Drippingly Italianate

 

What I've noticed in listening to a lot of music...

...is composers borrow from themselves quite a bit.

I shouldn't be surprised when I read about it, for it happens all of the time, and from some of history's greatest composers.

Here, Rossini cribs from his own Barber of Seville for The Wedding of Thetis and Peleus.

Perhaps that opera was new at the time of this cantata, or it had been rattling around in his head at the same time. Hearing it is an odd sensation identifying those more familiar ideas in this rare work.

While Thetis takes up most of the runtime on this recording, it is actually the other work, Harmony's Sorrow over the Death of Orpheus I find more impressive. In particular, it is the instrumental features which capture my auditory attention. Of course, brevity is always appreciated too.

Otherwise, the choruses are properly robust, and all of the singing is impressive.

A review from 2024

Volume 2 of Decca’s short Cantata series continues pace with ‘The Wedding of Thetis and Peleus’ as well as the shorter ‘Harmony’s Sorrow at the Death of Orpheus’. Returning is the boisterous leadership of Riccardo Chailly with the La Scala PO & Chorus.


As with the first volume, Rossini’s secular cantatas are operatic in nature. These in the second volume are a little more engaging, for Rossini includes more ensemble work, here joined by Cecilia Bartoli in Thetis, and more daring instrumental features, such as in Orpheus.


The singing is drippingly Italianate from all singers, with vocal spectacle galore, and the La Scala ensembles imbue this music with life. I daresay anyone with a taste of Rossini’s operas will have much to enjoy here.

 

 Listen on YouTube

 

Works
Wedding of Thetis and Peleus (51.05)
Harmony's Sorrow over the Death of Orpheus (17.32)

Soloists
Elisabetta Scano, soprano
Cecilia Bartoli, mezzo-soprano
Daniela Barcellona, contralto
Paul Austin Kelly, tenor
Juan Diego Flórez, tenor
Paul Austin Kelly, tenor

Performers
La Scala Philharmonic Chorus
La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra
Riccardo Chailly, conductor

Label: Decca
Year: 2001
Total Timing: 68.42

 

 

I can't call this great, but this is Rossini in full-opera mode.

This, and Chailly with the La Scala forces are such a winning combination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Find more Rossini recordings HERE!