Customer Reviews

Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There is much to enjoy in this performance, but nothing to set it above other choices for this opera. Both Anna Netrebko and Elina Garanca are splendid. Ms Netrebko's full, warm tone and excellent technique, including some perfectly executed trills, are a joy to hear. The same can be said of Ms Garanca. Though her lower register hasn't the resonance of say, Jennifer Larmore or Vesselina Kasarova, her upper register is free and bright. Joseph Calleja brings a shining voice to Tebaldo. However at times he displays a laxity that turns dotted rhythms into slurred notes of equal value. The lower voices are fine, but not particularly noteworthy. Fabio Luisi's conducting is apt.
I could find no mention of which performing edition was used. I followed along with the standard Ricordi score and noticed a few very minor cuts - a repeat in the opening chorus and a few of the stretti passages are trimmed of their repeats. The essay in the libretto is complete rubbish. It reads like a poor parody of Peter Shaffer's "Amadeus" with Bellini and Vaccaj replacing Mozart and Salieri. The author writes in some detail about Bellini's rapid composition of the score by borrowing heavily from his failed opera "Zaira." However, he never mentions that the libretto is a recycled version of the book Felice Romani had provided earlier to that same Vaccaj, whom we're told Bellini "hated." Nor is any mention made of the performance practice of substituting the final scene by Bellini with that from Vaccaj's opera. Such slovenly scholarship cannot be condoned. Neither can the engineering of this recording.
There are extended passages that have an odd reverberation to them, perhaps from the acoustic of the concert hall in which this was taped. Where this recording really fails is in the sloppy editing. I understand that it was recorded live - or at least most of it. But it's painfully obvious that this was patched together from many sessions, perhaps in different locations, accounting for the presence - or lack - of the reverberant background. Worst of all, there are several places, especially in the second act, where the takes from different sessions were more botched than spliced together. The sudden shifting of aural gears takes this set out of the competition as far as I'm concerned. I can recommend the performance, but I can't recommend the recording.
There are other recorded performances that are just as good, if not better, than this effort, and which aren't marred by bad engineering. I particularly like Riccardo Muti's recording live from Covent Garden with Edita Gruberova, Agnes Baltsa and Dano Raffanti. Roberto Abbado's recording with Vesselina Kasarova, Eva Mei and Ramon Vargas also has much to recommend it, including Vaccaj's final scene as a bonus.

Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi
This recording of Bellini's masterpiece, with Anna Netrebko & Elina Garanco, is destined to become one of the jewels of my operatic collection. It is beautiful in every respect, from the masterful recording, to the flawless arias and duets of Anna Netrebko/Elina Garanco.
I know of no recent recording of operatic arias that can compare with the clarity and delivery of these two beautiful, both in voice and looks, leading operatic stars. I listen enthralled at this operatic gem, completely enchanced and thrilled by such emotional performances. A recording for the ages.

This opera is not really a great hit in the field of bel canto works. However, there is much hope that the present recording will change this state of affairs.
The title roles of Montague and Capulet (Romeo and Giulietta) are assumed by top-notch singers Elina Garanca and Anna Netrebko. At the baton is the fast up-and-coming maestro Fabio Luisi. One could hardly wish for a stronger combination of forces, particularly that as a huge added bonus, Tebaldo is being sung by Joseph Calleja, probably the best lyrical tenor to emerge in the 21st century.
In the first Act, Calleja ushered in an immediate sense of urgency and expectation in his glorious singing: his passion for Giulietta and the determination to 'win' her heart over.
In the Second Act, Garanca and Netrebko dominate the scene with their fluid duetts. At times, one hope that the two ladies' voices would not blend SO well together - Garanca's mezzo is surely more a 'high mezzo' than others, and the timbre sometimes in the upper registers resembles Netrebko's too much to be easily distinguishable.
All protagonists give highly charged and passionate performance. Bellini would not be more pleased by such.

I have now listened to this recording four times and am absolutely amazed at it's quality. The two women are well known stars and they both perform at top form. Just thinking about Netrebko's Act II "Ah! nonposs'io partire" brings a tear to my eye. Garanca is no less a great artist as her Act I cabaletta "La tremenda ultrice spada" is great bel canto art. The surprise in the recording is an unknown to me tenor who almost steals the show. That is Josph Calleja. He has such a pure lyrical tone and uncanny mastery of the bel canto style. His impassioned duet with Romeo convinces you that he too is deeply in love with Juliet. It also makes you sit up and take notice that here is a great star in the making. The part of Lorenzo was taylored for a not too competent singer in Venice so had little in the way of florid passages but Robert Gleadow does a good job of it. The conductor, Fabio Luisi, keeps all going at a proper pace and the Vienna Symphony and Chorus are, of course, in top form. A superb recording.

A beautifully conducted and recorded rare Bellini jewel ... this opera has some breathtakingly beautiful moments. The conducting is vibrant and detailed, while the singing falls somewhat short in comparison. Garanca and Netrebko are fine singers putting in some fine work here, but they fall distinctly short of being great belcanto singers ... one does get exposure to fine belcanto singing however with the inclusion of Joseph Callaugh. In the duets between Garanca and Netrebko, one finds it difficult to tell which is the mezzo line, their voices sounding so similar in weight and color. Netrebko's voice has taken greater huskiness and darkness in quality which provides little contrast to the roles here. Garanca I find needs just a little more 'fire' and 'spark', but shows great promise. Netrebko should be focusing on more dramatic soprano roles, belcanto proves a disservice to her voice. All in all, a good recording, but not a great one.

The new recording of Bellini's "I Capuleti e I Montecchi" led by the remarkable Fabio Luisi is a stunner , immediately claiming its position at the top of the list of commercially available recordings of this opera.

Luisi, a strong interpreter of Strauss and Mozart, proves his dexterity in this recording with a deep and lovely turn at bel canto style. A light, fleet hand in orchestral passages, Fabio Luisi leads his star singers and orchestra in long, beautifully expressed legato lines in the arias which exemplify all the strengths of Bellini's vocal writing.

And star singers they are, with Anna Netrebko and Elina Garanca at the top of their game. Netrebko's Giulietta is in the model of early Mirella Freni - a warm, dark approach to a bel canto soprano part, heartbreaking and exquisite. Garanca is the "real thing" - a bel canto specialist with no trouble handling this arduous role.

A "live" performance for this cd release and an Austrian radio broadcast, this recording is spontaneous, yet expertly engineered as with a studio recording.

This recording holds up well in comparison with earlier versions. Allthough a huge admirer of Beverly Sills, she was not in her best voice in her complete recording of this opera (with Janet Baker). And in the other available studio recording of this opera, Agnes Baltsa lacks the impeccable bel canto styling of the youthful Elina Garanca in the present recording.

With a stellar supporting cast (Joseph Calleja no less in the smaller role of Teobaldo), an opulent box set with full libretto, and a Wiener Symphoniker responding to Fabio Luisi's excellent guidance, this may well be the best new opera recording to be released in the past year.

Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi is a recording under the direction Fabio Luisi who leads the Wiener Symphoniker and is accompanied by Wiener Singakademie led by Heinz Ferlesch. Being a Deutsche Grammophon production it is as splendid as ever with amazing sound quality and an extensive booklet containing 119 pages. In this booklet we get nice photographs of the conductor and the performers. We also get liner notes written by Simon Maguire and short synopsis by Reine Muller. The lyrics are available in English, French, German and Italian. Bellini was a genius and it shows in this opera and it is truly a tragedy that he passed away at the tender age of 35 and it is ironic to consider that Mozart also died when he also was 35. This is a very fine recording indeed and I highly recommend it. 5/5.

An opera lover for 70 years, I listened to the sampler and read all the other customer reviews. I could not be a greater fan of both Anna Netrebko and Elina Garanca, two of the most outstanding artists of my lifetime, but came away extremely disappointed and in agreement with many of the other reviewers. These two magnificent voices are simply too close in timbre to be convincing as a male and a female as they should be. In fact, when they sing together, it is difficult for me, born with perfect pitch through no fault of my own, to distinguish between them and perceive who was singing Romeo and who was singing Juliet! Deeply disappointed, I decided not to buy this opera, the first time I have rejected anything in which these two extraodinary artists sing together. Because of the sheer length of my opera-loving life, I have seen live or heard (no TV back in those days...) many of the greatest artists that ever graced the opera world, even met some in person. The music of this rarely-performed opera is indeed beautiful but my far-too-sensitive ear could tolerate this one as I could not tolerate Callas for, despite her remarkable ability to portray drama with her voice, was so often off pitch that it pained me to listen to her. To those not cursed with an ear like mine, this recording may be beautiful but I had to pass on it despite every attempt to convince myself that the problem I had with it was not that important. Still, if I can't enjoy listening to a performance there is little point in buying it however pleasant (or weird!) the video might be.

Love the Bel Canto mix of Garanca and Netrebko. Makes me long for a live production to go see.

I first heard the duo of Anna Netrebko and Elina Garanca in their celebrated Barcarole from "Tales of Hoffmann," where their two voices blend so beautifully. The same is true here, where Elina Garanca's rich mezzo tones in a delightful "trouser role" blend with the dynamic soprano voice of Anna Netrebko in a Bel Canto tour de force. A lesser known "Romeo and Juliet" performance that belongs in every opera fan's collection. Highly recommended.