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There's a spaciousness to David parry's conducting and the london Philharmonic Orchestra finds ominous foreboding and sumptuous colours.Add to that some soloists who really bubble with simmering angst,and you have a cery attractive package indeed. Disc of the month --Classic fm ,nov 2010
This lavishly presented studio recording preceded a festival hall concert and makes as strong case for Rossini's most experimental serious opera. *** --Sunday Times,26/09/10
David Parry expertly leads the LPO through this fine piece as if they had been playing it all their professional lives. Performance **** Recording **** --BBC Music Magazine,Dec'10
Purposeful performance of a 19th -century gem. --Gramophone,Dec'10
This lavishly presented studio recording preceded a festival hall concert and makes as strong case for Rossini's most experimental serious opera. *** --Sunday Times,26/09/10
David Parry expertly leads the LPO through this fine piece as if they had been playing it all their professional lives. Performance **** Recording **** --BBC Music Magazine,Dec'10
Purposeful performance of a 19th -century gem. --Gramophone,Dec'10
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
All together a little disappoiting. I had expected more of it. The sining overall is OK, but not very distivtive, the orchestra is OK. I heard earlier recordings that are more to my taste, what can I say.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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3 reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
AT LAST - A GREAT NEW RECORDING OF THIS WONDERFUL ROSSINI MASTERPIECE!
7 Jan 2011
Format:Audio CD
I waited quite a while before finally biting the bullet and buying this recording. I had several reasons for doing so. Opera Rara's recordings can be a bit hit-and-miss at times (always interesting operas, but, on occasion, with less than ideal casts); the price - let's face it, it's not particularly cheap; and the inclusion of Carmen Giannattasio in the cast (I have the Opera Rara recording of "La donna del lago" which has her in the title role - singing well, but nothing outstanding). Now that I have heard this new recording I can only wonder as to why I waited so long!
"Ermione" is one of my favourite Rossini operas (right up there with "Semiramide" and "La Cenerentola"). I have the Claudio Scimone recording (the only other commercial recording that I know of) from the mid '80s, which I find to be a very mixed bag with a miscast Ermione in Cecilia Gasdia (I find her voice to be too light to believably belong to this dramatic, passionate, almost mentally-unbalanced character), and a couple of other singers who I do not particularly care for. This new recording gets across the drama of the piece very well under the direction of David Parry, and the singing is generally excellent. Giannattasio is ideal in the title role. She has the weight in her voice for the dramatic sections, and sings the coloratura passages beautifully. Of course this is very much an ensemble opera. The three tenors are all good, Colin Lee's Oreste probably having the edge over the other two with his heroic singing and lovely timbre. Patricia Bardon sings Andromaca well (I do not particularly care for her voice personally, but credit where it's due), and Rebecca Bottone as Ermione's confidante Cleone is a real find - I hope to hear much more from her in the future.
I would recommend all lovers of Rossini opera (and in fact bel canto) to invest in a copy of this. Unlike a previous reviewer I find the balance of the recording itself to be excellent. Thank-you, Opera Rara, for casting this opera so well. I look forward to the next recording in this series with baited breath!
"Ermione" is one of my favourite Rossini operas (right up there with "Semiramide" and "La Cenerentola"). I have the Claudio Scimone recording (the only other commercial recording that I know of) from the mid '80s, which I find to be a very mixed bag with a miscast Ermione in Cecilia Gasdia (I find her voice to be too light to believably belong to this dramatic, passionate, almost mentally-unbalanced character), and a couple of other singers who I do not particularly care for. This new recording gets across the drama of the piece very well under the direction of David Parry, and the singing is generally excellent. Giannattasio is ideal in the title role. She has the weight in her voice for the dramatic sections, and sings the coloratura passages beautifully. Of course this is very much an ensemble opera. The three tenors are all good, Colin Lee's Oreste probably having the edge over the other two with his heroic singing and lovely timbre. Patricia Bardon sings Andromaca well (I do not particularly care for her voice personally, but credit where it's due), and Rebecca Bottone as Ermione's confidante Cleone is a real find - I hope to hear much more from her in the future.
I would recommend all lovers of Rossini opera (and in fact bel canto) to invest in a copy of this. Unlike a previous reviewer I find the balance of the recording itself to be excellent. Thank-you, Opera Rara, for casting this opera so well. I look forward to the next recording in this series with baited breath!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Great opera, good performance
23 Jan 2012
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Ermione must be Rossini's most under-rated opera. It is not, but it should be, part of the standard repertoire, possibly because its casting requirements are so high. Besides needing both a very accomplished soprano and mezzo soprano it requires three tenors of great bel canto technique as well as a base. It is therefore a delight to have another very professionally produced cd recording.
The cast here is very good, if not quite outstanding. The title role is beautifully sung by Carmen Giannattasio, whose coloratura is almost flawless, though she does not sing with as much of an edge as I would like from a pretty nasty character. She turns in an amazingly flexible performance, though she (as well as her sidekick Colin Lee) does not show much of the character development that is clearly available in the libretto and in Racine's original. Lee also turns in a magnificent performance. The singing of the mezzo, Rebecca Bottone, is less sure-footed, though she does sing with the edginess that goes well for these characters.
David Perry gives a good, somewhat hard-driven, account of the opera with the well sounding London Philharmonic and Geoffrey Mitchell choir. The set comes with the usual rich Opera Rara booklet, with an informative essay by Jeremy Commons. The sound engineering is fine, though I find the orchestra somewhat forward and the singers somewhat remote.
There is another cd recording of this work dating from 1986 with Claudio Scimone conducting a fine cast led by Cecelia Gasdia and Chris Merritt. I actually prefer it slightly to the Opera Rara version, largely because I find Scimone has a more interesting interpretation and the principals are marginally better. It is probably the case that this opera still awaits a block-buster cast and production that will knock our socks off. How one wishes that some of the great teams of the past had recoded this opera! But what we have in these two versions is wonderful -- and I wouldn't be without either one. They are among the very best recordings of Rossini opera seria.
The cast here is very good, if not quite outstanding. The title role is beautifully sung by Carmen Giannattasio, whose coloratura is almost flawless, though she does not sing with as much of an edge as I would like from a pretty nasty character. She turns in an amazingly flexible performance, though she (as well as her sidekick Colin Lee) does not show much of the character development that is clearly available in the libretto and in Racine's original. Lee also turns in a magnificent performance. The singing of the mezzo, Rebecca Bottone, is less sure-footed, though she does sing with the edginess that goes well for these characters.
David Perry gives a good, somewhat hard-driven, account of the opera with the well sounding London Philharmonic and Geoffrey Mitchell choir. The set comes with the usual rich Opera Rara booklet, with an informative essay by Jeremy Commons. The sound engineering is fine, though I find the orchestra somewhat forward and the singers somewhat remote.
There is another cd recording of this work dating from 1986 with Claudio Scimone conducting a fine cast led by Cecelia Gasdia and Chris Merritt. I actually prefer it slightly to the Opera Rara version, largely because I find Scimone has a more interesting interpretation and the principals are marginally better. It is probably the case that this opera still awaits a block-buster cast and production that will knock our socks off. How one wishes that some of the great teams of the past had recoded this opera! But what we have in these two versions is wonderful -- and I wouldn't be without either one. They are among the very best recordings of Rossini opera seria.
3 of 13 people found the following review helpful
clipping
27 Nov 2010
Format:Audio CD
This is recorded at too high a level. I have all 41 previous full-length opera recordings by Opera Rara and this is the first with major clipping. Otherwise
very good
very good
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