Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) wrote a slew of popular
operas, but today most people probably know him best for his overtures. The
present disc from Christian Benda and the Prague Sinfonia Orchestra (of which
Benda is the Chief Conductor) and the Prague Philharmonic Choir is the first of
four volumes of the composer’s overtures from Maestro Benda.
Choice is good, and Benda gives us yet another good
choice. Yet before considering any new Rossini release, you should remember
that there are already quite a few excellent discs out there, not the least of
which is Neville Marriner’s complete, three-disc set from Philips, a long-gone
label but one still available new and used for a reasonable (sometimes absurdly
low) price. And if it’s only a single disc of the most-popular overtures you’re
interested in, you can find excellent bargains on-line from the likes of,
again, Marriner (Philips, PentaTone, or EMI), the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
(DG), Fritz Reiner (RCA), Piero Gamba (Decca or JVC), Peter Maag (HDTT),
Riccardo Muti (EMI), Claudio Abbado (DG), Riccardo Chailly (Decca), Carlo Maria
Giulini (EMI), Sir Roger Norrington (EMI), and others.
Yes, there is a lot of Rossini out there. Nevertheless, if
you’ve sampled all of the above or simply want to hear everything that’s
available, certainly you’ll want to check out this first volume of overtures
from Benda because they’re really quite good.
The program begins with three of Rossini’s most well-known
overtures. The first is La gazza ladra
(“The Thieving Magpie”), which Benda infuses with a stately elegance, going on
to develop a reasonable amount of tension and excitement. What’s more, Benda
handles the more lyrical interludes with a quick-paced grace.
Next, we find Semiramide,
in which Benda exploits both the urgency and the serenity nicely. Then, we get Elisabetta, Regina d’Inghilterra
(“Elizabeth, Queen of England”), about which you are probably saying,
“Huh? I’ve never heard of that.” No,
but Rossini reused the same overture later for the far more-famous opera Il barbierre de Siviglia (“The Barber of
Seville”). Anyway, Benda’s fleet-footed performance serves it well.
After those items, Benda serves up four more overtures
that are only slightly less popular. Here, we find Otello, Rossini’s recounting of Shakespeare’s play, the music
typical of the composer’s work. Benda
gives it a lively, dramatic reading. Following that is Le Siege de Cornithe (“The Siege of Corinth”), a story “of love and
duty.” Benda and his players treat it with appropriate attention to the duty
part perhaps more than to the love element. Regardless, it moves along at a
healthy clip. Moving on, there’s the odd little Sinfonia in D “al Conventello” Overture, in which you’ll recognize
the first theme from Signor Bushino.
Rossini was not above borrowing from himself. Again, Benda puts all his energy
into it.
The album closes with Ermione
(“Hermione”), from one of Rossini’s less-successful operas. The overture is of
little consequence except for a few sections taken by a chorus. I had only
heard it once before and have to admit that Benda’s rendition impressed me more
than before.
Naxos recorded the music at the Kulturni Dum Barikadniku,
Prague, Czech Republic, in 2011, and it’s one of the label’s best efforts of
late. It displays a commendable dynamic range and impact, with a fairly clean,
clear midrange and more-than-adequate bass and treble extension. The sound is
not quite in the Orpheus (DG) or Maag (HDTT) league, but it’s good and on a par
with most of the best. The smaller forces of the Prague Sinfonia help to
produce more lucid sonics than we might get from an ensemble twice its size,
and the Naxos engineers do their part to ensure a wide stereo spread and a
decent sense of depth and air.
JJP
