Erik Bruchez
Wed, 24 Mar 2004 10:12:16 -0800
I would like to announce the recent release of a DVD or Nerone. The performance is one of the two live concerts that took place in Rome in August 2001. The discography entry is available here with all the details:
Not much work has gone into making this DVD fancy: it contains the bare performance and that is it. The availability on DVD, as opposed to just an audio CD, is made somewhat less interesting by the fact that there is not much happening in a concert performance, but the image and audio quality are excellent, and you can get an idea of what the wonderful venue, Emperor Adrian's Villa in Rome, looks like.
Of the cast, Adriana Damato and Madelyn Renée Monti stand out as Egloge and Atte. Mario Marchesi also makes a quite good Nerone. Although he is lacking in subtelty, he has a beautiful voice appropriate for the role. The most disappointing part is the orchestra and conductor, who are far from the level of detail and effectiveness attained by Kees Bakels and the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Hilversum on the Bongiovanni CD set. In addition, this performance features several cuts, the most dramatic one being the intermezzo, an incredible piece in my opinion, here almost entirely amputated. Other cuts include the wonderful, typical Mascagni-style orchestral commentary that follows the Nerone / Egloge duet.
This DVD remains a must for the Mascagni enthusiast, although I would recommend getting the Bongiovanni CD set first. I don't know how well the DVD is distributed, but I obtained my copy from Fnac in France (http://www.fnac.com/), who will ship internationally. You can also visit the Web site of the distributor in Germany, http://www.membran.net/, who may be able to provide more information.
-Erik _______________________________________________ mascagni-interest mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.alphanet.ch/mailman/listinfo/mascagni-interest