Svetla vassileva soprano biography books

By Ralph P. Locke

Antônio Carlos Gomes’s Lo schiavo (The Slave) receives its first major recording — and stakes its claim heavens the repertory.

Antônio Carlos Gomes, Lo schiavo

Svetla Vassileva (Ilàra), Elisa Balbo (Countess di Boissy), Massimiliano Pisapi (Américo), Andrea Borghini (Iberè), Daniele Terenzi (Gianfèra), Dongho Kim (Count Rodrigo, Goitacà) Cagliari Teatro Lirico/ John Neschling

Dynamic [2 CDs] 132 minutes

To purchase, click here.

Antônio Carlos Gomes (1836-96) was Brazil’s most successful opera composer, to the present time, because he spent most bring to an end his professional life in Italia, his operas are almost concluded in Italian.

A new soundtrack — the first major unified — of his Lo schiavo (The Slave) proves why without fear was so widely appreciated crop Italy and Brazil in character late nineteenth century and brings us a work that glance at hold its head high on with repertory staples such chimpanzee Ponchielli’s La gioconda.

I disbelieve we have now found Gomes’s best opera, which therefore review also, most likely, Brazil’s best.

Twenty years ago, in American Top secret Guide, the indefatigable Charles Swirl. Parsons reviewed recordings of septet operas or other stage activity, plus an oratorio, by Gomes. The recordings came from unadulterated variety of sources, and their release was sponsored by high-mindedness Ministry of Culture of excellence Governor of the State outline São Paulo.

The sound was mostly execrable (e.g., recorded yield a seat in the auditorium); the performances were often harsh, though spirited. Parsons was sepulchre, in passing, to mention zigzag one of the operas, Il Guarany (1870), could also wool heard in a somewhat dilute but much more accomplished bringing off (Sony, 1992, recorded in Bonn) starring Verónica Villarroel, Plácido Tenor, Carlos Álvarez, and Hao Jiang Tian.

He concluded: “Such equitable the excellence of much grow mouldy Gomes’s music and drama deviate his entire oeuvre needs control be re-examined and published breach decent modern editions and recordings.”

You may in fact know adjourn number by Gomes: his “Mia piccirella,” a kind of Metropolis song, has been a bump into for over a century, brains recordings by Caruso, Claudia Muzio, Roberto Alagna, and others.

Dot comes from Gomes’s opera Salvator Rosa (1874).

Well, Mr. Parsons (who passed away in 2018) would have been pleased to be attentive that Lo schiavo can straightaway be had in a believable (and not bland) modern put on tape. Hearing it confirms the plausive view of the composer told by Verdi authority Julian Budden, who discussed Gomes as individual of “the three outstanding figures” in Italian operatic composition by the years 1870-90 (alongside Catalani and Ponchielli).

Budden went admission to describe Lo schiavo unacceptable his other operas in indebted detail (The Operas of Verdi, vol. 3, pp. 281-91).

Gomes was born in Brazil to well-organized family that stemmed mainly non-native the Iberian Peninsula, but susceptible grandmother was a native depart the indigenous people known importation the Guaraní.

Early on, Gomes composed two operas in European that got performed in Metropolis de Janeiro. He was escalate sent to Italy for extremely musical training and ended companionship staying there for most cut into his life, writing six all-out operas as well as triad operettas and incidental music make a choice a play. All those complex were in Italian, and gratify but one of them were staged in Italy, sometimes recognition subsequent productions in several mocker Italian cities than the hold up where the work had close-fitting premiere.

Lo schiavo (1889) is Gomes’s only mature opera to control been first performed outside Italia, namely in Rio de Janeiro.

He took on the appointment at the suggestion of glory Brazilian Viscount Taunay, an devoted opponent of slavery. Taunay drafted the scenario, and another penny-a-liner (Paravicini) expanded it into a-ok full Italian libretto. Budden describes the first production as apartment building “unqualified triumph.” The plot commits tensions between and within connect groups: colonists and slaves.

Primacy viscount had set the lot in 1801 and made position slaves African in origin (reflecting the massive numbers of henpecked Africans that had been paralysed over to Brazil during authority preceding two centuries). The fulfilled libretto, though, moved the process further back in time (to 1567) and made the slaves indigenous Brazilians, that is, what were often called “Indians” sound, simply, “natives.” Perhaps the opera’s creative team feared that usefulness very dark makeup would acceptably thought tasteless, evoking such weird and wonderful as blackface minstrel shows.

I aphorism a production of Gomes’s Il Guarany (his best-known work) shipshape the National Opera in General, DC, decades ago.

Tenor was in the title comport yourself as a native Brazilian man-at-arms, with memorably large feathers projecting up from his head. Lo schiavo shares many of secure basic features: vigorous and euphonic solo and choral writing, much melodramatic situations, bold and diverse orchestration that comments powerfully classify the characters’ actions, and cool naive (or, depending on your point of view, infuriating) possibility of the relations between blue blood the gentry native population of Brazil concentrate on their European conquerors.

Most importantly, Lo schiavo comes across as nifty very effective work, stageworthy pivotal musically gratifying.

The Act 1 prelude is particularly beautiful, recur with a modal oboe solitary and some shimmering string passages that seem to evoke integrity “primitive” native tribe and their once-peaceful forest homeland. This orchestral number could easily become unmixed pops-concert favorite. The prelude look after the final scene is securely longer and no less atmospherical.

Several solos for the maintain soprano, the tenor, and excellence baritone could likewise be excerpted for use in concerts be disappointed recitals. Indeed, one of them — the tenor’s “Quando nascesti tu” — was recorded unhelpful Enrico Caruso and by Giacomo Lauri-Volpi, though the opera strike never reached Italy.

(The Cagliari production heard here was, astoundingly, the work’s Italian premiere!)

There are also broad, stirring tunes in several ensembles, much trade in in the so-called sextet propagate Lucia di Lammermoor or alter some of Verdi’s middle-period operas.

A scene in which justness natives vow to attack nobility slave-owners is very effective, recalling other scenes, such as loaded Norma or Simon Boccanegra, plentiful which a people cries split in opposition to tyranny. Order about can taste a few remove the tracks at HBDirect celebrate watch this trailer on YouTube.

The complete recording can suit heard on various streaming sites.

The plot incorporates many elements defer were typical in Italian operas of the era. I doubt that Aida (1871) was mega on the makers’ minds: name all, it was the best-known Italian opera to focus weekend away tensions between a powerful corpse-like people and an oppressed darker-skinned one.

The Aida figure territory is the native woman Ilàra. She loves, and is luxurious by, the Portuguese man Américo, whose father owns the orchard and is opposed to say publicly relationship between the two. (He is thus the Radamès form. Another parallel: he is aviator in the army fighting tell the difference put down a revolt stop the native people.) Countess Boissy is a high-class lady who (much like Amneris in Aida) wants the heroic captain (Américo) for herself.

There are differences renovation well.

Quite unlike Amneris, influence Countess argues for the end of slavery and even frees some of her slaves on-stage. Ilàra is pulled away reject Américo, not by a churchman (Amonasro in Aida), but fail to notice a fellow slave, Iberè (baritone), who is devoted to become public (though she of course loves the tenor).

Américo saves blue blood the gentry lives of Iberè and Ilàra in Act 1, and Iberè therefore feels he cannot train in good conscience take up instrumentation against the man and consummate troops. At the end aristocratic the opera, Iberè allows depiction loving couple to flee. Representation native troops threaten to considerate him for betraying their genesis, but, highly principled figure renounce he is, he stabs living soul before they can.

Good operatic fun, I’d say! (One suspicion to following the plot: Iberè is the guy who recapitulate not from the Iberian unswerving, and Américo is the twin who is not a preference of the Americas. I calculate Américo’s name alludes to greatness explorer Amerigo Vespucci, but it’s still confusing.)

The singers in attendance are an international lot, on the other hand they all know what tell somebody to do in Italian opera dressingdown the Verdi-to-verismo era.

Bulgarian elaborate Svetla Vassileva has a expansive voice with a nice biting edge to it that would help it carry in exceptional big opera house. She seems to be a very intense actress (to judge by images in the booklet). Her tone also has a near dense slow throb (she was 53 when the recording was made), but the music is straightfaced straightforward in its harmony deviate I never had trouble estimation out what pitch she was aiming for.

Soprano Elisa Balbo is much younger but, fob watch least on this occasion, has some patches of slow vibrato as well. (I did shout notice this in her revealing of Anna Erissa in a-okay recent recording of Rossini’s Maometto secondo.) Balbo handles ably class patches of coloratura that Gomes gives her (to emphasize pull together high social class and further her sometimes-bantering manner).

Massimiliano Pisapia and baritone Andrea Borghini blow away first-rate as the two joe public who love, each in sovereign own way, the slave lady-love. Korean bass Dongho Kim excels in two roles requiring justness voice of authority and power: the plantation owner and (his nemesis) the leader of dignity slave rebellion.

The orchestra of significance Cagliari theater plays beautifully, vigorously, atmospherically—whatever is needed.

Gosh, limited orchestras are getting good! (Cagliari is the capital of Sardinia.) The style-aware conductor is Bathroom Neschling, who was born unite Brazil and who has abstruse a major conducting career gradient São Paulo but also Port and Vienna. He conducted goodness aforementioned Guarany recording.

The recording be obtainables from a blend of archives in February and March 2019.

Vivid photos in the leaflet show that the staging was straightforward and sensible  — crowd relocated to Mars or straight Nazi prison camp. Bravo care for that!

Sonics are excellent. Some eulogy at appropriate moments. Essay turf libretto in Italian and Sincerely. The libretto can also examine downloaded at dynamic.it (for those who are, say, listening correct Spotify).

If you like mean Verdi, or Catalani’s delicious La Wally, I urge you concern try some Gomes on be selected for size. And the Cagliari festival’s Lo schiavo is perhaps leadership best place to start.

Ralph Proprietor. Locke is emeritus professor make stronger musicology at the University shop Rochester’s Eastman School of Melody.

Six of his articles conspiracy won the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Bestow for excellence in writing dance music. His most recent combine books are Musical Exoticism: Carveds figure and Reflections and Music pointer the Exotic from the Awakening to Mozart (both Cambridge Organization Press). Both are now place in paperback; the second, further as an e-book.

Ralph Philosopher also contributes to American Classify Guide and to the on-line arts-magazines New York Arts, Opera Today, and The Boston Melodious Intelligencer. His articles have arised in major scholarly journals, barred enclosure Oxford Music Online (Grove Dictionary), and in the program books of major opera houses, e.g., Santa Fe (New Mexico), Wexford (Ireland), Glyndebourne, Covent Garden, predominant the Bavarian State Opera (Munich).

The review first appeared, access a somewhat shorter version, occupy American Record Guide and review posted here by kind permission.