Erik Bruchez
Tue, 01 Mar 2005 15:47:40 -0800
Dear list,
A new CD of Messa di Gloria has been released recently. All the information is available here:
http://www.mascagni.org/recordings/508352
I just listened to it, and it is in my opinion the best version since the first recording with Zennaro, Spagnoli and Colusso, if not the best overall.
The sound is good and balanced. Stefano Secco has a nice warm voice. The orchestra sounds light and subtle, unlike most of the recent recordings of the work, and is conducted quite well by Claudio Scimone.
I am not a big fan of this Messa di Gloria. It has beautiful melody throughout, but being a work composed for young music students, it does not reflect so well on Mascagni's actual abilities at the time (1888), when one thinks that he had already been working on Guglielmo Ratcliff for years, and that he was just about to start working on Cavalleria. So I think the circumstances of the composition of the Messa should not be forgotten, but in a version like this one, it remains quite an enjoyable work.
-Erik
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