Listeners may be confused by the appearance of a Donizetti opera called L'ange de Nisida, of which even confirmed Donizetti fans may be unaware. Through a combination of problems that included financial issues on the part of its backer and threats from the Italian censors, who objected to the plot line involving a mistress for the king of Naples, the opera was shelved, and it did not receive its premiere until 2018. It is that premiere, in London, that is recorded here by Opera Rara, a company specializing in operatic ...
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Listeners may be confused by the appearance of a Donizetti opera called L'ange de Nisida, of which even confirmed Donizetti fans may be unaware. Through a combination of problems that included financial issues on the part of its backer and threats from the Italian censors, who objected to the plot line involving a mistress for the king of Naples, the opera was shelved, and it did not receive its premiere until 2018. It is that premiere, in London, that is recorded here by Opera Rara, a company specializing in operatic obscurities; from an engineering standpoint they punch above their weight, delivering clean sound and a good immediate crowd feeling from the sometimes tricky Royal Opera House. The reconstruction was a quite an enterprise in itself, involving the excavation of numerous library manuscripts. Donizetti used much of the material in his next opera, La Favorite (La Favorita), whose libretto was also a reworking of L'ange de Nisida, with the locale moved to satisfy the censors, the lead soprano...
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