A contemporary of Rossini and Donizetti, Saverio Mercadante was one of Italy’s most productive 19th-century operatic composers. Don Chisciotte alle nozze di Gamaccio was written during the composer’s stay in Spain, and is based on a chapter of Cervante’s Don Quixote in which the hero prevents the forced marriage of a poor farm girl to the wealthy Camacho. Magnificently entertaining and dramatically innovative, Don Chisciotte combines fashionable Neapolitan style with Spanish folk music elements in an unforgettable melodramma giocoso. It is heard on this recording in its first modern performance.
A contemporary of Rossini and Donizetti, Saverio Mercadante was one of Italy’s most productive 19th-century operatic composers. Don Chisciotte alle nozze di Gamaccio was written during the composer’s stay in Spain, and is based on a chapter of Cervante’s Don Quixote in which the hero prevents the forced marriage of a poor farm girl to the wealthy Camacho. Magnificently entertaining and dramatically innovative, Don Chisciotte combines fashionable Neapolitan style with Spanish folk music elements in an unforgettable melodramma giocoso. It is heard on this recording in its first modern performance.
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Works on This Recording
1.
Don Chisciotte alle nozze di Gamaccioby Saverio Mercadante Performer:
Marisa Bove (Soprano),
Has Ever Mogollon (Tenor),
Ricardo Mirabelli (Tenor),
Ugo Guagliardo (Bass),
Laura Catrani (Soprano),
Domenico Colaianni (Baritone),
Giulio Mastrototaro (Baritone),
Filippo Polinelli (Bass)
Conductor:
Antonino Fogliani
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Czech Chamber Soloists Brno,
San Pietro A Majella Chorus
Period: Romantic Written: 1829-1830; Spain
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: ( 2 Customer Reviews )
A DelightFebruary 16, 2015By K. BAKER (HEBER CITY, UT)See All My Reviews"Fine recording. Fine performance. Fine work, with many excellent Rossini like moments."Report Abuse
An opera and performance of meritJune 12, 2014By J. Tatnall (West Grove, PA)See All My Reviews"I have found Mercadante's operas of interest over the years. His style ranges anywhere from Rossini to late Donizetti, but his harmonic language is his own. There is always an interesting twist in melody and harmony in a concerted number. This work is short-one act, and early in the composer's output. The live performance has a good cast of accomplished voices, an orchestra of some strength, a chorus of some accuracy and a committed conductor who keeps things interesting. Anyone who wants to know "what else was happening when Rossini et al. were plying their craft" will find this sampling of Mercadante both a good answer to the question, and a delightful listening experience."Report Abuse