Composer: Gaetano Donizetti
Performer: Nicola Alaimo, Joyce El-Khoury, Camilla Roberts, Russell Thomas, Alastair Miles, Julia Sporsen, Peter Hoare, Edward Price, MIchael Bundy, Darren Jeffery
Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Sir Mark Elder
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Opera Rara
Catalogue: ORC49
Release: 2013
Size: 1.11 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Belisario
CD 01
01. Sinfonia
Act 1
02. “Plauso di eterna gloria” (Chorus)
03. “Corri amica, voliam sulla sponda” (Irene, Chorus)
04. “Plauso! Voci di gioia!” (Antonina, Eutropio)
05. “Sin la tomba è a me negata!” (Antonina)
06. “Ti conforta dell’eccesso” (Eutropio, Antonina)
07. “O desio della vendetta” (Antonina, Eutropio)
08. “O nume degli exerciti” (Giustiniano, Chorus)
09. “Cesare, hai vinto e l’itala contrada” (Belisario, Giustiniano, Alamiro)
10. “Liberi siete…Quando di sangue tinto” (Belisario, Alamiro)
11. “Sul campo della gloria” (Belisario, Alamiro)
12. “Padre!…” (Irene, Belisario, Antonina, Eutropio, Alamiro, Eudora, Chorus)
13. “Che mai sarà” (Chorus)
14. “Sostegni del mio trono, un fero evento” (Giustiniano, Chorus, Eutropio, Belisario, Antonina, Irene)
15. “Figlia, consorte…” (Giustiniano, Chorus, Eutropio, Belisario, Antonina, Irene)
16. “Ah, da chi son io tradito!” (Belisario, Irene, Alamiro, Antonina, Eutropio, Giustiniano, Chorus)
17. “Madre tu fosti, e moglie” (Belisario, Antonina, Irene, Alamiro, Giustiniano, Chorus)
18. “Sognai… fra genti… Barbare…” (Belisario, Antonina, Irene, Alamiro, Giustiniano, Chorus)
19. “Ah! Pera l’empio che offese natura” (Antonina, Irene, Belisario, Alamiro, Giustiniano, Chorus)
CD 02
Act 2
01. “Oh, duce! Oh eccesso orribile!…” (Chorus, Alamiro)
02. “Comando fu di Cesare” (Chorus, Alamiro)
03. “A sì tremendo annunzio” (Alamiro)
04. “Vien la figlia!” (Chorus, Alamiro, Irene)
05. “Misera figlia… Irene addio…Trema Bisanzio!” (Alamiro)
06. “Amici, è forza separarci” (Irene, Belisario, Eusebio)
07. “Se vederla a me non lice” (Belisario, Irene)
08. “Ah, se potessi piangere” (Belisario, Irene)
09. “Dunque andiam de’ giorni miei” (Belisario, Irene)
Act 3
10. Introduzione
11. “Qui siedi, o padre, e le tue stanche membra” (Irene, Belisario)
12. “Diffondasi terrible” (Chorus)
13. “Impavidi guerrieri” (Alamiro, Belisario, Irene, Chorus, Ottario)
14. “Fermate! Belisario” (Alamiro, Belisario, Irene, Chorus, Ottario)
15. “Mi mancano gli accenti” (Belisario, Alamiro, Irene, Ottario, Chorus)
16. “Se il iglio/fratel/padre stringere” (Irene, Belisario)
17. “Figli, partiam qui l’aura” (Belisario, Ottario, Chorus, Irene)
18. “Itene al campo, e sia palese al duce” (Giustiniano, Antonina)
19. “Da quel dì che l’innocente” (Antonina)
20. “Vittoria! Vittoria!” (Chorus, Giustiniano, Antonina, Irene)
21. “Di pianto, di gemiti” (Antonina, Irene, Giustiniano, A Centurion)
22. “Egli è spento, e del perdono” (Antonina)
Belisario is, quite simply, one of Donizetti’s finest achievements. It proved a triumph on stages throughout the 19th century, yet, incredibly, it is little known today. The libretto, by Salvadore Cammarano (who collaborated with Donizetti on Lucia di Lammermoor), tells the moving and typically complicated story of the 6th century Byzantine general.
Falsely accused by his wife, Antonina (Joyce El-Khoury), of killing their son, he was blinded and exiled as his punishment. Only the recognition by his daughter, Irene (Camilla Roberts), that her father’s former captive, Alamiro (Russell Thomas), was her long-lost brother restores Belisario’s (Nicola Alaimo) reputation; tragically, too late to save his life.
Recorded in the studio, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Opera Rara’s Artistic Director Sir Mark Elder, this two disc set is accompanied by a complete libretto with an English translation alongside an article and synopsis by the eminent 19th-century musical scholar, Jeremy Commons.