On the other hand, for those who are determined to see and hear every note that flowed from the Verdi pen, this would be the video choice. However, this opera is not one of the maestro’s better efforts, with just a couple of show piece arias and some rather routine choral work.
With a good effort to create authentic period costumes offsetting the rather minimal sets, we get a pretty good idea of what Verdi might have seen on stage. A tip of the cap also goes to baritone Salsi who nails the pasha’s big Act III aria. This much younger cast makes a game effort with Il Corsaro, particularly soprano Della Benetta who, exposed midriff and all, absolutely steals the show. This a work that will be best served by going to these sources before viewing.Ĭoincidentally, there is a previous DVD from the same house with similar appearing costumes and sets but featuring veteran singers, some well past their sell-by-dates. Thank you C Major and Tutto Verdi for the ever helpful booklet and video background and synopsis. The DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack gives us more the house than the two-channel one but the differences are not dramatic. The balances are excellent with a slight dryness to the acoustic.
IL CORSARO BLU SERIES
The audio engineers by this point in the series must know this house well. The cameras do a nice job of keeping us engaged, again courtesy of video director, Tiziano Mancini. Lamberto Puggelli’s staging on the rather small Teatro Regio stage is first rate. While the first act is deliberately dark, the sun really shines brightly in the harem with beautiful period costumes. Conductor Carlo Montanaro has clearly understood Verdi’s musical intentions and leads a very idiomatic performance. Corrado returns, but it is too late as Medora dies, and distraught, the pirate leaps to his death in the sea.īy all appearances, the cast is a youthful one that makes a game effort if without the ultimate vocal abilities that experienced Verdians would possess. On the pirates’ island, Medora has believed her beloved Corrado has died and takes poison. When he refuses to commute the sentence, she bribes the guards to help her escape with the pirate. On the eve of Corrado’s execution, Gulnara begs Seid for his life. As Corrado tries to rescue Gulnara and the other women, he is captured by the pasha and sentenced to death. A battle between the pirates and the Turks is raging and the harem catches on fire. The pasha is throwing a party that Corrado crashes in disguise. The scene shifts to Pasha Seid’s (baritone Luca Salsi) harem, where his favorite slave, Gulnara (soprano Silvia Dalla Benetta) bemoans her captive state. Receiving news from his mate, Giovanni (bass Andrea Papi) that the time is right for a raid on the Turks, he prepares to embark, leaving behind his lover, Medora (soprano Irina Lungu). Corrado (tenor Bruno Ribeiro) and his pirate band are based in the Aegean sea not far from the coast of Turkey. Il Corsaro is set in the early 19 th century a few decades before the time of its actual composition. This performance taken from a 2008 production, returns the Tutto Verdi series to the Teatro Regio di Parma. As such it is more of a bel canto work than those that followed. Another Verdi rarity, Il Corsaro was written using a Lord Byron poem as its source, near the end of Verdi’s early period.
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