, that this is the closest work by him to those of French composers, such as Rameau and Francoeur. But there are some significant differences, namely that unlike Francoeur, with whom Gluck differed only sixteen years in age, Gluck followed the neoclassical model of composition, as opposed to the baroque/rococo styles of Francoeur, Rameau, and Mondonville, another French composer of that time. This never actually occurred to me until I heard the recent recording of Francoeur's opera 'Pirame et Thisbé', which was originally composed in 1726, but revived in 1771, six years before Armide saw its premiere. And yet that work is perhaps closer to Gluck's opera than anything by Rameau. But there is a significant gap, and it would be nice to hear those works which fill it, although there might not be any hope of that. Anyway, Armide is quite different from anything by Gluck that I've heard, and I don't seem to know where to look for anything else quite like it. However, if you enjoy Lully, Rameau, or any other French baroque composers you may well like this. But it also seems something like Mozart in a very bizarre way, but significantly less so than 'Orfeo ed Euridice' or 'Iphigénie en Aulide'. And it does make one regret that Gluck didn't set other libretti by Quinault, such as 'Atys' or 'Persée'.

I owned the Philippe Herreweghe / La Chapelle Royale recording of Jean-Baptiste Lully's Tragédie lyrique, 'Armide', long before I bought Minkowski's recording of Gluck's opera. I was eager to learn what Christoph Willibald von Gluck would do with Philippe Quinault's libretto nearly one hundred years later. I think the differences are interesting. Of course, Gluck dropped the prologue, and Gluck's orchestra is considerably different from the one employed by Lully.
In both operas the role of Armide is sung by a soprano and the role of Renaud is sung by an haute-contre (tenor) voice.

I have listened to both operas extensively and I cannot honestly say which one I prefer. The Gluck opera owes a clear debt to Rameau and his experiences in Opera Seria. Lully's work is a masterpiece and it contains music of incredible richness and expressiveness.

Buy both, if possible.

It's possible to get a strong sense that this opera improves as it goes along. That's been my own experience with it, but it's not so easy to account for why. The best I can come up with is that it's not the performance that gives me this feeling but partly the music itself and above all the libretto.

The story seems to me to break cleanly into two distinct parts, the second part starting at act IV. From this point on we have abandoned Damascus and Christian armies and been spirited away to an enchanted island. Apart from the two principals Armide and Renaud (Rinaldo) acts IV and V have an almost completely new cast from the previous acts, and Armide has changed roles from being a powerful sorceress to being just another heroine spurned in love, a kind of downmarket Dido who finally just magicks herself away leaving the rest of them to their own devices, the Christian armies that the earlier acts were supposed to have been about literally nowhere. This in turn highlights two separate sides of the composer's personality - the dramatist and the composer of tableaux. He excelled in both capacities, but it may have been a bit much to expect him to switch from the former role (in the earlier acts) to the latter within the limits of a single work. Gluck was a musical rationalist and reformer, but also a musical politician and in-fighter, and I suspect that in Armide the two sides to his musical personality come into conflict to a certain extent, with the tableau-composer coming out on top. Keen to establish himself in Paris, he took over the traditional libretto used by Lully, involving a lot in the way of ballet-music and set-pieces in the later acts. Whether he would have done this given a freer hand and fewer entrenched interests to placate, I rather doubt. On the other hand, he was very good at that sort of thing, and I feel simply that his best inspiration belongs in these later acts, the gem of the whole work being a long aria for Renaud. This is not to say that there is not a lot of fine stuff in acts I-III as well, the jewel of those being another aria for Renaud, just that these acts are not, by and large, quite the greatest Gluck.

The challenge for the interpreters, on this view, is how to handle the first three acts. The excellent liner-essay tells us about a performance from Toscanini that failed, seemingly because the performers tried to ham up the music as if it were Verdi. If so, that was asking for disaster - this music is not at that kind of voltage, and Minkowski knows better than to treat it as if it were. Taking it for what it is, I would say they all do a first-class job. The cast are largely francophone, and the two Americans sing their French very convincingly too, which is particularly important in the case of Workman as Renaud as he seems to me to get the best music in the entire opera. The direction throughout shows admirable taste and sense of proportion - the demons for instance are very urbane and well-behaved demons, the kind of demons you could safely invite to dinner, and I am astonished that Gluck doesn't try to make any kind of effect out of the diamond shield. Brahms is not known as a musical dramatist and his Rinaldo is one of his less-performed works, but his treatment of the moment in Goethe's text when the diamond shield is displayed is simply awesome.

We are in safe hands with Minkowski in music of this period. Period instruments are of course used, and the scale of the performance is judged exactly. If the earlier acts seem less dramatic than they might have been, my feeling is that that is down to the music not to the performers, who know what to avoid. Armide is not Gluck's greatest work, but it's very fine one and this is a set I wouldn't have wanted to miss. To what extent it will suit other listeners I have no way of knowing, but I have tried to make coherent sense of how it all comes across to me.

To modern music lovers, Gluck is best-known for his Orpheus and Euridice and, to a lesser extent, for Alceste. But he was also the composer of other operas which deserve to be remembered. Among these operas is Armide, which Gluck composed in 1777 for the Paris Opera. (By that time, he had revised his earlier versions of Orpheus and Alceste for staging in Paris.) In setting Armide, Gluck took the liberetto written by Phillipe Quinault which had been used by the great French composer Lully in his opera, Armide, presented in 1686. Thus, Gluck was deliberately setting himself in competition with the earlier master. After Gluck's opera, other composers have set the Armide story, including Haydn in an opera and Brahms in a cantata, Renaldo.

This CD of Armide features the musicians of the Louvre conducted by Marc Minkowski and a distinguished cast of singers. Mr. Minkowski specializes in early music with an emphasis on scores and composers that have not received the attention they deserve. We are fortunate to have CD's readily accessible to explore Gluck's Armide. The work comes through in this release with intensity and passion.

Armide is a story of the power of love and of the war between love and hate. The heroine, Armide, is a sorceress who has just defeated an army of Christian crusaders. She values her freedom and declines to marry unless to a man who can defeat the crusader's hero, Renauld. In the course of the story, Armide casts a spell on Renauld to make him, for a time, love her. But, unfortunately for Armide, she falls in love with Renauld totally and unconditionally. Renauld is ultimately rescued and abandons Armide who bewails her loss mightily and destroys the magic palace she had built for herself and Renaud.

Gluck was known for attempting to integrate text and music into an artistic whole rather than for indulging in lengthy musical flourishes for their own sake. In Armide, he carries out his artistic programme in part. But there are long sections of dances, musical interludes, and scenes that have little dramatic intensity and which run counter to Gluck's austure style of composition. This is probably due in part to Gluck's decision to use, without editing, the early liberetto by Quinault which had been adopted to the different compositional style of Lully. (In the years between Lully and Gluck, some composers had tried to eliminate various portions of Quinault's text to speed-up the action. But Gluck took the original liberetto.)

Gluck's Armide is not often performed today, but it is a treasure. The heroine, Armide, is a great multi-faceted role with arias expressing the extremes of passionate love and deep hatred. The role is beautifully performed on this CD by Mirelle Dellunsch. There is a character in the opera titled "hate", -- hate personified with lengthy arias worthy of the Queen of the Night -- performed guttily and intensely by Ewa Poodles. Charles Workman is an effective Renauld, but this music belongs to the women leads.

The first and fifth acts of Gluck's Armide move with swift intensity while some of the more relaxed material is in act two and, particularly, in act four. For me, the most powerful musical moment of this score comes at the end of the opera in Armide's aria "La Perfide Renaud" which shows her fury at her abandonment by Renaud. Also in Act 5 is a beautiful duet between Armide and Renauld and an "Air Sicilien" featuring the solo flute. The scenes with Hate are stunning.

Gluck's Armide is a grand opera by a great composer. It will delight listeners willing to be adventurous as well as lovers of opera, early classical music, and passionate music. It is a joy to have this work available.