Vincenzo Bellini: Bianca e Gernando (2017)

Bianca e Gernando -- the rather unusual male name being used in place of "Fernando" because the heir to the Sicilian throne was named Fernando -- was Vincenzo Bellini's first non-student opera. It had its premiere in 1826 in Naples and was revived two years later in Genoa with the Fernando name restored. The later version, smoothed out a bit and with new text by Bellini's collaborator Felice Romani, is more often recorded, but this original is worth having for Bellini fans, and before this 2017 release, it had not been ... Read More

Bianca e Gernando -- the rather unusual male name being used in place of "Fernando" because the heir to the Sicilian throne was named Fernando -- was Vincenzo Bellini's first non-student opera. It had its premiere in 1826 in Naples and was revived two years later in Genoa with the Fernando name restored. The later version, smoothed out a bit and with new text by Bellini's collaborator Felice Romani, is more often recorded, but this original is worth having for Bellini fans, and before this 2017 release, it had not been recorded since 1991. This live recording from a performance in Bad Wildbad, Germany, does the work justice, with blazing singing from tenor Maxim Mironov in the title role of Gernando, the 14th century Duke of Agrigento, gaining strong applause from the live audience, and conductor Antonio Fogliani, leading the Virtuosi Brunensis, keeping the music moving briskly. Critics of the day disparaged the old-fashioned quality of parts of the opera, including plenty of straight Rossini imitation... Read Less