Verdi: Aroldo.

[] Vaness; Shicoff, Gavin, Michaels-Moore, Scandiuzzi; Orchestra e coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Luisi. Text and translations. Philips 462 512-2

In 1857, when it proved simply too problematic for the Italian censors and the Italian public to accept a married priest and his adulterous wife as the protagonists in Verdi's Stiffelio (1850), Verdi's patient librettist Francesco Maria Piave reinvented the Protestant minister Stiffelio as Aroldo, a thirteenth-century English crusader who was just about censor-proof. Verdi, well aware of the quality of the Stiffelio score, was reluctant to sacrifice his music, as demonstrated by the pains he took to adapt it to the Aroldo libretto, not to mention his creation of some lovely choruses, a storm and a fine concertato finale for an entirely new Act IV (in which husband and wife are amazingly reunited and reconciled at Loch Lomond, where Aroldo is living as a hermit -- don't ask).

In recent years, Stiffelio has been a successful vehicle for two of the Three Tenors, and a new recording of the opera, taken from performances in Trieste, was released by Dynamic late in 2001. Now, thanks to Philips's ongoing dedication to the documentation of the lesser-known Verdi operas under optimum studio conditions, it is Aroldo's turn. This recording dates from 1997, but it was, for whatever reasons, held for release in the U.S. until very late in the Verdi commemorative year of 2001. While there are a few drawbacks, this set was certainly worth waiting for.

The role of Aroldo is tailored perfectly to the considerable gifts of Neil Shicoff. Shicoff is in beautiful form here, his passionate, committed delivery adding credibility to some implausible dramatic situations. Aroldo's Act I narrative, "Sotto il sol di Siria ardente," relating to his wife, Mina, how her image sustained him during the Crusades, and its contrasting cabaletta, "Non sai che la sua perdita," delivered when he notices that Minds wedding ring is missing, afford Shicoff an ideal opportunity for his fervent yet elegant vocalism. His trademark intensity never lets up, nor does the excellence of his singing. Suspecting his wife's infidelity, Aroldo chooses to tell his admirers a story of marital betrayal witnessed in Palestine, rather than battle adventures, and it is chillingly read.

Mina (Lina in Stiffelio) is not an easy role to pull off. She is ...