Dom Sebastien Roi De Portugal

It's wonderful that this opera is being performed again (allbeit not in a fully staged version yet). This was Donizetti's last work before he went mad from syphillis. It's a cross between bel canto and French grand opera. This is sung in original French and uses the edition by Mary Ann Smart.

The CD is a live recording from 2 performances that opened the ROH's 2005 season. Great sound engineering! The audience is so quiet and the voices and the orchestra are captured so well it could pass as a studio recording.

Mark Elder leads a well defined and passionate performance by the orchestra (tho occasionally too loud), and the lead singers are well sung. Giuseppe Filianoti has really gorgeously clear and noble voice as Dom Sebastien and sings beautifully (omitting the high notes for his big aria 'Seul sur la terre', however). Vesselina Kasarova is a very exotic and rich-voiced Zayda. Pretend you don't understand French when she is singing, and she will carry you off into the sands of Africa and the parapets of the spanish castle (a truly wonderful voice actress, but her sung French is problematic).

Simon Keenlyside is the Abayaldos to die for. So heroic and utterly convincing that the irony that he is supposedly the bad guy of the show is prominent. I want to fight for the dude when I hear him rather for the supposedly good guys. Carmelo Caruso was a late substitute as Camoens, and he sings well, though has such a prominent wobble that everything sounds shaky. All the minor roles are well sung and the chorus is awesome.

The music is really wonderfully descriptive and moves the story forward well. I quite love the Act III funeral music (snippet of it is introduced as the overture). The dratted thing is that after Act III, the final 2 acts don't stand up quite well to what comes before it.

At any rate, this is the best recording of this opera available. Very nice packaging by Opera Rara, too. The 3 CDs set comes with a thick booklet detailing the history of the opera and the real life events it was based (loosely) on, with complete synopsis and libretto in French and translated English. Worth every penny of the retail price to me!

10 Dec 07...Editted to add that this CD set has been nominated for the Grammy Award. Another 'plus' vote, I think.

A professional recording of this opera has been missing from the catalogue for altogether too long. Thanks be to Opera Rara for yet another noble effort! The presentation is up to the high standard that they have set for themselves, including a lavishly illustrated, multi-language libretto with a fascinating essay by Jeremy Commons.
The score ranks with Donizetti's best, naturally nearer to "La favorite" than to "Lucia." There are melodies galore and plenty of musical place settings, be it Iberia or Morocco. The complete ballet music is included. I followed the recording with the Ricordi Critical Edition of the vocal score and can testify to the performance's completeness.
Conductor Mark Elder draws an impassioned performance from the Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Of the principals, honours go to Giuseppe Filianotti in the title role for his dramatic conviction and clear, ringing tone; and to Simon Keenlyside as the beautifully sung, but menacing, villain. Alastair Miles plays the other villain equally well. As the heroine, Vesselina Kasarova offers plenty of passion in a language that sounds only vaguely like French. I understand that Carmelo Corrado Caruso was a last minute replacement who left me wondering if it was really that difficult to find someone to step in for a concert performance. His sense of pitch is so imprecise that his melodies come accross only in the orchestral accompaniment. It really is too bad as this is the only blight on this recording. However, this should not dissuade a purchase of this set, even if I have knocked off of star on his account.
This is an enjoyable and welcome addition to my opera collection.

Donizetti presents a relatively unknown part of Portugeuse history...he slightly twists the actual events, but poetic license makes for great opera, and this is one....also fascinating to learn that King Sebastian was quite progressive, in fact, very progressive and liberal, especially for his day..almost sounds like a 20th century monarch. The music grows on you...has a certain toneal quality one cannot exactly explain..not like many of his other operas...worth the expense.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 3 reviews  4.7 out of 5 stars