Customer Reviews

Motezuma

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

 

 

In the past five or six years, the recording industry has been very generous with baroque opera, in general, and Vivaldi's operas in specific (despite the well known crisis of classical music recordings). It has to do with all the research that has been done about this field and the Vivaldi's operas that have been found... Motezuma is the latest recording addition to this operatic side of Vivaldi's music and it is presented as a first world premiere of the original opera with some reconstruction for the recitativos. (In 1992 Jean- Claude Malgoire's make a recording of a pasticcio with the name of Montezuma, using music from cantantas, serenatas and other Vivaidi Operas).

To be honest, I was not expecting very much of the recording. Motezuma was written and performed in 1733, and, at this time, Vivaldi was concentrated more in pasticci and adaptations of earlier works than in composition of new music... Well, Motezuma is an exception: almost the entire score was composed for the libretto and the music is Vivaldi at his very best.

Il complesso Barocco and Alan Curtis need no recomendation, but in this specific work they are in great form... it may be the fact that they are really making new music, and you can feel it.

Now the singers. All of them are up to the challenge, and this is music of extreme virtuosity. Vito Priante has and imposing bass-bariton voice and sings fluent coloratura. I am not sure if Vivaldi wrote the part of Motezuma for low male voice insted of a castrato, but it works very well. Mariana Mijanovic sings the part of Mitrena, the emperor's wife. For me, she is the less effective of the singers in this recordings. She sounds to virile for the part. She is a contralto with a very androgenous voice that worked very well in Giulio Cesar with Minkowski but in this specific work, a more feminine and agile voice would be more appropriate, but, anyway, she is exciting! Roberta Invernizzi sings Teutile, the princess. She has very beautiful voice and fits the arias perfectly. Maite Beaumont sings Fernando, the spanish invader, and she could not be better. Her arias are very difficult with a very wide range and she is great! Romina Basso sings the small part of Ramiro, Fernando's brother, she has few moments but those are done very well. Inga Kalna sings another small part: Asprano, general of the mexicans... and surprisingly, I think this is the most difficult part in the entire opera. Few arias, but what kind of music! And Inga Kalna excels in it. You can listen to this prodigious singer in Rene Jacobs Giulio Cesar, where she takes the opera for herself... I wish she would record more often.

The story of the opera is an european-baroque-view of the conquest of Mexico but with interesting details: Motezuma and his wife are presented as a regal and loving couple willing to sacrifice themselves in the sake of honor... there is also a love story between the mexican princess and the brother of the invader.

Very recommendable recording. One of the best of the year. If you love baroque music, this is an opera you must have... if you don't love this genere, I am sure this recording will change your mind.

Just a few words : great performances ! I agree with the reviewer who says that all the singers are up for the challange. However, I must disagree with the ones who say that Marijana Mijanovic's voice is too androgenous for Mitrina's part. Miss Mijanovic is one of the best current contraltos, her voice is of the most instantly recognizable and originale and her technique is simply brilliant. Some will say that her low register sounds a bit "metallic" and that her breast register is not well "intergrated". I will answer that the somewhat countertenorish way she uses her low register doesn't denote a flaw in technique, but is actually a personal choice ! In Bajazet, for instance, in the aria "Svena, Uccidi, Abbatti, Atterra" she chooses to sound resort to her breast register at the begining, but doesn't do it any longer in the da capo by the end, showing that she's fully capable to sing in a more "traditional" way, but that she does it on purpose when she chooses to sound more like a countertenor. Now, regarding the comments according to which her voice is too "masculine" for Mitrina's part, I'd simply answer that not all the most enticing and attractive women are overly feminine : a touch of androgeneity is often perceived very attractive depending on the woman. Therefore, I'd say that she fits the role perfectly and I'll even say that she's probably the most effective singer of the cast : her dramatic involvement is just breathtaking whatever the role she takes on, and this one is no exception. I think it's time to stop being overly conservative and accept and be open to it, when an artist dares to take some risk, especially when we're talking about an extraordinary singer and actress like Marijana Mijanovic !

I concur with the other positive reviews, except to emphasize the extreme virtuosity displayed in some of the arias. You will look a long time to find a baroque opera recording with singing to top this. If you admire florid singing, this set should be a "must have" in your collection.

A beautiful opera that received a caring restoration. This is what you get with Vivaldi's Motezuma in the hands of Allan Curtis, Il Complesso Barocco and a wonderful cast of singers.
Every singer adds richness to this CD, and even recitatives (often difficult for those not familiar with baroque opera) have a true theatrical intensity. Earing this set leaves me with the urge of seeing Motezuma on stage.

Well sung, well played, well conducted.

Highly recommend Alan Curits and Il Complesso Barocco. Also have several Handel recordings by Alan Curtis.

...potete acquistare (a carissimo prezzo) questa -e per ora unica- versione di Motezuma, ma solo se siete dei 'collezionisti' di Vivaldi. Se siete invece nella fase della scoperta del Prete Rosso operistico, incominciate i vostri ascolti utilizzando altre incisioni (di Sardelli, Biondi, Alessandrini) ma evitate -finché potete- Alan Curtis.
Nonostante lui si ritenga un avanguardista per quel che concerne la musica vivaldiana, non è stato capace di realizzare una (dico u-n-a) registrazione nella quale, almeno per un attimo, si respiri quella particolare atmosfera tipica della musica del veneziano.
Tre ore -il Motezuma di Curtis- che sembrano non passare mai, una noia mortale, una piattezza senza uguali: aspettando tempi migliori...

This world premiere is a missed opportunity. Sure, the orchestra, Il Complesso Barocco, is quite good, and Alan Curtis is a phenomenal conductor. Still this opera is impossible to enjoy due to some truly incompetent singers.

All from the start Vito Priante's Motezuma and Marijana Mijanovic's Mitrena (Motezuma's queen) mares this great opera with extremely heavy vibrato. The phrases are made with no understanding of 18th Century style of ornamentation. Also the lack of clear articulation (especially Mijanocvic) renders much of the text in the arias incomprehensible. The heavy vibrato makes her voice woolly, and those places characterized by virtuosic coloraturas are rather painful to hear for the sheer lack of core to her voice. Actually I've heard other critics remark on Mijancovic's singing "as if she's standing on a shore in March and has cold water sprinkled all over her". I'm just saying that I will not let my worst enemy suffer to hear this "singing".

Priante is also guilty of tasteless over-acting, and he makes Motezuma into the image of a Wagnerian Wotan, which is to say it mildly, a misconception of both the libretto and Vivaldi's music.

Still, Roberta Invernizzi (Teutile, the Mexican princess, Motezuma's daughter, in love with Fernando Pizarro) sings with nerve, understanding and taste. Her voice is agile and youthful and she seems to have a good conception of her character's role in the drama. Also Maite Beaumont (Fernando) and Romina Basso (Ramiro, Fernando's brother) are quite good.

However, Motezuma and Mitrena are so vital to the plot that they are simply not to be overlooked. The total lack interest shown of Priante and Mijancovic in this magnificent score (and not only their egos as classical mainstream opera "stars") on its own terms, is really depressing.

If this is a trend for ARCHIV's new line in early music I think that they lack integrity and guts to present competent and interesting singers. We need more singers who are willing to research the sources and interpret this music on an independent basis, not only through the looking glass of traditional modern singing-techniques. Priante and Mijancovic does not seem to explore the score of Motezuma and the result is a catastrophe for the opera as a whole.

The restoration of a Vivaldi opera must be a commendable effort specially if filling in big voids and rebuilding major missing parts of the masterpiece. Motezuma is such an example where ample musical and artistic license was taken to bring it to life. Like restoring a canvas where not only the colors and forms had faded but also sizeable parts were ripped off and lost, reconstructing Motezuma presents the challenge for the restorer of thinking and dreaming, and becoming as inspired as Vivaldi. In listening to Motezuma, one can pick up the original Vivaldian compositions from the reconstructed material as clear as looking at a combination painting part Picasso part Michelangelo. As much as such painting can be taxing to the eye, portions of this opera can be as disappointing to the ear. Except for several arias and the two sinfonias, the music has a touch and taste of the 1800's, but not of the baroque settecento. The juxtaposition of the restorative style is also distractive, and just does not work. It makes at times the orchestration devoid of the Vivaldi unf , charm, and texture.

Nonetheless, Motezuma's musical beauty can be found in great arias such as D'ira e Furor Armato, La Figlia Lo Sposo, Gl'otraggi della Sorte, D'ove La Figlia?, S'impugni La Spada, and performances by Vito Priante, Inga Kalna, and Marijana Mijanovic. Bravo for Vito Priante and his interpretation of GI'otraggi della Sorte, and D'ove la Figlia. He does a great ornamentation in the da capos, and turns up the volume in all the right notes. Just like "Terribile lo Sento", and "Orribile lo Scempio", "GI'otraggi" shares the same musicalization. Somehow, this version of the score is especially more dramatic and subtlely more melodic.