Rossini: Zelmira (Live)

Gianluigi Gelmetti, Virtuosi Brunensis, Joshua Stewart, Marina Comparato

Released on 10/1/20 by Naxos
Main artists: Marina Comparato
Genre: Opera

Digital booklet

Available in

24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo

Unlimited Streaming

Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps

Start my trial period and start listening to this album

Enjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription

Digital Download

Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.

Created at the Teatro San Carlo in 1822, Zelmira is one of the nine operas that Rossini wrote for the famous Neapolitan opera house, the only one with which he was able to realise his full potential by working with phenomenal singers like the soprano Isabella Colbran, contralto Rosmunda Pisaroni, tenors Andrea Nozzari and Giovanni Davide and the bass Filippo Galli. History has curiously not remembered these productions, despite their key contributions to Rossini’s perceived status as a genius.
Recorded over the course of rehearsals for two concerts in July 2018 (and not 2017 as it wrongly says on the album cover) as part of the 30th Rossini in Wildbad festival in Baden-Württemberg, this opera benefits from the expert direction of Gianluigi Gelmetti, a fervent Rossini fan. The recording itself is not totally perfect, but you have to respect the forthcoming dedication from the whole artistic team, starting with the more or less well known singers who know how to do this vocally challenging score justice with clarity and flexibility, as well as respecting the characters’ seemingly often tormented personas.
The ensembles are particularly well executed, from the duos to the quintets. They bring a particular liveliness to the project thanks to the inflamed conducting by Maestro Gelmetti. This version of the concert uses the critical edition which was established for the Pesaro Rossini Festival and presents a further two variations which the composer had written for the Parisian rerun in 1826, featuring a new gleaming finale, which is suggested here as an alternative ending. © François Hudry/Qobuz

Zelmira was the last opera Rossini wrote for Naples, knowing it would also be his calling card to Vienna where he had been assured performances. Keen to reconcile the alleged incompatibility between ‘Italian’ melody and ‘German’ harmony, Rossini employed exciting and daring harmonies and a raft of dazzling orchestral effects in this tragedy in which a daughter saves her father, the king, and her son, from usurpers to the throne. The opera was acclaimed wherever it was heard, and this recording presents the revised and triumphant Paris version. © Naxos

More info

Rossini: Zelmira (Live)

Joshua Stewart

You are currently listening to samples.

Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.

Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.

From $16.65/month

Zelmira, Act I Scene 1 (Gioachino Rossini)

Oh sciagura! Oh infausto evento! (Live)

Joshua Stewart