Customer Reviews

Bellini - Il Pirata / Aliberti, Frontali, Neill, Reyes, K. Anderson, H. May, Berlin Opera, Viotti

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

 

 

This recording of Il Pirata is great, Aliberti sings mostly of the time piano, I suppose it's to portray the oppresed Imogene with more innocence. I have a video of the opera with her, and in live her voice is about 4 times bigger than here. It's a very delicate belcanto, with all the high notes written and even more high notes interpolated. And yes, her voice sound as Callas' voice in the middle range sometimes, but her top is very delicate and secure, a colloratura leggera, not a dramatic colloratura as Callas. She renders a very good interpretation of Imogene indeed. The plus of this recording is tenor Stuart Neill, who sings the title role superbly, as no other has. His voice is a very gorgeous and beautiful one, a little lighter than Bruce Ford's. But his high notes... My God!!! The most incisive acutti you will ever hear in a tenor's voice, and he interpolates a lot more than written. He's just fantastic!!! The rest of the cast is very excellent in their roles, specially the baritone's Ernesto. Viotti' conducting is a little slow most times, but he moves it a little more in the cabalettas. Buy this set, you won't regret it.

Il Pirata was the opera that made Bellini known. Though it
cannot compare to Sonnambula, Norma or Puritani, it is still a
highly enjoyable opera. This set offers a very good performance
of the work. Lucia Aliberti has a dark and flexible voice -
ideal for Bellini and capturing the inherant melancholy of his
music - notwithstanding her habit of whispering the text and
some technical insecurities she sings the role beautifully.
She is well partnered by Stuart Neill - he sails through the
difficult part of the pirate with considerable elegance and
musicality. Roberto Frontali and Kelly Anderson offer sturdy
and musical performances. Chorus and orchestra are excellent
and lovingly conducted by Marcello Viotti. Well recorded - an
excellent alternative to the EMI version with Caballe and Marti
conducted by Gavazzeni.

It was with great trepidation that I purchased this recording of Bellini's "Il Pirata." Not only had I read the rather scathing reviews of Lucia Aliberti's voice, but I had seen videos of her sing; it wasn't the most optimistic picture, so say the least. I do love this opera, so I decided to give it a go and see what all the fuss was over.

I've listened to the recording several times, and have decided that it isn't quite as bad as some of the reviews are saying. Obviously the voice of Aliberti is not exactly one for the ages; the legacies of Callas and Caballé will remain intact. She does have a beautiful pianissimo with nice shading, but Aliberti tends to overuse the piano- almost as a way to avoid attacking any high notes with the full voice. (Though, the softer singing does make Aliberti's Imogene seem much more fragile than those of Callas and Caballé; there is no Norma-like imperiousness found in Aliberti's portrayal as there is in the latter two.) Her middle registers are somewhat fuzzy, but the vocal power is there, and when she does go for the high notes with the full voice the effect is satisfactory. The similarity to Callas' voice must be noted; unfortunately, Aliberti doesn't have the same dramatic abilities as Callas, and so she can't always pull off the odd noises that her voice makes. Taken as a whole, Aliberti isn't a bad Imogene, though certainly not my first choice for the role.

Unlike the live recording with Callas or the studio recording with Caballé, this Pirata has the benefit of having good male singers. The Gualtieros in the other sets are woefully inadequate, but Stuart Neill has a lovely voice and the high notes/coloratura hold no terror for his voice. Roberto Frontali makes a menacing, if not overly memorable, Ernesto. Kelly Anderson's Goffredo is well sung, as is the Ilturbo of Jose Reyes.

Hermine Rey sings a nicely sympathetic Adele, and the Chorus of the Oper Berlin is quite good. The Berlin Orchestra under the baton of Marcello Viotti is splendid.

Comparatively, this is a decent Pirata with wonderful sound; furthermore, it is only one of two available at the moment. Well worth hearing.

Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was a lucky fellow. At the age of 25 he was commissioned to write his third only opera for La Scala (prima, 1827) and then got even luckier and was given a very well crafted libretto from the hand of Felice Romani. Here is what Romani later said, "I alone read in him that poetic soul, that passionate heart, that wonderful mind, anxious to fly beyond the sphere in which he was restricted by school influences and by the servility of imitation. It was then I wrote "Il pirata" for Bellini, a subject that I thought suitable and capable of touching the depths of his art, and I wasn't wrong. From that day, we understood each other and together we fought the spitefulness of the musical theater, little by little, with courage, perserverance and love." Bellini got to La Scala through Barbaja and met Romani through Mercadante.
Here is a boxed set with extensive notes, libretto in Eng. Ger. & Ita. from the Berlin Opera; a studio recording with good quality tech and with a well chosen cast of very competent singers under the directon of Marcello Viotti.
The orchestra and chorus are as one would expect from Berlin, a pleasure to hear throughout with an intelligent reading by Viotti.
"Il pirata",is, for a third opera by a quite inexperienced composer (as Bellini was at the time) quite a masterful work filled with beautiful music and excellent dramatic flow. The Overture is charming and energetic, the violins toward the end quite breathtaking. Great dramatic opening with fishermen and fishwives and half-naked pirates scrambling up the rocks from their shipwreck onto the shores of Caldora. Composed by a Sicilian and set in Sicily the role of Imogene is sung by Sicilian soprano Lucia Aliberti. Ms Aliberti is renowned as a bel canto scholar, with Bellini as a particular interest, so it would be safe to imagine that she is giving her very best in this recording. Who would deny her competence? She has beautiful agilita, perfect phrasing and most importantly the Bellian-line that is already in evidence in this early work. Aliberti brings an appropriate fragility to her Imogene, caught in that early 19th Cent. familiar web of Italian opera;
duty to father, husband and lover, no one happy with her choices so she will descend into madness by the end. Aliberti takes us on that descent with her richly ornamented coloratura and considerable skill. Her voice is unusual to be sure but she has a deep understanding of Bellini so I am most interested in her phrasing. I admire her performance.
Opposite Imogene as "Il pirata", the ex-lover Gualtiero thrown from the wrecked ship onto the shores of Caldora, is Stuart Neill, the great American tenor. He gives an impeccable performance all the way through. His "Tu vedrai la sventurata" followed by "Ma non fi sempre odiata" with Adele (Hermine May) and Chorus are superb. His attacks in his higher range are thrilling, his middle range delicious, also beautiful phrasing and nice Italian. Bravo! The husband, Ernesto of the Bossy Baritone variety, arrives late in Act 1 and is dispatched in the middle of Act 2 so it isn't that big of a role but Roberto Frontali is up to the task giving a menacing performance with depth and resonance. The male chorus has a charming-rousing piece in Act 1, "Coro di Pirati" and the female chorus in Act 2, "Che rechi tu?". Act 1 closes with a huge finale, "Ah! partiamo, i miei tormenti". Act 2 closes with Imogene gone mad. Aliberti turns on the power for "Col sorriso d'innocenza" with such elegance and authority it is heartbreaking then wraps it up with Adele and the chorus all to good effect.
Since this opera is not often performed this set is a useful one to have if you are interested in bel canto and or Bellini. This is a good opera for a very spare set and simple costumes so that the music is forced to stand alone which this Berlin performance also accomplished (photos of performance in book). Very Recommended!

This is a near perfect recording of an exquisite opera. Aliberti sings ravishingly, with great intelligence, total control and most elegant and viruosic coloratura -- no wonder they worship her in Berlin. The other singers, particularly a stunning Stuart Neill, are almost equal to Aliberti and under Viotti's sensible and committed conducting, this great work comes quite alive.

Ms. Aliberti, the soprano in this recording, is unsuited for the role. The voice is hard, lacking in any sense of bel canto style, and lacks flexibility. The other singers are adequate though nothing special. I would not recommend this recording, it is unsatisfying and misrepresents what is a wonderful opera.

Fabulous conducting -- far better than Mme Callas ever enjoyed -- and the singing is (pace, Callas lovers!) top drawer.

No student of Bellini should miss this very moving performance, and all of us who adore La Callas must move on and realize that subsequent singers will sing this role with their own new genius.

I found Ms. Aliberti's voice thin and her interpretation of the role fairly inexpressive-little Bellinean passion. Caballe is still the choice for this opera- a great artist and a big beautiful voice. Callas, with mediocre sound on her CD, gives the most dramatic performance.

This recording has Aliberti singing the part of Imogene, and it is not good. Listen to Caballe , Callas, or Renee Fleming and you will see.

I cannot believe this was even released. Terrible.

alibertis'voice is beyond discription, with one exception. Ms aliberti has about three notes in her voice that sound just like maria callas, unfortunatly those are the only three good notes she has! The rest of the cast is a little less exciting