Bellini - La Sonnambula
Bartoli; Flórez; Orch. La Scintilla / de Marchi
Decca 475 8155 (2CD)

Release date November 2008

Had it not been for Italian censorship, La Sonnambula might not have come into being. In 1830 Bellini and his regular librettist Felice Romani were initially drawn to an adaptaion of Victor Hugo’s drama Hernani, ou L’Honneur castillan, and worked on it for several months. However, Europe-wide political insurrection led to a drastic tightening of Italian censorship, and the pair turned their attention to the less revolutionary plot of an 1827 French ballet-pantomime, La Sonnambula. (It was left to Verdi to bring Ernani to the opera house fourteen years later.) Since the great revival of bel canto in the middle of the twentieth century, La Sonnambula has been viewed as a vehicle for sopranos to dazzle audiences with extraordinary feats of vocal display. Yet Cecilia Bartoli, during extensive research for her Maria project (which celebrated the life and career of the great nineteenth-century diva Maria Malibran), became increasingly curious about the fact that, during Bellini’s own lifetime, the two most successful interpreters of the title role were both mezzo-sopranos. Further detective work on the original manuscript revealed that the role lay comfortably in the range of a mezzo – hardly surprising, as Bellini had written the role of Amina for the mezzo Giuditta Pasta. What we have here is therefore the original score, recorded both complete and in the original keys (with the exception of three numbers which have been transposed down). It is the first recording to feature a mezzo in the title role, and the first to use a period orchestra. The most striking aspect is the warmer feel of the music; while Bartoli’s vocal acrobatics are just as breath-taking as Joan Sutherland’s in her traditional high-soprano Decca recording, it’s all somehow a little more in keeping with the setting (an idealised Swiss village) and the story. (In a nutshell: an orphaned girl’s imminent betrothal is put in jeopardy when her sleep-walking lands her in the bedroom of another man.) Bartoli’s performance is phenomenal; the florid and extensive ornamentation sounds as if it is an intrinsic feature of her natural voice. Where Sutherland is pure and hints at fragility, Bartoli inhabits her role in an earthier way but conveys just as much emotion. Juan Diego Flórez sounds a trifle wooden by comparison; Pavarotti proves a more lyrical lover for Decca. Ildebrando D’Arcangelo as the count Rodolfo displays suitable gravitas without appearing stolid. With an alert, responsive chorus that can vary its tone and power (not always true of opera choruses) and the lively, warm playing of the Orchestra La Scintilla, the overall result is vivid, involving and very moving.

Reviewed by Anne McAlister