Composer: Vincenzo Bellini
Performer: Daniela Barcellona, Enea Scala, Maurizio Muraro, Leah-Marian Jones, Simone Alberghini, Kathryn Rudge, Rodion Pogossov, David Soar, Opera Rara Chorus
Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Daniele Rustioni
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Opera Rara
Catalogue: ORC56
Release: 2017
Size: 1.39 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Adelson e Salvini
CD 01
Act 1
01. Sinfonia
02. “Immagine gradita…” (Fanny, Madama Rivers, Geronio, Chorus)
03. “Vien gente, ah mi dispiace…” (Fanny, Madama Rivers, Geronio, Chorus)
04. “Andate pure, o miei cari…” (Madam Rivers, Geronio, Fanny)
05. “Geronio ancor non viene…” (Struley)
06. “Ebbene, hai tu…” (Struley, Geronio)
07. “Bonifacio Voccafrola?” (Bonifacio)
08. “Mo che torna…” (Bonifacio)
09. “Speranza seduttrice” (Salvini, Bonifacio)
10. “Dico io…” (Bonifacio, Salvini, Fanny, Madama Rivers, Nelly)
11. “Dico io…” (Reprise) [Bonifacio, Salvini, Fanny, Madama Rivers, Nelly]
12. “Ma non è quegli Salvini…” (Nelly, Salvini)
13. “Ah! L’oppresse il dolor…” (Salvini, Nelly)
14. “E quest’alma…” (Salvini, Nelly)
15. “Addò site?” (Bonifacio, Nelly, Salvini)
16. “Noi qui l’attenderemo…” (Madama Rivers, Fanny, Geronio, Chorus, Fanny, Bonifacio)
17. “Obliarti? Abbandonarti?” (Adelson, Nelly)
18. “Ah, mio caro!” (Madama Rivers, Adelson, Geronio, Fanny, Coro, Bonifacio, Nelly)
19. “Ah, mio caro!” (Reprise) [Madama Rivers, Adelson, Geronio, Fanny, Coro, Bonifacio, Nelly]
Act 2
20. “Eh, Geronio!” (Struley, Geronio)
21. “E dunque ritornato…” (Struley, Geronio, Madama Rivers, Fanny, Bonifacio, Adelson, Nelly)
CD 02
Act 2
01. “Vieni, uomo snaturato!” (Adelson, Salvini)
02. “Vieni, uomo snaturato!” (Reprise) [Adelson, Salvini]
03. “Resta Salvini…” (Adelson, Salvini, Struley, Bonifacio)
04. “Taci, attendi, e bedarraje?!” (Bonifacio)
05. “Venite o mie care…” (Adelson, Bonifacio, Nelly, Madama Rivers, Fanny)
06. “Ecco alfin quel caro oggetto…” (Adelson, Salvini, Fanny, Bonifacio, Nelly, Madama Rivers)
07. “Al foco…” (Chorus, Adelson, Nelly, Madama Rivers, Fanny, Salvini, Bonifacio)
08. “E il Ciel, che in questa guisa…” (Salvini, Nelly, Struley, Geronio, Madama Rivers, Chorus, Adelson, Fanny)
Act 3
09. “Che a me si conduca…” (Adelson, Bonifacio)
10. “Baldanzoso che dici?” (Adelson, Bonifacio)
11. “Oh con quai rozzi…” (Adelson, Salvini)
12. “Ebben perché respira..” (Adelson, Salvini)
13. “Si cadro… ma estinto ancora” (Adelson, Salvini, Chorus)
14. “E gia tempo” (Adelson, Salvini, Chorus)
15. “Ah Nelly, tributo umìle…” (Adelson, Fanny, Nelly, Salvini, Bonifacio, Madama Rivers, Chorus)
Appendix
16. “Dopo l’oscuro nembo” (Nelly)
17. “Speranza seduttrice” (Salvini, Bonifacio)
18. “Ah! … L’oppresse il dolor …” (Nelly, Salvini)
19. “Ehi! Geronio!…” (Struley, Geronio, Chorus)
On Friday 3 March, Opera Rara releases Bellini’s first opera Adelson e Salvini, written in 1825 while the composer was still a student at the Naples Conservatory. Marking the company’s third complete opera recording by Bellini, following La straniera and Il Pirata, up and coming bel canto specialist Daniele Rustioni leads the BBC Symphony Orchestra in their fourth collaboration with Opera Rara. Daniela Barcellona sings the role of Nelly and is joined by Enea Scala as Salvini and Simone Alberghini as Lord Adelson.
Inspired by Baculard d’Arnaud’s 1772 series of novellas, Les Épreuves du sentiment, Adelson e Salvini was so popular that the students of the Naples Conservatory performed it every Sunday for a year and its impact was such that the intendant of the Teatro di San Carlo immediately commissioned Bellini’s first professional opera. While the influence of the older composer Rossini is evident, Adelson e Salvini exhibits a young Bellini already in the midst of developing his very own original style. Several revisions were made to this student work in the years followings its first performances but it was not until 1985 when Adelson e Salvini was staged by the Teatro Metropolitan in the composer’s hometown of Catania that the work received its first professional performance.
Opera Rara’s revival of Adelson e Salvini is based on a new critical edition using Bellini’s original score. The opera was recorded in the studio a week prior to a concert performance given at the Barbican last May. As The Observer commented, “Opera Rara, busy since the 1970s unearthing forgotten operas, chose Adelson e Salvini for a second, fruitful collaboration this season with the BBC Symphony Orchestra… Energy exploded from [Daniele Rustioni’s] every limb, eliciting spry, lively playing from the BBCSO even in rumpty-tum longueurs…”
Adelson e Salvini was Vincenzo Bellini’s first opera, written in 1825 while he was still a student at the Naples Conservatory and performed there by an all-male cast. The work has had to be reassembled from several versions that were used at the time, and it has rarely been performed. Those who love Bellini will absolutely find adumbrations of the mature composer here, but the opera is a bit of an odd duck. It has spoken dialogue, for one thing, in the manner of a German Singspiel. Bellini handles several instrumental transitions elegantly, but is hampered by this structure. And the opera is essentially a comedy, although it doesn’t have much of a comic groove. The story, in a libretto by Andrea Tottola, is a marginally coherent tale of an Irish nobleman, Adelson, who employs an Italian artist named Salvini, who has fallen in love with Adelson’s fiancée. A minor character, the servant Bonifacio, speaks in Neapolitan dialect, for which the hefty booklet is a lifesaver. There are plenty of arias that sound like Rossini, but some that do not. Sample Nelly the fiancée’s “Dopo l’oscuro nembo,” beautifully sung by Daniela Barcellona, who heads a strong cast. The production feels like a labor of love for conductor Daniele Rustioni, who gets strong forward motion out of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Strong studio sound is another plus. Recommended for Bellini lovers.