Mascagni: Le Maschere

Le maschere, opera (commedia lirica e giocosa) in 3 acts
Composed by Pietro Mascagni
Performed by Bologna Community Theater Orchestra
with Giuseppe Sabbatini, Oslavio di Credico, Nelson Portella, Angelo Romero, Carlos Chausson, Maria Jose Gallego, Amelia Felle, Vincenzo La Scola, Enzo Dara
Conducted by Gianluigi Gelmetti

Mascagni: Le Maschere,Pietro Mascagni,Gianluigi Gelmetti,Amelia Felle,Vincenzo La Scola,Enzo Dara,Carlos Chausson,Oslavio di Credico,Bmg Ricordi,Classical,Classical Music,Italian Romantic Opera,Opera,Opera / Operetta / Oratorio

Average customer rating:

A strangely refreshing interpretation
Definitive Recording
50 years on, Mascagni conducts his own Cavalleria Rusticana.

Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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Puccini: Madama Butterfly

ASIN: B00005MFGP
Release Date: 2001-08-21

Tracks:

Introductory Speech By The Composer - Pietro Mascagni
Prld - La Scala Orch/Pietro Mascagni
O Lola, Ch'ai Di Latti La Cammisa - Beniamino Gigli
Gli Aranci Olezzano - La Scala Chor
Dite, Mamma Lucia - Lina Bruna Rasa/Giulietta Simionato
Il Cavallo Scalpita - Gino Bechi/La Scala Chor
Beato Voi, Compar Alfio...Regina Coeli - Giulietta Simionato/Gino Bechi/Lina Bruna Rasa/La Scala Chor
Voi Lo Sapete, O Mamma - Lina Bruna Rasa/Giulietta Simionato
Tu Qui, Santuzza? - Beniamino Gigli/Lina Bruna Rasa
Fior Di Giaggiolo - Maria Marcucci/Beniamino Gigli/Lina Bruna Rasa
Ah! Io Vedi, Che Hai Tu Detto? - Beniamino Gigli/Lina Bruna Rasa
Oh! Il Signore Vi Manda, Compar Alfio! - Lina Bruno Rasa/Gino Bechi

Tracks:

Intermezzo - La Scala Orch/Pietro Mascagni
A Casa, A Casa, Amici - La Scala Chor/Beniamino Gigli/Maria Marucci
Viva Il Vino Spumeggiante - Beniamino Gigli/La Scala Chor/Maria Marcucci
A Voi Tutti, Salute! - Gino Bechi/La Scala Chor/Beniamino Gigli/Maria Marcucci
Mamma, Quel Vino E Generoso - Beniamino Gigli/Giulietta Simionato/Lina Bruna Rasa
Appendix: Il Barbiere Di Siviglia: Ovt - Orch Of The State Opr House, Berlin/Pietro Mascagni
Appendix: I Vespri Siciliani: Ovt - Orch Of The State Opr House, Berlin/Pietro Mascagni
Appendix: L'Amico Fritz: Intermezzo - Orch Of The State Opr House, Berlin/Pietro Mascagni
Appendix: I Rantzau: Ovt - Orch Of The State Opr House, Berlin/Pietro Mascagni
Appendix: Guglielmo Ratcliff: Intermezzo - Orch Of The State Opr House, Berlin/Pietro Mascagni
Appendix: Iris: Inno Al Sole - Orch Of The State Opr House, Berlin/Pietro Mascagni
Appendix: Iris: Dance - Orch Of The State Opr House, Berlin/Pietro Mascagni
Appendix: Le Maschere: Ovt - Orch Of The State Opr House, Berlin/Pietro Mascagni

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The first disc opens with a brief speech by the composer, delivered with verve and hammy declamation. It's a fun start to this 1940 recording, made 50 years after its premiere. His conducting is very free, ignoring score markings and leading the slowest of the opera's many recorded versions. But it works; a reading full of atmosphere and an inevitability that, even after all these years, makes this one of the best-conducted of all Cavallerias. It also has one of the best casts ever assembled. Beniamino Gigli is a terrific Turiddu; he's in excellent voice, singing with intensity and involvement. He shares honors with the burly baritone of Gino Bechi, among the best of all recorded Alfios. Another plus is the passionate Santuzza, Lina Bruna Rasa, who lets out all the stops in true verismo style. Naxos fills out the second disc with Mascagni conducting overtures and preludes from his own and others' operas. But the Cavalleria is what counts, and Ward Marston's fine transfers make this issue preferable to other available versions of this performance. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews:

A strangely refreshing interpretation.......2005-09-29

I have many recordings of this work, and most are simply wonderful, full of fire and energy, and gripping to the extreme. Isn't that what Verismo was supposed to be, a slice of life? I came to this recordings late in my study of this opera. I followed with the score, and yes, the composer himself doesn't always follow what he wrote, but that makes me ask the question: is what he wrote really a true reflection of what he felt?

This recording is so slow, I mean SLOW, but at no time does it drag. I find it marvelous how the composer keeps movement, energy, and life in his work even though how he views his tempi are very different than how we see/hear them. Perhaps, through the years he mellowed and old age robbed him of the ability to conduct with great speed. Yet, something tells me that is not the case at all. Rather, with time, his view of his "first born" took on a different feeling for him, or maybe this was the correct feeling all along, but other conductors premiered the work and their interpretations of tempi, etc. became the norm.

Whatever the truth is, this is how he saw the work when he conducted it, and I am sure he heard many presentations of his opera over that 50 year period from the time it was created till the time he conducted it. There is a deep intensity of feeling in the music. It "Throbs" yet, it is not pushed, it is not rushed, it is not hectic. It is emotionally intense.

Some don't like Gigli sobbing in his lines of when he expresses emotions, especially when bidding farewell to his mother. Yet, if one reads all the discussions on how verismo was performed, those sobs (done by both men and women) were the norm. Even some yelling was not considered WRONG. Now days, we are used to very "cleaned up" performances. Ones that go back to the manuscript, where every single high note tradition is removed. Emotions are confined to the notes and the musical line and NOTHING ELSE IS ALLOWED.

Well, this is not the standard of this recording, or of what the composer himself expected from his work. He chose the singers, and I am sure he chose them knowing full well they used those "theatrics" in their singing.

But now, to the singers. They are simply wondrous, to me, and even though this is such an "old way" of performing a verismo work, I find it gives a great depth to the music and the drama. I wish sometimes we could see such emotional theatrics in the theatre today, rather than all those ever-so-correctly sung interpretations. The Santuzza (Lina Bruna Rasa) may sound like she would take the rolling pin to Turridu if he did anything wrong, but let us put this in perspective: this woman has been dumped and excommunicated for her affair with this man, and frankly, he cares less. A rolling pin to the head may be what he needs. Lola (Maria Marccucci), wonderfully sung for such a small part, is the cheating little vixen she appears, and we all know she is going to cover up her sinful ways by pretending to be so pure. Alfio (Geno Bechi) is a very wronged husband. He enters the opera filled with promise and life, coming home from a long day at work (or week away doing work) to what he thinks is a loving home. We hear that in this performance, and we hear the heart break as he learns his wife is sleeping around (granted, he hears it from a wrong former girl friend of the man sleeping with his wife, so he has to endure her spite in the telling, which is wonderfully portrayed). His "Hate" toward Turriddu is thick, one could cut it with a knife, yet, he never raves. All is said with composure.

And we get to enjoy an early recording of Simionato near the beginning of her career. Mamma Lucia is not a big role, nor does it develop in any real way, but still we are treated to a wonderful singer singing her notes with truth.

The other recorded items are also very interesting. Mascagni obviously felt music his way. I would not say it was wrong or right. He just felt his tempi as he felt them and not as a mechanical device counting them out. Personally, I love the expression he adds to the work. Since all the metronomic markings are all in brackets, one is led to believe they were more suggestions than definite requirements.

Mascagni conducts other people's music as he conducts his own, fully as he feels the various tempi markings. Sometimes, they are much slower than we are accustomed to, and as a conductor, he is not too fixated on "note perfection" and little slips do happen from time to time, but nothing is lost, or destroyed by this oversight. One is left wondering, what would Verdi have conducted like, or what of Bellini, or Wagner? Tempi are very different from composer to composer, and each style of music feels an andante differently. Mascagni felt things in a very expanded drawn out way, but at no time does he lose energy or focus as to where he intends to go. His singers obviously understood what he was after, for they never drag a line, or drop in their energy either.

This recording has its drawbacks, but it is a testiment to what a composer felt about his work, and we have so few of those. It reminds me of a discussion I had with a music teacher in my youth. In frustration with her I yelled, "When did you talk to the composer last?" She didn't appreciate my remark one bit. Well, here we have the opportunity of actually hearing "what the composer wanted." Whether we like it or not, is really very personal. It is very different to what we are accustomed to, but it is HIS final word on the issue, and with that we can all say to conductors, directors, and the lot who really frustrate us with how they do things, "Well, we have heard what the composer wanted, he documented that, so, how close are you to what he wanted?"

Definitive Recording.......2002-09-16

My review is based upon the original RCA Treasury Series recording. Despite its age, this is the quintessential Cavelleria Rusticano. The principals are all outstanding. My one caveat is the excessive sobbing in the last act's "Farewell to his Mother" by Beniamino Gigli, the opera's Turrido. Otherwise this tenor, whose singing is generally not my personal "cup of tea," does a great job. Lina Bruna Rasa has the perfect voice for Santuzza, and she pulls out all the stops. Bechi is a very convincing Alfio. Altogether, this is melodrama done in the true, southern Italian Style. Mascagni, who conducts "his own child" fifty years after its first presentation, makes some brief opening remarks. They are both apt and touching. I have numerous recordings of this opera, including the excellent Callas version. This one is by far the best.

50 years on, Mascagni conducts his own Cavalleria Rusticana........2001-10-24

Ward Marston transfers of historic opera recordings continue be issued by Naxos. This one is noteworthy for several reasons: it offers the best and cheapest available edition of Mascagni conducting his own opera, and it has Beniamino Gigli in the tenor role.

Some comments on the composer/conductor first. In 1940 it was fifty years since "Cavelleria Rusticana" debuted in Rome. The 76 year old composer was invited to conduct the recording, select the singers, and present an introductory speech. Sounding like a gladiator of former times addressing the crowd in the coliseum, Pietro Mascagni provides a two minute speech, here printed in the notes in translation. He directs a performance that is neither true to the original score nor calculated to present the opera's best features. You need only to listen to the famous intermezzo, where you'll hear dynamic and tempo exaggerations in the "big tune" that are not indicated in the score.

Earlier, in fact during the opening orchestral prelude, you'll hear a production fault that Mascagni apparently ignored. A feature of this work, credited with being the first "verismo" (true to life) opera, is the interpolation of an off-stage "Siciliana" sung by the tenor Turiddu to Lola, the wife of Alfio, during the opera's orchestral prelude. Any suggestion that Turiddu wants to maintain their hopeless involvement is destroyed when we hear singing so loud from Beniamino Gigli as to suggest that Turiddu wants the whole of Sicily to know about it. Yes, Gigli is in fine voice, but his habit of adding a gulp or an extra note at the beginning of almost every phrase is an unwelcome crudity.

Lina Bruna Rasa, a singer usually institutionalised at this time due to psychiatric problems, makes Santuzza sound like the sort of future wife for Turiddu who would be handier with the rolling pin than in dispensing tender loving care. Gino Bechi, early in his career, and Giulietto Siminionato, even earlier, take the parts of Alfio and Mamma Lucia.

Tracks:

Il Barbiere Di Siviglia: Largo Al Factotum
La Forza Del Destino: Urna Fatale
Un Ballo In Maschera: Alzati/La Tuo Figlio
Un Ballo In Maschera: Eri Tu Che Macchiavi
Otello: Vanne/La Tua Meta Gia Vedo
Otello: Credo In Un Dio Crudel
Don Carlo: O Carlo, Ascolta
Rigoletto: Cortigiani, Vil Razza Dannata
Andrea Chenier: Questo Azzurro Sofa
Andrea Chenier: Son Sessant' Anni/O Vecchio
Il Tabarro: Nulla!...Silenzio!...
Il Tabarro: T'ho Colto!
I Pagliacci: Prologo
Cavalleria Rusticana: Il Cavallo Scalpita
Cavalleria Rusticana: Oh! Il Signore Vi Manda
L' Amico Fritz: Per Voi/Ghiottoni Inutili
Lodoletta: Tel Dissi/Lodoletta
Le Maschere: Quella E Una Strada
Il Sogno
Non Posso Chiedervi
Eterna Memoria
Ovunque Tu

Customer Reviews:

Wow! Bastianini can really sing!.......2007-03-19

Ettore Bastianini is so awesome! The man could really sing, and I mean, really sing! His voice is so dark, so sexy, aristocratic, it sounds like bronze. He really was a vocal phenomenon. I was always interested in him; the rave reviews on amazon convinced me to purchase this CD, and I'm glad I did. His voice was gorgeous.

a voice of gold.......2003-02-23

I first heard Bastianini is Serafin's London recording of "La Boheme" with Carlo Bergonzi and Renata Tebaldi. I was impressed then and I still am now.
To possess such evenness in every part of one's range is nothing short of amazing. Bastianini's high notes are as rich as his lows and it is stunning to hear such brassiness in a baritone. A beautiful timbre is matched by peerless vocal skill; he is VERY well trained as a singer. Nothing is out of tune, a beat behind, or cut short for lack of air.
His opera buffo is superb; I wish there was a recording of "The Barber of Seville" with him in the title role. He truly has character when he sings comedic roles and his diction is impeccable; I don't think I've ever heard recitative done that quickly before. He is a little static and distant in "Eri tu" (I like it a little slower), but I think that, had he lived longer, he would have grown more into the role of Renato. Despite this, he is a true Verdi baritone singing with great civility and consistancy. Track 7 from "Don Carlo" shows this perfectly; easily some of the best lyrical phrasing on record.
Every song is done with perfect technique punctuated by great expression. He makes the change from technical singer to interpretive artist with considerable ease, especially in the last tracks which are live recordings of him in concert.
The orchestra and piano accompaniments are just that; accompaniments. And there is little effort made on the part of the conductors to intrude upon his singing. There is depth, but it quietly provides a very easy platform from which to simply listen to his voice and enjoy the sparkling clarity.
The recording quality is excellent mono that sounds like a very distant stereo instead of like someone singing into a box. There is very little static or hiss and the audience is barely audible at all.
Truly, an excellent (and rare) recording of a singer whose voice was a gift from God. It's a rather odd, but very special album that any opera buff should have.

The gift from the Heaven.......2000-06-06

Ettore was the best and the most incredible baritone of all time. This CD contains many of earlier recordings when he switched from bass to baritone. And he sang absolutely wonderful. He'll take you to heaven when you hear pieces from Forza, Ballo and all the rest. He would have been a great Iago. He proved in this CD. He also proved that he was a great comedian in Barbiere and Maschere. What a pleasure and the gift he'd left with us. I can't thank him enough!

supreme beauty.......2000-06-04

When I listened to Ettore Bastianini for the first time, I got very impressed with the pureness of his sound. His range was incredible and even though he started his career as a bass, his roles as a baritone are superb. His voice of supreme beauty reminds us that baritone's voices don't have to be limited and common. This recording is great. That "Si puo? is powerful. All the arias are performed with passion and beauty. Bastianini is a must to have baritone in all opera collections.

Non ti scordar!.......2000-04-14

While there have been a few great baritones since Ettore Bastianini's departure from the opera stage, I feel it would be a great loss if we allow his name to be forgotten. In a recent survey by Opera News magazine, Dmitri Hvorostovsky named Bastianini as his inspiration and singing role model, particularly emphasizing a certain "dark force" of his voice. This says a lot coming from today's leading baritone. Indeed, the beauty of the voice and the impeccable technique can be a point of standard for everyone who came after.

Bastianini started out as a bass before developing the powerful upper register to match his rich secure low notes. His baritone is, therefore, the darkest you would ever hear, with a possible exception of Renato Bruson. Yet high tessitura of Verdian arias presented no difficulty for him. On this disk the arias from Un Ballo, Otello, Rigoletto, and Don Carlo are presented in a sequence, all of the highest difficulty and all flawlessly executed. Bastianini must have been perfect on stage as well with sound so immense it overwhelms the recording system several times. His talents also shine in rarely performed arias from operas "Lodoletta", "Il Tabarro", and "L'Amico Fritz". There are four beautiful art songs at the end of the disk. While Bastianini was mostly famous for the sheer beauty of his voice, I found his characterizations to be wonderful as well. Just take Figaro's flamboyant swaggering introduction versus Iago's dark brooding credo. It really sounds like two different people singing. Without ever breaking the line or sacrificing the quality for the dramatic effect, he was able to convey the very nature of the character.

Customer Reviews:

Mascagni Heroines.......2002-07-23

Mascagni has always been a bone of contention. Critics bewailed his crudeness and emotional excess....the public preferred Puccini. But Mascagni was the real thing - far more than the one-work wonder history has made him out to be. Give him credit -the man wrote 15 operas! Unfortunately, apart from Cavalleria Rusticana, the rest is pretty much terra incognito. And so, this current release, a comprehensive survey of Mascagni heroines, is most welcome. The brief excerpts included here can hardly convey the theatrical sweep of Ratcliffe or Piccolo Marat, yet there are many moments of expressive power. Lodoletta's "Ah, il suo nome" to cite just one example, achieves a pathos rare in 20th century opera. You may not walk away whistling the tunes, but the music will stay with you. Our soloist, soprano Denia Gavazzeni-Mazzola, is quite wonderful, vocally vibrant and totally 'inside' the music. Her Parisina, Isabeau and Luisa Rantzau are just about ideal. In short, I'd say this is a must for the dedicated operaphile

Average customer rating:

Le Maschere

Manufacturer: GALA Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000EDLA7U

Product Description

PIETRO MASCAGNI (1863-1945) LE MASCHERE Commedia lirica e giocosa Parabasi e tre atti Libretto: Luigi Illica Pantalone de" Bisognosi - Antonio Cassinelli Rosaura - Cesy Broggini Florindo - Ferrando Ferrari Dottore Graziano - Michele Casato Colombina - Elena Rizzieri Brighella - Amedeo Berdini Capitano Spavento - Giampiero Malaspina Arlecchino Batocchio - Sergio Tedesco Tartaglia - Afro Poli Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Verdi, Trieste Conductor: Bruno Bartoletti Trieste, November 11,1961

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Boninsegna

Manufacturer: Pearl
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000000WYE
Release Date: 1993-11-23

Tracks:

Norma: Casta diva
Semiramide: Bel raggio lusinghier
Ernani: Ernani, Ernani involami
Il Trovatore: Tacea la notte placida
Il Trovatore: D'amor sull'ali rosee
Il Trovatore: Mira d'acerbe lagrime...
La forza del destino: Madre, madre pietosa vergine
La forza del destino: Pace, pace mio Dio
Aida: Ritorna vincitor...I sacri nomi
Aida: O patria mia
Aida: La tra le foreste vergine
Faust: Tardi si fa
Faust: Ei m'ama!
La Gioconda: Suicidio
Le Maschere: Aria della lettera
Mefistofele: L'altra notte in fondo al mare
Mefistofele: Spunta l'aurora pallida
Loreley: Lascia per or
TOSCA: Vissi d'arte

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Mascagni: Le Maschere
Pietro Mascagni , Gianluigi Gelmetti , Amelia Felle , Vincenzo La Scola , Enzo Dara , Carlos Chausson , and Oslavio di Credico
Manufacturer: Bmg Ricordi
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000479AL
Release Date: 1994-02-18

Meditation Music: