COMPOSERS: Cavalli
LABELS: Decca
WORKS: L’Ormindo
PERFORMER: John Wakefield, Peter-Christoph Runge, Isabel Garcisanz; LPO/Raymond Leppard
CATALOGUE NO: 444 529-2 ADD Reissue
Eschewing period instruments, Raymond Leppard’s late-Sixties recordings of Cavalli’s operas make no pretence to authenticity, opting instead for the luxuriant sound of the LPO. This is a sublime account of a slight, if charming, opera – a torrid tale of infidelity and elopement set in North Africa – well sung and exquisitely played. Anne Howells, as the Queen of Morocco, is the star of an admirable cast, though Hugues Cuénod’s performance in the travesty role of the old nurse is also to be treasured. Claire Wrathall
Cavalli: L'Ormindo
Eschewing period instruments, Raymond Leppard’s late-Sixties recordings of Cavalli’s operas make no pretence to authenticity, opting instead for the luxuriant sound of the LPO. This is a sublime account of a slight, if charming, opera – a torrid tale of infidelity and elopement set in North Africa – well sung and exquisitely played. Anne Howells, as the Queen of Morocco, is the star of an admirable cast, though Hugues Cuénod’s performance in the travesty role of the old nurse is also to be treasured. Claire Wrathall
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:14 pm