Rossini - L'Italiana in Algeri

Customer Reviews:

Amusing and generally well Sung Italian Girl.......2007-08-05

This was my second Italiana, the first being the performance from Germany with Doris Soffel. The production (originating in Zurich) is stylish, conventional and effective. Vocally the only flaw is the Mustafa, a singer more at home with Alberich. In the performance under consideration that is hardly the case with the wonderful Simone Alaimo. Jennifer Larimore is a glamorous Isabella, vocally agile, witty and quite delightful. Bruce Ford is an experienced Rossinian, looks good and act well, but he really is not at home with the coluratura and his top tends to tighten up and overall the voice is uneven.

The production is a mix of whimsy, the silly, the extraneous and occasionally awful. Serban, the director had some good ideas but apparently when they hire someone with his reputation isn't there anyone who can question the antics that he requires of the singers? It isn't truly awful (Dario Fo can take that credit on the new Italian from Pesaro; at least is can boast the superb Lindoro of Maxim Mironov who leaves all the rest in the dust) but one does wonder how a production can veer from being witty and delightful to highly questionable. It isn't a deal breaker for someone considering this DVD, and I would hate to hand the prize for direction to Michael Hampe (the Soffel DVD) inasmuch as he is working on a stage probably no larger than the Teatro Verdi, but he certainly trumps Fo who surely doesn't much more space in Pesaro.

It's obvious I have three performances and enjoy all three, but alas to attain the "ideal" I have to indulge in cast shifting, a fantasy that opera lovers have to do all the time.

Average customer rating:

Fun to watch and listen to

Jennifer Larmore: In Performance!
Starring: Jennifer Larmore , and Antoine Palloc
Director: Clemente D'Alessio
Manufacturer: Video Artists Int'l
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Musicals & Performing Arts | Genres | DVD | Video

( J ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00005N5SK
Release Date: 2001-07-03

Amazon.com

With her creamy, rich soprano and lustrous stage presence, Jennifer Larmore has been highly sought after as both opera singer and recitalist, and this 2001 concert showcases her wide appeal. In an eclectic array of songs spanning four centuries of composing, Larmore (ably supported by her pianist, Antoine Palloc) demonstrates her operatic abilities by performing arias of Handel, Rossini, and Bizet, then jumps headlong into the 20th-century song repertoire, tackling Debussy, Kurt Weill, Samuel Barber, and current American wunderkind Jake Heggie. The encores include the delightful Latin stylings of Ary Barroso and Fernando Obradors, more Heggie, and finally the rarely heard Roger Quilter and "Art Is Calling for Me" from the operetta The Enchantress by Victor Herbert. Even Larmore's puppy (the inspiration for the Heggie encore) makes a brief appearance near the end, underlining the mutual admiration by both singer and her audience. --Kevin Filipski

Customer Reviews:

Fun to watch and listen to.......2001-09-25

I have been a fan of Jennifer Larmore ever since her early, spectacular recording of Handel's "Julius Caesar," but have unfortunately never seen her sing. This video, then, fills an important gap in my collection, and I cannot praise it highly enough. Larmore is both a fine artist and an entertaining singer: though some of her acting seems a little contrived when compared to, say, Janet Baker, she is never overly silly or annoying. The way she "acts out" the three Rossini songs that comprise "The Venetian Regatta," for instance, is amusing without being irksome, and to see her settle into the crook of the piano to deliver Kurt Weill's French cabaret songs is simply delightful.

In addition to all this, Larmore is in excellent voice and the program is well-chosen, except for the two songs by Jake Heggie which are drivel. It is also interesting to watch the way Larmore positions herself and manages her vocal equipment: you can tell that this is a singer who works very hard to appear "effortless" in both sound and motion. She surprises one with her sensitive renditions of Purcell and Debussy, then launches into more popular material like "Brazil" and "Art is Calling Me" with no suggestion of preciousness. In short, Larmore leaves a good taste in the ear...she is always worth hearing and, on this wonderful video, definitely worth watching.

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