COMPOSERS: Haydn
LABELS: Arabesque
WORKS: L’isola disabitata; Arianna a Naxos
PERFORMER: Susanne Mentzer, Ying Huang, John Aler, Christopher Schaldenbrand; Padova CO/David Golub
CATALOGUE NO: Z 6717-2
Haydn’s opera (1779) contains beautiful music, but is static as drama. This new recording does not displace the 1977 Dorati set (Philips) but is well performed, as is Arianna a Naxos, sung by Susanne Mentzer. One blemish: in the opera’s finale the high horns in C are put down one octave, making Haydn’s brilliant orchestration sound muddy (a mistake not made by Dorati). HC Robbins Landon
Haydn: L'isola disabitata; Arianna a Naxos
Haydn’s opera (1779) contains beautiful music, but is static as drama. This new recording does not displace the 1977 Dorati set (Philips) but is well performed, as is Arianna a Naxos, sung by Susanne Mentzer. One blemish: in the opera’s finale the high horns in C are put down one octave, making Haydn’s brilliant orchestration sound muddy (a mistake not made by Dorati). HC Robbins Landon
Our rating
3
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:34 pm