Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Sinfonia
2. Act 1. No. 1. Introduzione. Lieto, ridente oltre l'usato
3. Act 1. No. 1. Ah! no: sia questo
4. Act 1. No. 1. Arditi, all'ire
5. Act 1. No. 1. Recitativo. Sì, guerrieri
6. Act 1. No. 2. Coro di Paladini. Germano, a te richiede
7. Act 1. No. 2. Recitativo. Signor, tanto il tuo nome
8. Act 1. No. 3. Quartetto. Sventurata! or che mi resta
9. Act 1. No. 3. Or che farò?
10. Act 1. No. 3. German, se togli al campo
11. Act 1. No. 3. Per me propizio il fato
12. Act 1. No. 3. Recitativo. Cedei, guerrieri, è ver
13. Act 1. No. 3. Opportuna è la scelta
14. Act 1. No. 4. Aria. Non soffrirò l'offesa
15. Act 1. No. 4. E questi son gli allori
16. Act 1. No. 4. Viva Rinaldo!
17. Act 1. No. 4. Recitativo. Sorte ci arride
18. Act 1. No. 4. Principessa, sei tu!
19. Act 1. No. 5. Duetto. Amor... possente nome!
20. Act 1. No. 5. Vacilla a quegli accenti
21. Act 1. No. 5. Ah! non poss'io resistere
22. Act 1. No. 5. Recitativo. Ecco il guerriero, il duce
23. Act 1. No. 6. Finale primo. Se pari agli accenti
24. Act 1. No. 6. Che terribile momento!
25. Act 1. No. 6. Deh! se cara a te son io
26. Act 1. No. 6. Vieni, o duce, punisci l'errore
27. Act 1. No. 6. Amica la sorte / Un astro di sangue

Disc 2:

1. Act 2. No. 7. Coro di Furie. Alla voce d'Armida possente
2. Act 2. No. 7. Recitativo. Sovr'umano potere
3. Act 2. No. 8. Coro. Di ferro e fiamme cinti
4. Act 2. No. 9. Duetto. Dove son io!
5. Act 2. No. 9. Recitativo. Mio ben, questa che premi
6. Act 2. No. 10. Finale secondo. No: d'Amor la reggia è questa
7. Act 2. No. 10. Canzoni amorose
8. Act 2. No. 10. D'Amore al dolce impero
9. Act 2. No. 10. Ballo. Marziale
10. Act 2. No. 10. Andante
11. Act 2. No. 10. Allegro moderato
12. Act 2. No. 10. Vivace - Tutto spira d'Armida all'aspetto

Disc 3:

1. Act 3. No. 11. Duetto. Come l'aurette placide
2. Act 3. No. 11. Recitativo. Oh quanto, amico
3. Act 3. No. 12. Coro di Ninfe. T'inganni - Qui tutto è calma
4. Act 3. No. 12. Recitativo. Fuggite, inferni mostri
5. Act 3. No. 13. Duetto. Soavi catene
6. Act 3. No. 13. Recitativo. O mio Rinaldo
7. Act 3. No. 13. Amico, inoltra il piè
8. Act 3. No. 14. Terzetto. In quale aspetto imbelle
9. Act 3. No. 14. Vedi qual reo governo
10. Act 3. No. 14. Recitativo. Dov'è... dove si cela?
11. Act 3. No. 14. Sia lode al ciel
12. Act 3. No. 14. Ed è pur vero?
13. Act 3. No. 15. Finale terzo. Se al mio crudel
14. Act 3. No. 15. Dove son io?... Fuggì!
15. Act 3. No. 15. E' ver... gode quest anima

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #65347 in Music
• Released on: 1994-10-04
• Number of discs: 3

Customer Reviews

Burning fury!!!!
In August 1992 I was working at the Rossini Opera Festival and I was very excited to meet Anna Caterina Antonacci who was supposed to sing Armida,one of my favourite operas.On August 1 around 12:00 pm. I receive a phone call from Antonacci's agent,cancelling the preformances. i was so disappointed I felt like crying,but we did have a double,her name was Renée Fleming a young and almost unknown american soprano.She was there the next day and rehearsed the aria "D'amor al dolce impero" at the piano. I must confess that loving Antonacci so much I had a prejudice against this young soprano,but when she opened her mouth it was like listening to a miracle, the beauty of her voice,her incredible technique and her amazing grasp of the Rossini style left me speechless and astonished. Needless to say she was wonderfull throughout the hole score and the preformances were flabbergasting,it was fortunate that they decided to record one of them so that everybody can enjoy this masterfull interpretation. After Callas' preformances in Florence in 1952 it seamed as though we had lost the real Armida voice,Christine Deutekom sang the part in the sixties,June Anderson in the eighties and Cecilia Gasdia recorded it in 1987 but each of these singers failed in recreating the true Rossini style.Armida is Rossini's third neapolitan opera wrote for his future wife Isabella Colbran one of the greatest opera divas of her time; born a contralto she gradually turned into a soprano and this switch left her with a very large vocal range and an incredible vocal agility. This particular vocal organization was to influence every opera wrote for her(10 all together,9 for the "Teatro San Carlo" in Naples and Semiramide wrote for the "teatro la Fenice" in Venice. Armida is probably one of the most difficult roles in opera history,the soprano is the only female role in the opera,she's almost always on stage and her voice is asked to run up and down the scale constantly with terrifying two octave jumps. The results achieved by Fleming in this live recording are astonishing excpecially considering she was at the beginning of her career,if you love Rossini and female voices you can't miss this Armida,pain,anguish,fury,cruelty,every emotion is portrayed with such artistry that the listener is thrown into a magical exceperience that will leave him speechless.If there is anybody who hasn't heard it yet I hope that this review will convince him. The rest of the cast is outstanding,Kunde is a valid partner for Fleming and Giorgio Gatti always finds the right tempos and the right atmosphere. Enjoy,enjoy,enjoy!!!!!
Adam Lorenzetti

Best Available Recording
This is a live performance recording so it suffers from a certain amount of over resonance. That aside this is the one to get.

The Armida story has been made into nearly twenty operas. The Rossini is one of the last. It was a very popular libretto in th 18th century with works by Lully and Haydn. After Rossini only Dvorak wrote a major Armida opera again.

This piece is famous for requiring five or six tenors. Some of these parts only appear in one act so they were written to be doubled in performance. However it is also true that at the oppening performance the bass was ill and his role was covered by one of the tenors. Therefore if you don't like tenors - like say Richard Strauss - stay away for this opera.

The tenors here are all quite good. They have lovely voices, good muscianship and can sing the notes. This hasn't always been true. On the Callas recording Mario Fillepeschi, and Gianni Raimondi (both excellent in other repetoire) are lost in the fioratura.

Gregory Kunde is especailly noteworthy. He sings the Nozzari role altough he has a very different voice from Chris Merritt the Nozzari specialist.

The lead tenor part does not have an aria although some of the secondary tenor parts do. Kunde is a high note specialist. Most tenor voices thin out somewhat as they ascend. For example Pavarotti or Corelli had great success with there high notes but these notes were connected to their lower voice. There are a few others who have voices that explode into the high notes. Examplea include Leon Esclais, Pierre Duval, and even Franco Bonisolli. Kunde has this kind of voice. Down in the regular tenor range he sings very well but he sounds like a routine Mozart tenor or even a comprimario. Above the staff he hits some kind of a resonant node. He sounds better on a high C than a middle C. He is a very fine musician also.

Fleming is stupendous. I had no idea she could do this material this well. The opera is about 50% Armida and 50% all those tenors. Fleming dominates the procedings. This is a tour de force role. It is much bigger than say Semiramide. There is no seconda donna with whom to share the stage. Everything rests on the soprano. No one else today could match this performance.

Rossini: Armida
I attended these Pesaro performances, and wish to inform potential buyers that the set preserves in fine sound really remarkable performances from all the principals of one of Rossini's most demanding and individual Neapolitan operas. On buying the CD's I wondered if my memories of the live performances had been true to form, and all I have to add is that they were thrillingly confirmed! When the vocal demands of this work are considered, the beauty, virtuosity and stylish panache of the singers deserve all the bravos they can get!