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Notes
Initially composed for the 1857-58 Carnival Season at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, this opera about the murderer of Swedish King Gustav III was rejected by Neapolitan censors, and so were its revisions. The premiere performance of Un ballo in maschera took place only on 17 Feb 1859 at the Teatro Apollo in Rome – and also only after revisions enforced by the pontifical censors: first and foremost, the setting was transferred from Sweden to colonial North America, and not a king, but Riccardo, the governor of Boston, was to be the murder victim. Despite these changes, the melodrama was very well received by the audience, and up until today Un ballo in maschera is one of Verdi’s most popular stage works. Like most modern performances, this recording is based on the Swedish version of the opera. Its first performance at the Vienna Opera House on the Ring was given in 1870 (exactly one year after the opening), and has since enjoyed well over 500 performances in this house. The star-studded cast includes Pjotr Beczala as Gustav III, Dmitry Hvorostovky as Renato and Krassimira Stoyanova as Emilia, Nadja Krasteva, Hila Fahima, Alexandru Moisiuc, Sorin Coliban, Igor Onishchenko and Thomas Ebenstein, peforming under the baton of Jesús López Cobos. Live recording April 2016.
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Reviews
“… Hvorostovsky is on very good form, his performance exhibiting fine control and stylistic expertise, with a wide range of colour and dynamics as well as plenty of power… López Cobos brings a fresh, fluent and lyrical approach to his idiomatic account of the score. He notes Verdi’s many accents and maintains a flexible and intimate connection to the singers. Overall, there’s a keen sense of momentum and a good deal of delicacy – a great combination… As one might expect, the orchestra demonstrates skill and subtlety … while the chorus is musically all present and correct as well as dramatically fully engaged…”
George Hall – Opera – March 2022
Opera category - Nominee
International Classical Music Awards 2022
“.. The sound quality of this live recording under López-Cobos is, overall, highly agreeable, yet bear in mind that the stage microphones cannot consistently pick up the voices evenly. As one might expect, there is some minor stage noise and the audience applause, of which there is plenty, has been left in. The Orfeo album contains a helpful booklet essay by Christian Springer and a synopsis … This outstanding album is, in my view, the finest new release of the opera since Herbert von Karajan’s 1989 recording also from the Wiener Staatsoper and I will keep it alongside my treasured recordings from Leinsdorf, Bartoletti and Votto.”
Michael Cookson – MusicWeb-International.com – 25 November 2021
**** (Excellent Album)
Louis Bilodeau – Classica magazine (France) – November 2021
“… The supporting cast are all splendid with Nadja Krasteva a commanding, sometimes terrifying Ulrica, and Hila Fahima’s light lyric soprano appealing as Oscar. As Horn and Warting, Alexandru Moisiuc and Sorin Coliban make a suitably gruff pair of guffawing villains. Leading the Staatsoper Orchestra is the then 76-year-old Jesús López Cobos, a conductor with this music in his DNA. His reading is flexible with plenty of heft and you sense a rapport with the singers on stage. The tightly disciplined chorus is well caught… This is a recording that grabs the attention thanks to the dramatic involvement of all involved and one worthy to be added to that distinguished roster of the past.” ****
Clive Paget – Limelightmagazine.com.au – 7 July 2021
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