Jennifer Larmore starred in Teldec’s 1997 complete recording (in Italian) of this opera, and along with Marilyn Horne’s (Erato) theirs have been the benchmark recordings (with a nod given to Teresa Berganza’s on Decca and Agnes Baltsa’s on DG). Now, more than 10 years later, she has again recorded (excerpts of) the role of Isabella, this time in English, and she’s just as convincing, just as energetic, just as entertaining, and just as virtuosic. Her tone hasn’t changed much at all–it always had a darkish hue but with plenty of steel in it and an easy top. Despite absolute comfort in the nether reaches, high Bs and Cs were very much part of her vocal vocabulary. In addition, she can still toss off roulades with a casualness that makes them sound as natural as speech, and she still bites into the essence of a character with insight and intelligence. Brava!
Alongside her is Barry Banks as Lindoro, singing with élan, his usual shiny tone, and pointed, crystal clear delivery of the text. His coloratura is a bit off here, but his top notes–Cs, Ds, and I believe, an E-flat–remain astounding. Alastair Miles’ Mustafa is accurate, blustery, and sharp, but comedy doesn’t seem to be his strong point and he can’t compare with Ramey or del Carlo (Erato and Teldec, respectively). Alan Opie sings Taddeo with proper goofiness, and with the exception of the Elvira, the rest of the cast is very good.
This may seem by now to be a highly recommended recording, but it isn’t. The translation, by David Parry, is awkward; Rossini is always tough to sing in the vernacular (it’s hard enough in Italian), but “Sugar-Daddy” for “Pappataci” rings false and Lindoro’s opening aria contains the line “I’ll banish resentment amid the pain and anguish/and dream in contentment of her for whom I languish.” It simply doesn’t trip off the tongue. In addition, I can’t imagine what has gotten into Brad Cohen, but his leadership is dreary; Rossini does everything he can with his orchestration to make this work tingle, but under Cohen’s baton, scene after scene fizzles out. Perhaps this is due to the lack of continuity inherent in a highlights CD, but I doubt it. In short, if you need a recording of this opera and don’t necessarily want it in English, stick to the two recommendations above.
