L'Étoile du Nord [Import]

Giacomo Meyerbeer (Composer), Wladimir Jurowski (Conductor), National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland (Orchestra), Elizabeth Futral (Performer), Juan Diego Flórez (Performer), Wexford Festival Opera Chorus (Performer), Aled Hall (Performer), Robert Lee (Performer), Christopher Maltman (Performer), Agnete Munk Rasmussen (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Elizabeth Futral, Juan Diego Flórez, Wexford Festival Opera Chorus, Aled Hall, Robert Lee, et al.
• Orchestra: National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland
• Conductor: Wladimir Jurowski
• Composer: Giacomo Meyerbeer
• Audio CD (December 9, 1997)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 3
• Format: Import
• Label: Indie Europe/Zoom
• ASIN: B000004655
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #277,491 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Comic Opera, April 14, 2000

By 

John Cragg (Delta(greater Vancouver), B.C Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: L'Étoile du Nord (Audio CD)

I usally find Meyerbeer's Grand Operas a bit of a bore, though they do have some magnificient pieces and real show-case material for great voices. This is a very different story: a light, fairly frothy comedy well sung and conducted with a lot of verve. If none of the voices stands out and grabs you by the throat, they do combine to give a fine performance. The Wexford forces are not only enthusiastic, but well honed, and the enterprise is much to be praised for presenting such an out of the way, but very worthwhile work. While taken from a live recording, the miking is such that the audience does not intrude -- indeed the rather limited applause that comes through sounds "off stage", a nice piece of engineering!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A jewel discovered, January 15, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: L'Étoile du Nord (Audio CD)

I bought l'Etoile du Nord solely because Elizabeth Futral sang Catherine. Now it is probably the most played of my opera collection. Meyerbeer should not be so neglected - the music is quite lovely, the melodies memorable, the choruses stirring, and the arias, particularly Catherine's various pieces, outright thrilling. The down-side is that it is a "live" recording (from the Wexford Festival) so that the sound is not terribly good. Principals seem to wander out of effective reach of the microphones from time to time. Some of the other voices are less than great -while Vladimir Ognev is superbly resonant as Peter the Great, the three tenor voices leave something to be desired, notably the ability to reach and hold the higher notes without warbling. Of course all of this matters little to a Futral fan: the price of the CD is justified just to hear her sing (and I say that as someone who has heard both Renee Fleming and Ruth Ann Swenson on the stage of the Met within the past few months).

Incidentally, I am not sure why this review space is set up for reviewers "under 13" only since I doubt that many of them listen to Meyerbeer with any regularity. I am quite a bit older than 12, but the review will not post unless I enter and age, and "12" is the highest age available in the "click box".

5.0 out of 5 stars A work of originality and charm, October 23, 2011

By 

RIL (Cambridge) - See all my reviews

This review is from: L'Étoile du Nord (Audio CD)

Meyerbeer's first opéra-comique is work of great originality and charm. Even after the huge success of Le Prophète (1849), he was determined to realize this lifelong dream, and write a comic opera and L'Étoile du nord was the result. It is a brilliant `military' opera, the story of Peter the Great's love for the Livonian peasant girl Catherine, turned into a fable of romantic love and dream fulfilment. The Star of the North becomes a symbol of Catherine's glorious future as saviour of the tsar and crowned empress. The two thematic worlds are reflected in the overlapping spheres of romance and realism--the Karelian village with its dreams and games and weddings, and the Russian military camp with its harsh behaviour, debauchery, cruelty, conspiracy and betrayal. Meyerbeer's use of the symbolic themes, like the beautiful extended and gentle Theme of the Star, and the proud and pompous series of marches in act 2, each capture a particular world.

In this 1996 recording of L'Etoile du Nord the brilliant soprano Elizabeth Futral sings Catherine with accomplishment. This is now it is now among the most played of my opera collection. Meyerbeer should not be so neglected-- the music is quite lovely, the melodies memorable, the choruses stirring, and the arias, particularly Catherine's various pieces, outrightly thrilling. Her charming entrance aria, prayer and barcarolle, the duet with Prascovia, and the famous Mad Scene, culminating in the aria with two flutes written for Jenny Lind, are all of the greatest originality and beauty (see also the U-Tube of Sumi Jo in this legendary piece). The disadvantage is that it is a "live" recording (from the Wexford Festival) so that the sound is not as full as could be. Principals seem to wander out of effective reach of the microphones from time to time. Some of the other voices are less than great: while Vladimir Ognev is superbly resonant as Peter the Great, the three tenor voices leave something to be desired, notably the ability to reach and hold the higher notes without too much vibrato. Nevertheless, the comic impersonation of Aled Hall as Peter's henchman Danilowitz is very well done, and the big buffo trio in act 3, with Peter and two of the tenors is a tour de force. The price of the CD is justified to hear Meyerbeer's fascinating score and also for Futral's assumption of the role of Catherine..