Matilde di Shabran (1821) came from the height of Rossini's career, but it had a troubled history. Street fights between Rossini's supporters and his detractors followed the first Rome performance, and although the opera was popular, even gaining stagings in New York in the 1830s, it fell out of the repertory. The reason is easy enough to hear. Opera plots in the first half of the 19th century were not of paramount importance, but they had to have a certain coherence that this tale of a woman-hating feudal nobleman, ...
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Matilde di Shabran (1821) came from the height of Rossini's career, but it had a troubled history. Street fights between Rossini's supporters and his detractors followed the first Rome performance, and although the opera was popular, even gaining stagings in New York in the 1830s, it fell out of the repertory. The reason is easy enough to hear. Opera plots in the first half of the 19th century were not of paramount importance, but they had to have a certain coherence that this tale of a woman-hating feudal nobleman, Corradino, and his conquest by the wily Matilde ultimately lacks. Denoted a melodramma giocoso or opera semiseria, the tale has in-jokes, including a melodrama quotation of Dante, that do not translate particularly well to modern times, and it's not very friendly to its large cast of singers. In a 2006 recording, tenor Juan Diego Flórez overcame the limitations of his part. Nobody here is in quite that league, but the international cast, led by Michele Angelini, is capable, and the singers...
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