Recital discs such as this from Opera Rara and the allied series in Chandos’s ‘Opera in English’ have proved not only enjoyable but also useful in three valuable ways. They focus attention on individual singers who, while doing good company-work for years, may not otherwise be given a programme of their own; they help define and illustrate a particular voice-type; and they also introduce new or unusual repertoire. A glance at the contents here will show there are no potboilers – Masaniello’s invocation to Sleep, and The Postillion of Longjumeau might once have answered to that description, but that time has long gone, and even the romance from La fille du regiment is heard here in its less familiar original version with three other voices in ensemble.
Of the others, Carafa’s Gabriella di Vergy is represented in the current catalogues by a single item while Donizetti’s Al castello di Kenilworth, Pacini’s Alessandro nell’Indie and Offenbach’s Le pont des soupirs are not otherwise there at all. All are delightful, and the Offenbach – a little out of period but not of style and sympathy – is a most delicious bonne bouche and happy discovery.
Among the remarkable recent generation of virtuoso tenors, Matteuzzi has been widely admired, not least for the good taste and the stylistic refinement of his singing. This is evident from the first, in the trio from Le comte Ory, where phrases have a grace of tone and movement that momentarily call to mind the name of Tito Schipa. Il viaggio a Reims finds him achieving an agility over a wide vocal range such as Schipa appears never to have attempted. In the duet from Gabriella di Vergy with Bruce Ford, Matteuzzi is somewhat reduced through lack of ring and resonance, and the famous Postillon rondo could also do with more body and robustness. But in passages of pure unforced lyricism he is most gratefully heard, and the sighing, semi-diseur style of Offenbach’s ariette is enchanting.
His colleagues give skilful support. David Parry’s conducting and the orchestral playing bring out the wit, grace and vitality of scores which are apt to keep these qualities hidden from an unimaginative reader. Recorded sound is fine, and Jeremy Commons’ notes are expert as ever