Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Sinfonia - Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
2. "Zitti: nessun qui v'è" - Carlo Lepore, Gregory Bonfatti, Marco Vinco, Prague Chamber Choir, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
3. "Chi vi guida a queste mura?" - Gregory Bonfatti, Marco Vinco, Prague Chamber Choir, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
4. "Se viene il Cerbero" - Gregory Bonfatti, Marco Vinco, Prague Chamber Choir, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
5. "Vanno via come il vento!" - Carlo Lepore, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
6. "Intanto Armenia 'nfra l'ombrose piante" - Bruno De Simone, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
7. "Ma mo sto castellano" - Bruno De Simone, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
8. "Ah! chitarella mia! dolce lusinga dell'appetito mio" - Bruno De Simone, Carlo Lepore, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
9. "Alma rea! Perché t'involi?" - Juan Diego Flórez, Bruno De Simone, Carlo Lepore, Marco Vinco, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
10. "Bella è l'ira in mezzo al campo" - Juan Diego Flórez, Bruno De Simone, Carlo Lepore, Marco Vinco, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
11. "Dottor, guarda che ceffo?" - Juan Diego Flórez, Bruno De Simone, Carlo Lepore, Marco Vinco, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
12. "Di te no, non mi fido" - Juan Diego Flórez, Bruno De Simone, Carlo Lepore, Marco Vinco, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
13. "Prence, Matilde, giovanetta figlia" - Juan Diego Flórez, Carlo Lepore, Marco Vinco, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
14. "Eccomi, e ognor lo stesso" - Juan Diego Flórez, Hadar Halevy, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
15. "Piange il mio ciglio, è vero" - Hadar Halevy, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
16. "D'un tenero padre" - Hadar Halevy, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
17. "Se fra i paterni amplessi" - Juan Diego Flórez, Hadar Halevy, Carlo Lepore, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
18. "Di capricci, di smorfiette" - Annick Massis, Marco Vinco, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
19. "Ah! di veder già parmi" - Annick Massis, Marco Vinco, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza

Disc 2:

1. "Si, vezzosa Matilde, a voi confido" - Annick Massis, Carlo Lepore, Marco Vinco, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
2. "Questa è la Dea? Che aria!" - Annick Massis, Carlo Lepore, Chiara Chialli, Marco Vinco, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
3. "Che strepito è mai questo?" - Annick Massis, Juan Diego Flórez, Carlo Lepore, Chiara Chialli, Marco Vinco, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
4. "Dallo stupore oppresso" - Annick Massis, Juan Diego Flórez, Carlo Lepore, Chiara Chialli, Marco Vinco, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
5. "Signor, me n'vado o resto?" - Annick Massis, Juan Diego Flórez, Chiara Chialli, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
6. "Ch'io fugga ha già timore" - Annick Massis, Juan Diego Flórez, Carlo Lepore, Chiara Chialli, Marco Vinco, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
7. "Alla Contessa d'Arco un tale oltraggio!" - Annick Massis, Juan Diego Flórez, Bruno De Simone, Carlo Lepore, Chiara Chialli, Marco Vinco, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
8. "Ah! Capisco: non parlate" - Annick Massis, Juan Diego Flórez, Bruno De Simone, Carlo Lepore, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
9. "Cara, quel tuo sembiante" - Annick Massis, Juan Diego Flórez, Bruno De Simone, Carlo Lepore, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
10. "Piacere ugual gli dei" - Annick Massis, Juan Diego Flórez, Bruno De Simone, Carlo Lepore, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
11. "Qual fragor? - Signor!" - Annick Massis, Juan Diego Flórez, Marco Vinco, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
12. "Smarrito, dubbioso, al suono di guerra sospiro" - Hadar Halevy, Ludovir Moravec, Prague Chamber Choir, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
13. "Altezza guardate - Venir io lasciate" - Annick Massis, Juan Diego Flórez, Bruno De Simone, Hadar Halevy, Carlo Lepore, Chiara Chialli, Marco Vinco, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
14. "Oh come mai quest'anima sfavilla in un momento!" - Annick Massis, Juan Diego Flórez, Bruno De Simone, Hadar Halevy, Carlo Lepore, Chiara Chialli, Marco Vinco, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
15. Vanne, pugna: trionfante ritorna" - Annick Massis, Juan Diego Flórez, Bruno De Simone, Hadar Halevy, Carlo Lepore, Chiara Chialli, Marco Vinco, Prague Chamber Choir, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza

Disc 3:

1. "Basta nfi a cà: ho scritto meza gloria delle mie guapparie" - Bruno De Simone, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
2. "Di Corradino il nome per ogni suoi rimbomba" - Bruno De Simone, Prague Chamber Choir, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
3. "Le penne de i poeti so spade assai diverse" - Bruno De Simone, Prague Chamber Choir, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
4. "Dove, o misero padre, e quando speri più il tuo figlio abbracciar?" - Bruno Taddia, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
5. "Sazia tu fossi alfine revolubil Fortuna!" - Hadar Halevy, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
6. "Ah! perché, perché la morte non ascolta i pianti miei?" - Hadar Halevy, Bruno Taddia, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
7. "Ah! Se ancora un'altra volla el ritorna al dolce amplesso" - Hadar Halevy, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
8. "Pur ti ragiunsi al fin...-Cosa pretendi? - Teco battermi ancor" - Annick Massis, Juan Diego Flórez, Bruno De Simone, Hadar Halevy, Carlo Lepore, Ludovir Moravec, Chiara Chialli, Bruno Taddia, Marco Vinco, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
9. "E palese il tradimento - Mente il foglio, o ad arte è scritto" - Annick Massis, Juan Diego Flórez, Bruno De Simone, Carlo Lepore, Chiara Chialli, Marco Vinco, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
10. "Perfida invan tu piangi: è finto quell'affanno" - Annick Massis, Juan Diego Flórez, Bruno De Simone, Carlo Lepore, Chiara Chialli, Marco Vinco, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
11. "Fra quattro armigeri immantimente" - Annick Massis, Juan Diego Flórez, Bruno De Simone, Carlo Lepore, Chiara Chialli, Marco Vinco, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
12. "Pietà! Mi parli invano. Vendicato sarò" - Annick Massis, Juan Diego Flórez, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
13. "Mandare a morte quella meschina? Che crudelta!" - Prague Chamber Choir, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
14. "Andate a'vostri alberghi" - Juan Diego Flórez, Bruno De Simone, Hadar Halevy, Carlo Lepore, Chiara Chialli, Marco Vinco, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
15. "Da cento smanie, e cento sento straziarmi il cor" - Juan Diego Flórez, Hadar Halevy, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
16. "Sedotto dall'inganno" - Juan Diego Flórez, Hadar Halevy, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
17. "O ciel! chi può resistere" - Juan Diego Flórez, Hadar Halevy, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
18. "Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita" - Annick Massis, Juan Diego Flórez, Bruno De Simone, Hadar Halevy, Carlo Lepore, Bruno Taddia, Marco Vinco, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
19. "Matilde, Ebben?" - Annick Massis, Juan Diego Flórez, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
20. "Ami alfine? E chi non ama?" - Annick Massis, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
21. "Non è vero?" - Annick Massis, Juan Diego Flórez, Bruno De Simone, Hadar Halevy, Carlo Lepore, Bruno Taddia, Marco Vinco, Prague Chamber Choir, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza
22. "Tace la tromba altera" - Annick Massis, Prague Chamber Choir, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Riccardo Frizza

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #61402 in Music
• Released on: 2006-08-14
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Box set
• Running time: 189 minutes

Customer Reviews

An elegant jewel in Rossini's crown
This recording of MATILDE DI SHABRAN (Pesaro 2004) being my 38th Rossini opera on disc (only RICCIARDO & ZORAIDE is missing!), I can't recommend it highly enough, not least to rare opera hunters. Hearing the set over and over again for more than a week now, I purchased it primarily for Massis, whose unforgettable Countess Adele I saw three times in Glyndebourne's LE COMTE ORY 10 years ago and still enjoy endlessly on DVD. She and Florez (my first disc of either artist) nail their fiendish notes disarmingly, as if they're doing nothing less than breathing like the rest of mankind, though many times you'd wonder if they breathe at all! The supporting (obscure but generally secure) cast - together with a superb chorus and orchestra - complement the well-matched athletic couple to near perfection. Only the fade-out of the end of set pieces - also true of Abbado's IL VIAGGIO A REIMS recordings - is slightly annoying: I sense that we lose a second or two evidently left out to preclude applause, which could have been abridged (I can't believe that the audience - whose applause here is confined to the end of each of the opera's two acts - responded silently to those breathtaking numbers, unless they were gagged and bound!). No need to hesitate: the memorable score is no less inspired than IL VIAGGIO and ORY (my favourite Rossini comedies), the extended ensembles (in particular) - which are nothing short of orgasmic - showing the composer at his most regal. It would be a crime if Decca didn't tape this for DVD release: if it weren't recorded, I hope the ROH will do us the favour of recording its production next year (either a new Pesaro staging or a revival of the 2004 production, but I'm sure with Florez). If you seriously think that Rossini is at his best only in IL BARBIERE and CENERENTOLA (neither is a favourite of mine), you'll realize how wrong you were upon discovering MATILDE. An irresistible, charming work from the king of dramatic melody.

Musically a pleasant surprise, in great sound, with superlative singing
I pretty much agree with all the previous reviewers on Amazon.com, apart from the curiously curmudgeonly and wrong-headed one by S Wells, and would add only that the quality of sound is, for all practical purposes, indistinguishable from a studio recording in quality but gains from its source as a live recording. Florez is, of course, the star of the show but all the singers here have neat, firm, accomplished voices (with the exception of Chiara Chialli's wobbly mezzo as the Contessa; she quite spoils the homogeneity of the ensembles she is in) and I would particularly single out the Israeli mezzo, Halevy, for her "chocolate" tone and accurate roulades. It's true that not all the music is as inspired as that in Rossini's masterpieces and I don't warm to Massis as some do, finding her a little bland, but she certainly has all the notes. Glory in Florez' virtuosity in a part seemingly tailor-made for him; this is great fun and underscored by some nice satirical touches in an ironic plot which parodies the very operatic conventions that Rossini himself helped to establish. This much-vilified plot emerges as no more absurd or incomprehensible than many another more celebrated opera and seems quite straightforward to me, if patently - and deliberately - absurd. A must for Rossini aficionados.