Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)
Ermione – Opera in Two Acts (1819)
Ermione – Serena Farnocchia (soprano)
Andromaca – Aurora Faggioli (mezzo)
Orestes – Patrick Kabongo (tenor)
Pirro – Moisés Marín (tenor)
Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus/Antonio Fogliani
rec. live, 16 & 23 July 2022; Trinkhalle, Bad Wildbad, Germany
Naxos 8.660556-57 [2 CDs: 133]

After listening through these CDs twice in succession I can honestly report that, despite some problems with the performance, I have enjoyed the experience enormously. The winning achievement of this set is the rhythmically alert and exciting leadership of Antonio Fogliani. His conducting showcases this gravely dramatic opera, the most exciting of all of Rossini’s serious works, in a manner that is thoroughly convincing. It helps that he is using the Ricordi Critical Edition of the score which presents the work as the composer conceived it. The opera is based on Racine’s 1667 tragedy Andromacque. Despite such auspicious ground on which to create an opera it was a distinct failure of the opera season in Naples in 1819. It has been commonly believed that it received no other performances during the 19th century (more on this later in the review). The full score was not published, which made the production of the Ricordi edition something of a challenge to the musicologists who undertook it. In practical terms, one way to know if a performance or recording uses the critical edition is in the orchestration of the opening notes to the chorus of Greek huntresses. The Ricordi score differs from the previously available versions because the chorus should open with the sound of the French horns imitating the effect of hunting horns. Less authentic versions of the score use other woodwinds for this same passage, which comes from Rossini’s later inclusion of the chorus for an entirely different dramatic situation in Le siège de Corinthe. Small details such as this are what make owning a recording of the critical edition more desirable. On this set Fogliani highlights the almost unyielding dramatic progression, which is the special feature of this opera. It is worth noting that his pacing allows the First Act to be contained on a single CD for the first time on disc. Naxos kindly obliges by bursting out of the red book specifications with a timing of 84:58, which has to be the longest timing on a single CD that I have yet encountered.

The cast of this performance, which was part of the 2023 Rossini in Wildbad Festival doesn’t project anything approaching star quality in their performances; however, they are all conscientious singers who do their utmost to put across Rossini’s ferociously difficult music.

The most successful of the soloists is Aurora Faggioli’s Andromache. She is a gifted singer with a vibrantly rich sound which to my ears is more associated with a contralto, rather than a mezzo as she is listed in the CD booklet. Her range is absolutely even, and she gives an exciting account of the beleaguered Trojan Princess’ opening aria, which sets the tone for everything which is to follow in the score. She manages the difficult coloratura passages with ease and makes a generally positive impression.

Next in achievement here is Sonia Farnocchia’s vivid realization of the anti-heroine Hermione. Farnocchia has a dark sound with the considerable tonal weight for this angry, vengeful woman who is something of a distant operatic cousin to Medea, Norma and Lucrezia Borgia. Farnocchia often sings with true expressive force as she hurls her voice around the concert platform. There are times when her coloratura passages become a little smudged and ungainly, most likely because this was recorded in live concerts; had the sessions occurred in a studio these details could have easily been corrected. On a few occasions the microphones will pick up a bit of shrillness in her upper range; however, in general, she shows herself to be up to the challenge of this exciting part.

When it comes to the two tenor roles the roles the singers here don’t achieve as much as their female counterparts. Rossini gave both Pyrrhus and Orestes some of his most intricately challenging music for the tenor voice. On this recording Patrick Kabongo achieves much in terms of negotiating the difficult coloratura passages, and he comes through it well enough, although some of his upper notes sound less full-toned than the rest of his voice. He does not have to simplify the music in order to get through it, which makes this a decent enough achievement for him. Overall, this Orestes doesn’t display the abandoned wildness that Rockwell Blake conveys on the Legato Classics set from Pesaro.

Moisés Marín as Pyrrhus is a joy to encounter. This is a tenor to watch for in some later bel canto operas such as La Sonnambula, Norma, Lucia di Lammermoor and Lucrezia Borgia. The high-flying roulades of Rossini do not really show off the best parts of his voice to his advantage; in addition, some of Pyrrhus’ higher phrases which occasionally battle for space in the ozone layer do not come off at all well for him. Like Kabongo, there are other singers on rival recordings who achieve more impressive results (Chris Merritt to name one). Still, I hope to encounter Marín again in a role more suited to his talents.

The SWR engineers have captured the live ambience resplendently. The orchestra is conveyed especially well and the off-stage choral phrases of the Trojan prisoners which punctuate the overture are atmospherically dealt with.

It is generally agreed that the opera did not receive a revival after its initial seven performances in Naples in the spring of 1819. The interesting booklet notes are written by Swiss musicologist Reto Müller, where he makes a claim that there was a further performance of the opera in Seville in 1829. I don’t doubt his assertion, but it does differ from what has long been accepted about the performance history of Ermione. I do wish he had included some more information about the evidence for this tantalizing claim.

The better singers who have tackled the title role in my experience were Alexandrina Pendatchanska, and Nelly Miricioiu. They were sadly not given the opportunity to record the role. None of the previous three recordings of Ermione has been entirely without fault. The most entirely successful version remains the DVD version of the 1995 Glyndebourne Festival production (review), splendidly conducted by the late Sir Andrew Davis. This is the one performance of the work with the most resplendent cast who are able to meet all of the musical and dramatic demands of the piece. Unfortunately, it is available only in Dolby Digital AC-3 , a lossy sound format which is not adequate for regular home listening. Among the CD issues my choice remains with the premiere recording of the opera on Erato under Claudio Scimone. Overall it has a fairly successful cast, although Cecilia Gasdia sounds too much young and girlish to make a completely believable Hermione. She manages the technical challenges withassurance and lovely tone. The rest of the cast, Ernesto Palacio, Chris Merritt and Margarita Zimmermann are all extremely effective in their roles. The other strike against this set is that it was made before the critical edition of the score was released; therefore, it is less authentic than the Naxos. The 2009 Opera Rara set also uses the critical edition and the singers are able to surmount their technical challenges with apparent ease, but the performances and conducting are generally bland and don’t reveal the drama inherent in this marvelous opera. That leaves only the exciting but controversial recording of the first performance in the 20th century, at the Pesaro Opera Festival in 1987, once released on the long defunct Legato Classics label. It features Montserrat Caballé’s highly criticized Hermione, because by 1987 she needed to simplify some of the musical lines that Rossini had written for the Spartan Princess in order to get through the performance. The audience reaction to her performance on that opening night is still the stuff of operatic legend. Hearing the set today one recognizes the deficiency, but also to be fair to her one must also acknowledge that Caballé does prove to be a formidable Hermione, nonetheless. Her substantial tone works for this character and she was still able to spin out some ravishing moments for the listener. She is partnered by Rockwell Blake who is unrivalled as Orestes and Chris Merritt as a very effective Pyrrhus (on the Erato set he sings the role of Orestes). Legato also features Marilyn Horne, who is in a class all of her own as Andromache. The letdowns on this recording are less than optimal sound (it derives from a decent RAI radio transmission) and the fact that it also didn’t have the critical edition available when it was made. Gustav Kuhn’s conducting is reliable but nothing more.

While this new Naxos set doesn’t necessarily replace my choice of the Warner DVD or the Erato CD set, it was exciting enough to hold my attention through two hearings and I would certainly go for it over the Opera Rara release which almost never leaves its place on my Rossini shelf. I fully expect to take this set out from time to time and revel in the excitement that Fogliani whips up for his audience. Their applause is unrestrainedly enthusiastic and well-captured by the engineers. As usual with Naxos, there is a link to download an Italian-only libretto from their website.

Mike Parr

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Other cast
Pilade – Chuan Wang (tenor)
Fenicio – Jusung Gabriel Park (bass)
Cleone – Mariana Koltorak (soprano)
Cefisa – Katarzyna Guran(soprano)
Attalo – Bartosz Jankowski (tenor)