ROSSINI: Le Nozze di Teti e di Peleo, Il Pianto d'Armonia.(Review)

ROSSINI: Le Nozze di Teti e di Peleo, Il Pianto d'Armonia

[] "CANTATAS, VOLUME 2" With Scano, Bartoli, Barcellona; Florez, Petroni, Kelly; Coro Filarmonico della Scala, Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, Chailly Decca 289 466 328-2

Rossini's cantatas are often slight, but there's no excuse for the neglect they've suffered. As Riccardo Chailly and company show, these works contain unfailingly charming music, and one looks forward to more volumes in this series.

Rossini wrote Le Nozze di Teti e di Peleo to celebrate a royal wedding in 1816. Assisted by Jove, Juno and Ceres, the hero Peleus (Peleo) promises his bride, Thetis (Teti), that they'll live happily ever after: so much for plot. And as usual, the composer borrows from his own works (notably Cenerentola and Barbiere). Yet the piece is never less than fresh and fun.

Cecilia Bartoli, in Ceres's bravura solo, "Ah non potrian resistere" (which she previously recorded on Decca 2LH-436075), and in her contributions to the final chorus, doesn't merely burn down the barn, she puts a torch to the fireworks factory. Even by her standards, this is impressive vocalism. In her duet with Juno, Bartoli's famous aspiration seduces contralto Daniela Barcellona away from an initially stolid reading, until they sound as sensuous as Lakme and Mallika.