Customer Reviews

Verdi: Jerusalem / Ricciarelli Carreras Nimsgern RAI Torino Gavazzeni

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

 

 

Despite its being explicitly recycled material, and Verdi's having reached that point where one sometimes thinks he only has a few basic tunes that he uses over and over again, this recording is a delight. Carreras is at his silvery best, showing that he could be a superlative Verdi tenor and Ricciarelli gives a most memorable performance. Until near the end the live audience is kept well out of it, though towards the end the clapping does interfere with the music. The lack of a libretto is highly regrettable, especially as one is not likely to have any other versions.

I made comparison with this live recording when reviewing the studio recording made in 2000 and conducted by Fabio Luisi as part of the belated completion of Gardelli's "Early Verdi Project" for Philips. It is certainly a cheap, viable alternative and many will be drawn by the prospect of hearing Riciarelli and Carreras in freshest, most youthful voice early in their careers before both fell victim to oversinging in parts too heavy for their essentially lyrical instruments.

However, there are a few caveats: first, the Turin performance is live - perfectly listenable stereo, a bit blaring and congested in parts and obviously not as clean and spacious as the later digital studio recording. Secondly, it is slightly cut, to-wit: the Knights' and Ladies' chorus just after the lovely passage early in Act 1 depicting the sun rising that Verdi composed for this Paris re-write of "I Lombardi" in 1847 and proleptic of a similar but greater depiction of a misty dawn over the Venetian lagoon in "Simon Boccanegra"; the Harem chorus and subsequent ballet music opening Act 3; finally, and most grievously, Hélène's cabaletta "Quelle ivresse", an outburst of joy when she discovers that Gaston is still alive, rescued from the rather mawkish celestial vision scene in Act 2 of "I Lombardi" which was dropped by Verdi for "Jérusalem" ; I have no idea why Gavazzeni and Ricciarelli did not include it and it is present in the Luisi recording. One additional little oddity: the men's chorus of Crusaders at the beginning of Act 4 sing a passage beginning "C'est là qu'apparut" which is meant to be sung by Roger the hermit; again, I have no idea why it was reassigned. The cabaletta apart, none of this matters; the ballet music was a house obligation imposed upon Verdi as a non-negotiable condition of his opera being mounted in "La Grande Boutique" and he did his duty understandably without much inspiration - the ballet music of "Aida" is much more integral, apt and entertaining.

If you are hoping here for a more impressive supporting cast and better French than in the Philips set, you will be disappointed: the mostly Italian RAI cast all sing such heavily accented French such that it sounds positively Provençal, thus "vin" is "veng" "mon coeur" is "monn care" and in truth Carreras hardly sets a good example with his similarly Iberian twang, nor does Nimsgern, although better, avoid teutonic inflections. Ironically, one of the worst offenders linguistically speaking, is also one of the best voices among the comprimario singers: Giampaolo Corradi as Raymond has a powerful and stentorian tenor and a vile French accent. Ricciarelli is better than them all - and the voice is so lovely that we must forgive Italianate presumption in daring to tackle an opera in French - notoriously difficult for non-native speakers.

I do not care for Siegmund Nimsgern's nasal, bleaty baritone but he was always most apt portraying villains (as with his Klingsor for Karajan) and is a match for Luisi's Scandiuzzi, who is far more sedate and lugubrious, if more congenial vocally. Gavazzeni's direction is as you would expect: wise, seasoned and flexible. He takes the famous trio at the end of Act 3 very slowly and it comes off as intense rather than stirring.

In the end, you choose the recording which suits your taste; they have similar strengths and weaknesses and while the more modern singers do not quite have the special magic of the 70's pairing, the score is complete and the sound superior. I cheat by owning both - and the Turin set is here available at bargain price, in any case.

PS: As a bonus, Bella Voce supplies ten minutes of excerpts from the excellent 1963 performance of "Gerusalemme" - a back-formation from "Jérusalem" into Italian, with Leyla Gencer, Gian Giacomo Guelfi and Giacomo Aragall in his debut - see my review.

This is a wonderful recording of a too infrequently performed opera. More people would enjoy it, however, if a libretto were included, particulary since it isn't often performed and doesn't appear in many of the opera resource books on the shelves of laymen.