Donizetti: L'elisir d'Amore

Gaetano Donizetti (Composer), Gianandrea Gavazzeni (Conductor), Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Orchestra), Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra (Orchestra), Carlo Bergonzi (Performer), Carlo Cava (Performer), Giuseppe Taddei (Performer), Renata Scotto (Performer), Renza Jotti (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Carlo Bergonzi, Carlo Cava, Giuseppe Taddei, Renata Scotto, Renza Jotti
• Orchestra: Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra
• Conductor: Gianandrea Gavazzeni
• Composer: Gaetano Donizetti
• Audio CD (September 16, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Opera D'oro
• ASIN: B000000UO9
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #130,226 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #10 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Scotto, Renata
  • #56 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Featured Performers, A-Z > Q to T

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent Performance!!!!!, April 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Donizetti: L'elisir d'Amore (Audio CD)

Wow! What a performance!! Bergonzi is undoubtedly the finest Nemorino of all time! His legato line and superb phrasing are perfect in this role, from his entrance on Quanto e' Belle to the last note of the opera. If you haven't heard Carlo Bergonzi sing "Una Furtive Lagrima", you simply have not lived (Bergonzi even surpasses Pavarotti in this performance). Scotto also sings in this live performance like you've never heard her before or since. She sounds like an angel on this recording. Other singers of exceptional note in this performance are Carlo Cava as Dulcamara and Guiseppe Taddei as Belcore. So, if you are a fan of Bergonzi, of Scotto, or just great singing, you simply MUST buy this recording and at the super bargain price of $8.97, you can't resist. This is the finest performance of L'Elisir D'Amore I've ever heard.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scotto and Bergonzi=Heaven, April 2, 2001

By 

J. Luis Juarez Echenique "pepechenique" (Mexico City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Donizetti: L'elisir d'Amore (Audio CD)

First of all, the sound quality of this recording is very acceptable and you could do far worse with some digital versions (Pavarotti/Battle or Carreras/Ricciarelli). As for the performance itself, well, it's vintage Italian singing. The important thing about this recording is that neither Carlo Bergonzi nor Renata Scotto recorded this opera commercially, so for their performances alone this set is priceless. Bergonzi sings a youthful, passionate Nemorino surpassed on records only by Giuseppe Di Stefano. Renata Scotto invariably gives a masterclass on true belcanto style, no other soprano of her generation was a better Adina, so we are very grateful indeed for this recording. If you want a digital version I can only recommend the Alagna/Devia version on ERATO.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fun Performance, January 3, 2001

By 

John Cragg (Delta(greater Vancouver), B.C Canada) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Donizetti: L'elisir d'Amore (Audio CD)

Right from the opening, Gavazzani demonstrates that this is a full bodied and fun performance. It is not a scholar's version; instead it is a performer's version with the cloth cut to make an effective stage performance.

And what a performance it is! Bergonzi gives a sensitive and well paced portrayal of the hero, producing a strong and sensitive Nemorino whose love-besotted antics are rendered the more interesting by his not being the usual light-weight non-entity. He also thereby serves as a better foil for Scotto's well rounded presentation of Adina. Scotto makes her character much more than the usual ditzy airhead found in most productions. Taddei is adequate as Belcore, while Cava turns in a buffo performance as the charlatan Dulcamara, second on record only to the off-the-wall version of Geraint Evans. This makes him a convincing and lovable rogue, though still the complete scoundral, therby heightening our interest in his scams.

The conducting is robust and full of character, the orchestra and chorus at least adequate. The sound is not great, but it does not seriously detract from the basic portrayal of a marvelous evening. The booklet is minimal.

I doubt if many people would want this as their only version of L'elisir d'Amore -- the sound rather precludes that -- but as a second copy its price makes this version an outstanding recommendation -- and if you don't want a libretto, this version is much more fun and interesting than almost all the ones in the catalogue with which I am familiar which otherwise might be your first version.