Ponchielli's La Gioconda: Complete Opera

Enzo, the tenor lead in this opera, is one of the few roles in Placido Domingo's repertoire that he hasn't recorded before, so this release is particularly welcome. He is in remarkably good voice for a tenor in his 60s, with the tenorial "ping" still exciting at the top of the range despite a slightly pinched production and the baritonal rest of the voice warm and welcome. If he's occasionally a bit short of breath, well, it's still a stunning performance, and Domingo seems as involved in the two-dimensional character as possible. But this opera is nothing without a great Gioconda, and mezzo-turned-soprano Violeta Urmana is splendid. Her weighty, grand tone is darkly colored and expressive; she can softly float a beautiful high B-flat or ride over the orchestra with equal ease, and if she misses the sheer beauty of Caball? or the perfection of Callas, who doesn't? Urmana is a superb artist. Lado Ataneli exhibits a fine baritone as the evil Barnaba, lacking only an audible sneer and some more play with the text; creamy-voiced mezzo Luciana D'Intino does what she can with the good-but-puzzled Laura; Elisabetta Fiorillo's dusky contralto is well suited to Gioconda's blind, saintly mother, and as Alvise, bass Roberto Scandiuzzi's voice seems to have fallen apart. Marcello Viotti leads the most thrilling and, indeed, orchestrally beautiful performance of this opera on disc, and the sound is big and rich--just right for this larger-than-life melodrama. Don't throw your Callas Gioconda away, but this one is marvelous. --Robert Levine  more