Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

The world premiere recording of the new critical edition of Donizetti’s Maria di Rohan, conducted by Sir Mark Elder.

This tragic melodrama, composed in 1843, was one of the last operas written by Donizetti (he had notched up an impressive 62 by then). First performed in Vienna, Donizetti revised it for its Paris premiere, changing the tenor role of Armando di Gondì to mezzo-soprano. Working from the new critical edition of the score, Opera Rara has recorded the original Vienna (June 1843) two tenor version as well as some of the appendices from the Paris (November 1843) revision, including those written for the mezzo-soprano, sung here by Enkelejda Shkosa.

This recording was made immediately prior to the acclaimed concert performance, produced by Opera Rara and the OAE, at the Royal Festival Hall, London. Tim Ashley (the Guardian) said of the performance, “Krassimira Stoyanova, radiant and impassioned, beautifully captured Maria’s ambivalent glamour and the private hell beneath her cool allure”.

The studio recording comes as a 2 CD set, with a lavishly illustrated book including a complete libretto with English translation, comprehensive article and synopsis by eminent 19th-century musical scholar, Jeremy Commons.
Sir Mark Elder conductor
José Bros Riccardo
Christopher Purves Enrico
Krassimira Stoyanova Maria
Graeme Broadbent Il Visconte di Suze
Loic Félix Armando di Gondi
Brindley Sherratt De Fiesque
Christopher Turner Aubry
Riccardo Simonetti Un famigliare di Chevreuse
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir

ORC44. 2 CD set.

£25.99

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