Customer Reviews

Believe In Love: Rare French and Italian Opera Arias

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Prior to acquiring this disc, Elizabeth Whitehouse was an artist unknown to me. Rather than tackle the accustomed chestnuts (and the resultant envidious comparisons), she offers us some of the rarest Italian and French arias, from the pens of Gounod, Faccio, and others. Ms. Whitehouse has a fine voice (Richard Bonynge is the conductor, so he certainly has given her valuable pointers and direction), and she accounts herself quite well. The real revelation here, and the title of this luxurious album (with libretti and superb notes), is Franco Faccio's aria "Principe Amleto!" from his largely unknown opera AMLETO. I had heard this short aria previously, but Whitehouse's delivery is exemplary. What a spectacular musical gem it is! After hearing it, I checked out Faccio---there are videos of the "funeral march" from AMLETO that is still performed during Holy Week on Corfu. A few other musical excerpts from AMLETO also show up: all of which point to an opera that most definitely needs revival today. Let's hope that Opera Rara or another quality company will record AMLETO. From all that I hear, it most assuredly will be worth it....