CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Bellini: Il Pirata (complete opera live 1959) with Maria Callas, Costantino Ego, Nicola Rescigno, Orchestra & Chorus of the American Opera Society

Search: Ascolta. Nel Furor Delle Tempeste
from: Angel Records

Release Date October 28, 2002
I revisited this recording before and after attending a Pirata performance last month. Maybe because of Rescigno, maybe because of the second-rate tenor and baritone, I wasn't excited by this recording. I thought it was because of the work but the live performance proved it wasn't.

Maria Callas as Imogene is the obvious reason to get this performance and what a pleasure it is to hear her relaxing her throat and allowing Bellini's music to flow. Her best work is in the recitatives and lyrical passages. I love it when she sings lower notes with more care. While the downward leaps and fioriture are always so spectacular with this singer. Unfortunately highest notes were by that time often strenuous, and wobbly, especially in faster ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
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Bellini: Il Pirata / Caballe, Cappuccilli, Labo

Search: Ascolta. Nel Furor Delle Tempeste
by: Montserrat Caballe, Piero Cappuccilli, Flaviano Labo

Release Date November 17, 1998
There is no point in going for the 1973 studio recording while this is available at bargain price and in excellent sound, with little extraneous audience noise apart from some well-deserved applause, and the odd, very occasional fluctuation in pitch due to some tape wobble. Some faint print-through from the original tape is discernible if you are listening at high volume on headphones, otherwise this is one of Opera d'Oro's best - and the worst can be dire!

All three principals - and the supporting cast, too, for that matter - are in superb voice. Caballe does not always sound like her later self, which is a good thing: few of those injected glottal attacks which became a mannerism, absolute security in both fioreture and the heavier Verdian ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
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Bel Canto: Roberto Alagna

Search: Ascolta. Nel Furor Delle Tempeste
from: Deutsche Grammophon

Release Date July 04, 2006
There is no point in going for the 1973 studio recording while this is available at bargain price and in excellent sound, with little extraneous audience noise apart from some well-deserved applause, and the odd, very occasional fluctuation in pitch due to some tape wobble. Some faint print-through from the original tape is discernible if you are listening at high volume on headphones, otherwise this is one of Opera d'Oro's best - and the worst can be dire!

All three principals - and the supporting cast, too, for that matter - are in superb voice. Caballe does not always sound like her later self, which is a good thing: few of those injected glottal attacks which became a mannerism, absolute security in both fioreture and the heavier Verdian ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

Voce D'Italia: Arias For Rubini

Search: Ascolta. Nel Furor Delle Tempeste
from: Decca

Release Date January 22, 2008
I have been thrilled seeing Florez in operas, his voice is powerful and pure; his acting ability is unmatchable. But his CD's are produced very purely. He sings too loud, it is not pleasing to the ear. I have seen audiences move Florez to tears with ovations; he is amazing. But the people who produced this CD apparently did not listen to it before selling it to the public. I found it offensive.

CD-Charts Position 5
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Bel Canto: Arias by Bellini & Donizetti; Roberto Alagna

Search: Ascolta. Nel Furor Delle Tempeste
by: Roberto Alagna, London Voices, Evelino Pido

Release Date July 02, 2002
I'm an Alagna fan, have all his CDs. As the previous reviewer noted, this is a fascinating one -- but more so for how absolutely wrong-headed it is. This is not the ideal repertory for a singer with as light (and that's a compliment), romantic and expressive a voice as Alagna. Or perhaps he just doesn't know what to do with it. He pretty much bellows each number, throwing the notes out to the 5th balcony -- unfortunately, not always hitting them correctly. In fact, Alagna is so often singing below the pitch here that when he actually nails a note dead-on it's a bit startling. If you don't know this singer's work, by all means start with his debut CD, his French arias CD, or perhaps the first CD he recorded with his wife Angela Gheorgieu. If you are a fan ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Bellini: Il Pirata

Search: Ascolta. Nel Furor Delle Tempeste
from: Angel Records

Release Date August 05, 2002
Il pirata was Bellini's first great success and don't think it is a work of a beginner. For me it is on the same level with his most famous operas. It even has something that his later operas don't. It is so dramatic and exciting from the beginning to the end! I don't know if you can find so many beautiful melodies in any other opera. Every scene is a hit. Just listen to "Nel furor delle tempeste", "Lo sognai ferito, esangue", or "Parlarti ancor per poco". His recitatives, ariosos and ensembles are sometimes even more interesting than his arias. I don't know why this opera doesn't belong to the standard repertory. Perhaps because it is almost unsingable.
But fortunately we have this wonderful recording conducted by Gavazzeni. Caballé (Imogene) and Cappuccilli (Ernesto) are simply ... Read More: