Lo schiavo was conceived as a politically engaged work. However, the issue was rather volatile and the composer had to change the contemporary time setting to a more distant one. In Brazil the opera was a triumph, but elsewhere it failed to gain popularity and soon fell into oblivion. This recording of the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari’s production documents the opera’s first performance in modern times and reveals Gomes’ flamboyant richness of melodic creativity, his sound grasp of construction, and a technical mastery of the theatrical mechanisms that are always of the highest level.
The story of Cio-Cio-San, called Butterfly, a young Nagasaki geisha who, abandoned by her American lover after giving birth to their son, ultimately kills herself, continues to impress audiences today. In this outstandingly authentic and elegant production from the Sferisterio Opera Festival, Puccini's highly emotional music is expertly delivered. The superior cast is headed by Raffaella Angeletti, "certainly one of the best Butterflies of our time" (ForumOpera.com), who has performed this role in many Italian theatres, as well as in Madrid and at the Vienna Staatsoper.
The burning lyricism, the minute painting of details, the fresh liveliness of the conversation scenes and the sophistication of orchestration, all contribute to making La Bohème one of the most original creations in the history of opera.
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