Puccini: Il Trittico

Puccini's Trittico in its entirety is not one of the composer's best-loved works, even if one or two of its component parts have achieved some degree of currency. It is only when taken as a whole, however, that we can appreciate the finesse with which it is assembled. The excesses of the individual works are carefully balanced against one another, which is not the case when the operas are taken out of context, or when Suor Angelica, the least-loved, is omitted with the excuse that the evening would otherwise be too long. Rather than assembling the project around a single prima donna who is always miscast in at least one of the works, EMI has concentrated on assembling appropriate casts and has largely succeeded. Guleghina, Shicoff and Guelfi could easily pass from Tabarro to Tosca, while van Dam can still make a success of Schicchi in a much lower-key manner than Gobbi or Corena, while Gheorghiu and Alagna's lovers are appropriately charming. The revelation of the set is Cristina Gallardo-Domas as Suor Angelica, a match of performer and performance that sets your loudspeakers ablaze. Her sensitivity to text and atmosphere almost makes this bit of Puccini at his most mawkish bearable. Supporting roles are all excellently taken, while Antonio Pappano at the helm maintains tight discipline but also knows when to relax.

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The early music movement attacks Mozart

Conductors from the early music movement long ago made it clear that they were going to advance well beyond what was thought to be their original territory, so that it is no longer unusual to hear Mozart with the benefit of "fresh" ears. Not all of those who venture so far have succeeded in capturing the elusive Mozartean qualities, but two of the above three recordings are exceptional. Christophe Rousset has long been interested in the music of Jomelli, which bears a family resemblance to Mozart's youthful works written for the Italian courts. The drive he brings to Mitridate, inspiring a heteroclite cast into a welded unit, is impressive. Giuseppe Sabbatini in the title role relishes his words in both recitative and aria, as does Cecilia Bartoli in the high-lying role of Sifare. Flying even higher is Natalie Dessay as Aspasia, equal not only to the virtuosic demands but also the laments. Brian Asawa's Farnace is among the most virile countertenor singing I have ever heard, with Sandrine Piau offering sweetness and light as Ismene. If your knowledge of this work is limited to the DGG recording with the stodgy Leopold Hager at the helm, you are in for an enormous surprise.

René Jacobs has long wanted to conduct Cosi fan tutte, and the audible results are among the most audacious, though one might have wished for the fortepiano continuo to be slightly less obligato. The young cast has stage experience of their roles, if occasionally lacking touches of individuality, all sing fluently, so that we might consider this the most homogeneous recording of a work open to a variety of approaches. Véronique Gens and Bernarda Fink as the lovelorn sisters are partnered by the slightly anonymous Werner Güra and Marcel Boone. While claiming otherwise, Graciela Oddone seems to be indulging in the traditional Despina antics, however musical the result. Pietro Spagnoli's Alfonso is younger than most, while the woodwinds of Concerto Köln show their gratitude to the composer with heavenly playing. An accompanying CDRom offers the entire opera with text, plus extensive notes about the composer, work, performance and performers, the only complaint being the slow navigation between sections.

William Christie's Entführung is strangely cast, with interchangeable tenors as Belmonte and Pedrillo (Ian Bostridge and Iain Paton), however stylish they may be, an undernourished and undercharacterized Osmin (Alan Ewing), with only the sopranos (Chistine Schäfer and Patricia Petibon) rising above the prevailing atmosphere of anonymity. Christie restores the sections of "Martern aller arten" and the Janissaries March cut by the composer prior to the premiere, while my ears perked up during Blonde's "Welche wonne, welche lust" at an entirely new section. Les Arts Florissants are clearly enjoying themselves, but the casting just does not cut the mustard.

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Prokofiev: On Guard for Peace/Shostakovich: Song of the Forests

The subtitle of this CD, Music of the Totalitarian Regime says it all. Composed at the orders of the bureaucracy in atonement for their "errors", neither of these pieces shows Prokofiev or Shostakovich at his most inspired, occasionally even working on automatic pilot. Under such circumstances, however, composing music of greater directness than that which most likely would have resulted from their own dictates, there are sections of sufficient force, even eloquence, as both composers work in what Ned Rorem describes as "white key" mode. This is music that choral societies should investigate and they are the ones who will glory in the opportunities at their disposal, not to mention extensive portions for a children's choir and a child soloist. Off the beaten track and into the forests, you sluggards.

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