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Giordano: Andrea Chenier / Santini, Corelli, Stella


Release Date: 09/20/1994 
Label:  Emi Classics   Catalog #: 65287   Spars Code: n/a 
Composer:  Umberto Giordano
Performer:  Franco Corelli,  Luciana Moneta,  Antonietta Stella,  Mario Sereni,   ... 
Conductor:  Gabriele Santini
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Rome Opera House Orchestra,  Rome Opera House Chorus
Number of Discs: 2 
Recorded in: Stereo 
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Review

This CD is reissued by ArkivMusic.

Notes and Editorial Reviews

Franco Corelli did nothing better for the gramophone than this Chenier, giving his portrayal a verbal presence not even Domingo matches.

I hadn't encountered [this] performance before, and round it all highly enjoyable. Chènier may not be for the purist, but it has enough rousing, impassioned music to carry one over the infilling passages which, in any case, Santini handles with such elan that one hardly notices the want of distinction in the score.


Corelli, much underrated when he was active, did nothing better for the gramophone than this Chenier. The role of the passionate, defiant poet suited his methods well. As Philip Hope-Wallace said in his 1964 review: "Note-values, attack etc., Read more may be all over the place but the heart is in the right place, the tone ringing with utter belief in the declamatory, surging stuff". That couldn't be more cogently expressed. I would only add that his Italianate way with consonants and his free use of portamento give his portrayal a verbal presence not even Domingo matches in the admirable RCA set (RL02046, 8/77), and essential for Chenier's public and private solos.

Stella equals him note for note in the final, death-going duet, but elsewhere she proves a tentative Maddalena, no match for Scotto (RCA) in "La mamma morta", let alone for Tebaldi in the old Gavazzeni version (Decca GOS600, 11/70). I can't resist quoting PH-W again, this time on Sereni's Gerard: after pointing out, quite rightly, that he sings the part with considerable but not maximum power, he wrote that "[he] bites into it like one crunching nougat, which is fine". The small parts are all well taken.

-- Gramophone [2/1984]
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Works on This Recording

1. Andrea Chénier by Umberto Giordano
Performer:  Franco Corelli (Tenor), Luciana Moneta (Mezzo Soprano), Antonietta Stella (Soprano),
Mario Sereni (Baritone), Piero de Palma (Tenor), Stefania Malagú (Mezzo Soprano),
Dino Mantovani (Baritone), Paolo Montarsolo (Baritone), Anna di Stasio (Mezzo Soprano),
Giuseppe Modesti (Bass), Paolo Pedani (Bass)
Conductor:  Gabriele Santini
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Rome Opera House Orchestra,  Rome Opera House Chorus
Period: Romantic 
Written: 1896; Italy 
 Date of Recording: 1963 
Length: 115 Minutes 23 Secs. 
Language: Italian 

Sound Samples

Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO PRIMO: Questo azzuro sofà là collochiam (Il Maestro di Casa)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO PRIMO: Compiacente a'colloqui (Gérard)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO PRIMO: Son sessant'anni, o vecchio, che tu servi! (Gérard)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO PRIMO: Il giorno intorno già s'inserra lentamente! (Maddalena/Gérard)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO PRIMO: Via, v'affrettate (Contessa/Gérard/Maddalena/Bersi)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO PRIMO: Soffoco, moro tutta chiusa (Maddalena/Bersi/Contessa)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO PRIMO: Oh! Come elegante (Contessa/Fléville/Maddalena/L'Abate)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO PRIMO: Debole è il Re! (L'Abate/Fléville/Contessa/Coro)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO PRIMO: Passiamo la sera allegramente! (Fléville/Coro/L'Abate)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO PRIMO: O Pastorell, addio! (Coro di Pastori e Pastorelle)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO PRIMO: Signor Chénier...Madame la Contessa?(Contessa/Chénier/Fléville/L'Abate/Maddalena)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO PRIMO: Al mio dire perdono (Maddalena/Coro/Chénier/Contessa)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO PRIMO: Colpito qui m'avete ov'io geloso celo (Chénier)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO PRIMO: Un di all'azzuro spazio (Chénier)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO PRIMO: Perdonatemi! (Maddalena/Contessa/Coro/Gérard/Maestro di Casa)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO SECONDO: Per l'ex inferno! (Mathieu/Bersi/L'Incredibile)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO SECONDO: Temer? Perché? (Bersi)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO SECONDO: No, non m'inganno! (L'Incredibile/Chénier/Roucher)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO SECONDO: Credo a una possanza arcana...Io non ho amato ancor...(Chénier/Roucher)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO SECONDO: Calligrafia invero femminil! (Roucher/Chénier/Coro/Mathieu/L'Incredibile/Gérard)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO SECONDO: Eccole! Strani tempi! (Roucher/Chénier/Bersi/L'Incredibile/Mathieu)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO SECONDO: Ecco l'altare...(Maddalena/Chénier/L'Incredibile)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO SECONDO: Eravate possente....(Maddalena)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO SECONDO: Udite! Son sola! Ora soave, sublime ora d'amore! (Maddalena/Chénier)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO SECONDO: Maddalena di Coigny! (Gérard/Maddalena/Chénier/Roucher/L'Incredibile/Mathieu/Coro
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO TERZO: Dumouriez traditore e giacobino (Mathieu/Coro/Gérard)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO TERZO: Lacrime e sangue dà la Francia! (Gérard/Coro/Una vecchia{Madelon})
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO TERZO: Son la vecchia Madelon (Madelon/Gérard)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO TERZO: Amici ancor cantiam (Coro/L'Incredibile/Gérard)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO TERZO: Donnina innamorata (L'Incredibile/Gérard)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO TERZO: Nemico della Patria?! (Gérard/L'Incredibile)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO TERZO: Carlo Gérard?....Là entrate! (Maddalena/Mathieu/Gérard)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO TERZO: Io t'ho voluto allor che tu piccina...(Gérard/Maddalena)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO TERZO: La mamma morta...(Maddalena/Gérard)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO TERZO: Il tuo perdono è la mia forza! (Gérard/Coro/Mathieu)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO TERZO: Passo ai giurati! (Mathieu/Gérard/Coro/Maddalena)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO TERZO: Gravier de Vergennes! (Dumas/Fouquier-Tinville/Coro)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO TERZO: Andrea Chenier!....Coraggio! Sì, fui soldato...(Dumas/Gérard/Maddalena/Coro/Fouquier-Tinville/Chénier)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO TERZO: Udiamo i testimoni (Fouquier-Tinville/Gérard/Coro/Chénier/Dumas)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO QUARTO: Cittadino, men duol, ma è tardi assai (Schmidt/Roucher/Chénier)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO QUARTO: Come un bel dì di maggio (Mathieu)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO QUARTO: 'La Marseillais' (Mathieu)....Viene a costei concesso (Gérard/Schmidt)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO QUARTO: Il vostro giuramento vi sovvengo (Maddalena/Schmidt)
Andrea Chénier (1994 Digital Remaster), ATTO QUARTO: Benedico il destino! (Maddalena/Gérard/Chénier/Schmidt)

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review:  ( 1 Customer Review )
 Powerful Interpretation January 18, 2014 By Henry S. (Springfield, VA) See All My Reviews "The great voices of Franco Corelli and Antonietta Stella headline a very fine cast in a fiery reading of Umberto Giordano's explosively romantic tragedy centering on the French Revolution. Sung (naturally) in Italian, the work's emotional center is the betrayed love between the French poet Andrea Chenier and Maddalena. Chenier (Corelli) rises to Wagnerian helden tenor heights as he gloriously upholds his honor and dignity in the face of class-based revolutionary frenzy, which mistakenly believes Chenier has failed to live up the standards of the Revolution. The inevitable result is the guillotine, and in a Tristan and Isolde-like finale, Maddalena joins Chenier in death and glory. Excellent, fabulous singing, superb orchestral support from the Rome Opera Orchestra, and Gabriele Santini's inspired conducting all combine to provide a great listening experience. This is great Italian tragic opera, and I very much recommend it." Report Abuse
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