Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Come Scoglio, 19 Aug 2003
The reviews featured here are mostly accurate and very positive. And so they should be! This opera (and this recording) is a masterpiece. Rene Jacobs, with his usual conviction and invention, vindicates "Cosi" probably as Mozart's greatest opera. Now all the bad press which this opera has collected over the years seems to glare rather badly in light of this recording. With the exception of Graciela Oddone's delicious Despina the rest of the cast range from disappointing (Gens) to acceptable (Fink) to inspired (the male cast). The men on the whole actually sing much better than the women. In older recordings, one usually encounters problems with the tenor who is unable to comfortably negotiate Ferrando's fierce tessitura. Here Jacobs has found a Ferrando who sounds as if this role had been specifically written for him. The Guglielmo and Don Alfonso are very capably sung. For me, Fink and Gens should have the sense to stick to operas/roles where less vocal punch is required of their androgynous voices. Gens unlike Fink, is frequently off-pitch and has NO trill and has very little flexibility to speak of - there is no excuse for this especially since she features in a lot of early music recordings. However Gens is often quite exquisite in the ensembles, but in her arias she leaves much to be desired. Her weakness is the obvious lack of technical refinement: listen to her inability to hold on for the full length of the sustained A towards the end of the duet, "Ah guarda sorella". And then listen to Caballe singing the same section and you'll know what I mean. Caballe's unbeatable interpretation under Davis combines Mediterranean warmth with an athletic flexibility and a stupendous command of bel canto which any interpreter of Fiordiligi needs. This command of bel canto unfortunately completely eludes Gens - specifically in the lightning triplets of "Come scoglio" and the cascade of trills in "Per pieta" - things which hold no terrors for the formidable Caballe. For a real flesh and blood Fiordiligi, I urge you to give the Davis recording from the 70's a go. The only really big fault one may find with the Jacobs recording is that everyone seems to be trying to get all the notes 'just right' - resulting in a lot of expression being lost in the search for perfection. Even though it may seem as though I am slating this recording, I cannot recommend it highly enough. Jacobs' conducting leaves one breathless: he involves the orchestra into the drama of the opera - this, however, is an innovation of Harnoncourt, who has also made a stunning recording of "Cosi". Buy this recording if you want just one copy of "Cosi" - it is as close as you will find to what Mozart may have wanted us to hear, otherwise I also highly recommend the David and 2nd Harnoncourt recording.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb, 19 Jun 2006
This is one of my favorite Cosi's. The cast is uniformly strong, and the Concerto Koln sizzle with a wild abandon that really brings the score to life. Above all, there is some really superb ensemble singing which pretty much trumps every other recording. Singers trained in 16th and 17th century music are usually much better listeners than those that start romantic then try to go back to Mozart. This allows for all sort of interplay levels between orchestra and voices that are absent from more poorly listened performances. If opera is all about solo singing to you, then you may not find anything special here, but if you thrill to hear every single element brought to light, than there is much to recommend it.
As another reviewer said, Gens can sometimes go off pitch, and I find her attempts at ornamentation (accompanied by huge ritardando's from Jacobs) very predictable and distracting. Even so, I think its a lovely Fiordiligi. She really makes a great partner with Fink's equally superb Dorabella, and her ringing soprano just combines luciously with her huskier low tones.
Oddone is a fine Zerlina. She has a uniquely comical voice, that is none the less pleasing to the ear. She does tend to repeat a certain mannerism however, where she draws out a long tone then "clips" it at the end of a phrase. To be fair I think its conducted by Jacobs, as he seems to find these occasional orchestra "winks" witty. Minor quibbles though in a fine performance.
The men also are superb ensembelists, though I find their individual voices less moving than the women. Ferrando sings beautifully, but a bit bloodlessly for my taste. I think this part should have more fire, like Araiza for Marriner (one of his best performaces ever). Alfonso and Guiglemo are also excellent, if rather undistinctive.
Jacobs does tend towards extreme tempos at times, but it tends to come off so well and surprising that you can't help but be impressed. The concerto Koln tends towards a more wiry string sound, which some folks do not like, but they are so lively and expressive that you hardly notice.
Along with Rattle, this is my favorite recorded Cosi. I'd also recommend Marriner and Bohm's more traditional performances, though they both have some caveats.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An extraordinary recording with more than music, 28 Sep 2001
This recording is an excellent introduction to one of Mozart's greatest operas. René Jacobs and Concerto Köln offer a superlative performance, very stylish and really imaginative. The sound of period instruments makes their reading more vivid and full of clarity. The singers approached the libretto in a more expressive way than usual, making the opera more human (revealing in plenitude the dramatic character of Mozart work).
But what makes this release truly unique is the included CD-ROM. Very well done with plenty of additional info on Mozart and the opera itself. Keywords to click, musical examples, a bilingual libretto and a lot more. All done with an incredible taste and style. And with a perfect user interface. Really entertaining. One of the best opera CDs around.
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