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02/09/2010
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| OPERA RARA ORC39 CD |
Mercadante’s Virginia
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Price :
£ 28.99 inc VAT
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Cast
Virginia - Susan Patterson, Virginio - Stefano Anonucci, Appio - Paul Charles Clarke, Icilio - Charles Castronovo, Marco - Andrew Foster-Williams, Tullia - Katherine Manley, Valerio - Mark Le Brocq, Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Maurizio Benini - Conductor
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About this recording
Welcome to Opera Rara’s first release of 2009, the world premiere recording of Mercadante’s Virginia.
Every leading Italian operatic composer of the first six decades of twhe 19th century had problems with censors. Verdi’s disputes over Rigoletto and Un ballo in maschera were notorious; many other works by Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti were rewritten to appease the arbiters of what was deemed morally, religiously or politically correct.
An extreme reaction to the censor’s red pencil is provided by the last of Saverio Mercadante’s works to reach the stage. Virginia, completed in 1850, was not performed until 1866 because the composer simply refused to make alterations and it was only after a regime change in 1860-1 that he premiered his score at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples. Like his stirring Orazi e Curiazi (written in 1846 and also recorded by Opera Rara), Virginia is set in ancient Rome and is half-history, half-legend. The heroine, daughter of the soldier Virginio, is assailed by the corrupt and powerful Appio as part of an ongoing conflict between patricians and plebeians that ends with Virginia’s father stabbing his daughter rather than relinquish her to their oppressor.
The 2CD set comes with Opera Rara’s usual superb booklet, including a complete libretto (with English translation) and a comprehensive introduction by Jeremy Commons.
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