Search - Gioachino Rossini, Thomas Schippers, Marilyn Horne :: Rossini: L'Assedio di Corinto

Sills and Horne at their very best - Get It NOW!!

travel8227 | West Hollywood, CA USA | 03/30/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"You MUST buy this album for a great bel canto experience! You won't be sorry! This is singing of the highest order from all concerned. Beverly Sills filled in for a pregnant Renata Scotto at the last minute, having never sung at La Scala. Horne was making her La Scala debut. Justino Diaz and Thomas Schippers conducting made this the "Seige of the Americans". Sills sings like a goddess. Bubbles takes risks here "LIVE" on the stage of La Scala that most singers wouldn't attempt in a private practise room. Hair raising coloratura, one aria with four pages of what Sills said was the fasted singing of her life. At one point she sings a candenza that goes up to a beautiful pianissimo high E flat above high C, then she stops the note (!!!!) and comes right back in a half step down on a high D above high C before ending the aria on a G - very difficult and very brave to sing! There are two astonishing trios with Horne and a young Franco Bonisolli - stunning ensemble between the singers. Horne knocks 'em dead with her extended scena, pouring it on for the Italian audience as only she can do. I have treasured this recording for 25 years since I first encountered it in vinyl form. It opened a world of opera singing that I didn't dream existed - imagining the kind of singers that Rossini was writing for - the level of performance that he took for granted. This opera was his display piece in Paris at the beginning of his stay there. He wrote fat, juicy solos for the first chair orchestra players to win them over, re-ornamenting an earlier opera of his in order to show them, and his singers, to best advantage. This recording is a hodge-podge of editions but seems to work theatrically. It is one of my top "desert island" selections. You won't be sorry!"

A Great Triumph

travel8227 | 07/20/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First off, this recording is definitely one of those moments of magic that we all hope to hear at some point in our lives. To hear Beverly Sills in her La Scala debut along with Marilyn Horne is a real treat. Sills takes many risks that others only dream of accomplishing and the fact that she did it on the stage of the world's greatest opera house and in front of what may be the most critical audience is a testament to how strong of an artist she is. Every time she sings on this cd set, I am left hanging on the edge of my seat. I am not simply impressed with her technique. I am also moved by the emotions that pour forth unsparingly. I have a similar reaction to Horne though her role does not leave her many opportunities to really do much as far as character/musical development. There are also many ensemble numbers that stand out. Musically, this cast was all on the same page. Rossini fans will love this opera(in my opinion) and I love this opera because it lets us see the more serious side of this composer. Lately, we are so used to hearing his more comic operas with the exception of William Tell. This is a welcome change from Il barbiere di Siviglia or La Cenerentola. I give this cd set 5 stars and a "+"."

I'm a Sutherland fan and I love Sills' Pamira

travel8227 | 07/16/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is absolutely the most spectacular coloratura singing ever done by Beverly Sills. It's her debut at La Scala and it was a truimph. I have had this "L'Assedio di Corinto" for many years. It is one of my most treasured operatic recordings, along with Sills' Giulio Caesar", "Anna Bolena", and Sutherland's "Semiramide" and "Lucia". I also love Sills' Puritani as much as I love Sutherland's. I can't do without either. Does that make me unusual? No, all my college friends who are opera fans love both Sills and Sutherland. I don't understand the rumored rivalry.
When I first heard Sills sang this opera I was totally dumbfounded. I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the scene and aria "Cielo, che diverro...Si, ferite". Quite possiblily the most difficult thing that Rossini ever wrote. Or I should say that Beverly Sills ever wrote(it's all in the embellishments). I'm not sure. All I know is that it contains about three minutes of the most complex and difficult series of runs and arpeggios I've ever heard. She follows with "Del soggiorno degli estinti", a slow section with plenty of high notes including many notes above high C. She should have included the even more difficult cabaletta with a high E that follows, but she saved that for her Met debut in 1975, also as Pamira. I also have her Met Pamira and I say it is unbelievable.
Horne's great scene,aria, and cabaletta "Non temer...Del periglio al fero aspetto" is so spectacular that I don't know what to say. At one point in a single phrase she goes from low G all the way to high B in a single series of coloratura runs. She definitely sings it better than she did in her Rossini Cd that is so renowned. It is as much a tour de force as "Si ferite". But then who ever mentions the mezzo in reviews??
Another fantastic highlight is "Giusto Ciel". This aria is actually very easy. But it's the way Sills embellished it that makes it extremely difficult. Taking tessituras so high that it awed the La Scala audience. The ovation after it was the largest of the evening.
I say that Pamira is Sills' greatest role ever. That's why she used it as her debut at the world's two most demanding and famous Opera Houses, La Scala, Milan, and the Met, New York. It is a tour de force that is second to none. And a complete triumph for all."