Lorenzo Mariani

As Aragon descends into unrest, a count jealously fights for a noble lady's heart. But she has already given it to a passionate troubadour whose mother holds a terrible secret.

This recording of "Il Trovatore" was held in Parma in 2010. The production is minimalistic. The scenario reminds, vaguely, the lunar surface. In the background, in several scenes, there is a huge full moon, sometimes white, sometimes red - the effect is beautiful and suitable for the nocturnal atmosphere of this opera. Few objects in the scene, including a big horse and giant candles. The costume indicates, directly, who is who: soldiers, nuns, gypsies. Regarding the musical aspects: excellent participation of choir and orchestra. The conductor is the seasoned Yuri Temirkanov. He keeps the orchestra under control (though there is one or two moments of disagreement with the singers), with some pleasant surprises.

In the present stylised production by Lorenzo Mariani the 'violet-perfumed murderess' is taken by mezzo-soprano Marianne Cornetti, one of the most in-demand representatives of her vocal category. Opposite her, in the role of Adriana, is a soprano who as a Verdi and verismo specialist also appears regularly at all the major international opera houses, Micaela Carosi. The 'cock-of-the-walk' role is sung by the world-class tenor Marcelo Álvarez. His timbre, velvety smooth yet robustly virile, is ideally suited to a vocal characterisation of the idolised Maurizio. Conductor Renato Palumbo is very much at home with Cilea's operatic masterpiece, since the Italian Romantic and verismo periods are at the core of his extensive repertoire.

Puccini’s operas are among the most beloved and best-known works in the classical repertoire, but Edgar may be unknown even to aficionados, at least as it is presented here. This original four-act version of Edgar, first performed in 1889, was believed lost for over a century when Puccini’s granddaughter Simonetta discovered the score fully intact in 2008. In addition to the third act’s funeral music, which Arturo Toscanini conducted at Puccini’s funeral in 1924, listeners may recognize the duet from the now-restored fourth act, cut by Puccini in subsequent revisions of the work: it bears more than a passing similarity to the third-act duet in Tosca.

Macheath (Mack the Knife), notorious bandit and womanizer, runs afoul of Jonathan Peachum when he marries Peachum's daughter Polly in a ceremony of doubtful legality. Peachum's resolve to have Mack sent to the gallows is complicated by the fact that Mack's old army buddy is the chief of police, Tiger Brown. Peachum and his wife commence a series of strategems to ensnare Mack: bribing prostitutes to turn him in, exercising their influence over the police, and ultimately threatening to ruin the coronation of Queen Victoria by having all the beggars in London (whom Peachum controls) line the parade route. Mack is imprisoned, escapes, and is imprisoned again. When his hour of execution arrives, however, a mounted messenger appears with the Queen's reprieve, which includes a baronetcy and an annual pension of 10,000 pounds.