Inspirada por el regalo de Olivo e Pasquale (tante grazie, Jalu ), se me ocurrió abrir un hilo sobre compositores prolíficos. Me parece que Donizetti es record, pero ya dirán ustedes ...

- 69 óperas completas
- 4 inconclusas
- 2.7 en promedio por año
- más o menos 165 horas de música solo de ópera

Es cierto que Gaetano se repite (o es coherente con su estilo, según se vea ). Olivo (la única de las desconocidas que conozco ahora) es una comedia encantadora, aunque por cierto que una tiene la permanente sensación de haberla escuchado antes ...

¿Cuáles de las extrañas conocen ustedes? ¿Cuáles valdrán la pena?

Aquí va la lista:

Pigmalione (1816), dramma in un Atto di Antonio Simone Sografi

Olimpiade (1817), opera seria incompiuta su libretto del Metastasio

L'ira di Achille (1817), opera in un Atto su libretto di anonimo

Enrico di Borgogna (1818), opera semiseria in due Atti su libretto di Bartolomeo Merelli

Una follia (1818), farsa in 1 Atto su libretto di Bartolomeo Merelli

I piccioli virtuosi ambulanti (1819), opera buffa in un Atto

Pietro il Grande zar di tutte le Russie ossia Il Falegname di Livonia (1819), melodramma burlesco in due Atti di Gherardo Bevilacqua Aldobrandini. p.r. Teatro S. Samuele, 26 dicembre 1819

Le nozze in villa (1820), opera buffa in due Atti su libretto di Bartolomeo Merelli. p.r. Mantova, Teatro Vecchio, 1820

Zoraida in Granata (1822), melodramma eroico in due Atti di Bartolomeo Merelli, rifatto da Jacopo Ferretti. p.r. Roma, Teatro Argentina, 28 gennaio 1822

La Zingara (1822), melodramma semiserio in due Atti di Andrea Leone Tottola. p.r. Napoli, Teatro Nuovo, 12 maggio 1822

La Lettera Anonima (1822), farsa in un Atto di Giulio Genoino. p.r. Napoli, Teatro del Fondo, 29 giugno 1822

Chiara e Serafina ossia Il Pirata (1822), melodramma semiserio in due Atti di Felice Romani. p.r. Milano, Teatro alla Scala, 26 ottobre 1822

Alfredo il Grande (1823), melodramma serio in due Atti di Andrea Leone Tottola. p.r. Napoli, San Carlo, 2 luglio1823

Il fortunato inganno (1823), dramma giocoso per musica in due Atti di Andrea Leone Tottola. p.r. Napoli, Teatro Nuovo, 3 novembre 1823

L'ajo nell'imbarazzo o Don Gregorio (1824), melodramma giocoso in due Atti di Jacopo Ferretti. p.r. Roma, Teatro Valle, 7 gennaio 1824

Emilia di Liverpool (1824), dramma semiserio in due Atti di Giuseppe Ceccherini. p.r. Napoli, Teatro Nuovo, 28 luglio 1824

Alahor in Granata (1826), dramma per musica in due Atti di ignoto M.A. p.r. Palermo, Teatro Carolino, 7 gennaio 1826

Il castello degli invalidi (1826), si conosce solo il titolo

Elvida (1826), dramma per musica in un Atto di Giovanni Schmidt. p.r. Napoli, Teatro San Carlo, 6 luglio 1826

Gabriella di Vergy (1826), opera seria in tre Atti da un precedente libretto di Andrea Leone Tottola. p.r. Napoli, Teatro San Carlo, 29 novembre 1869, rifacimento di G.Puzone e P.Serrao

Olivo e Pasquale (1827), melodramma giocoso in due Atti di Giacomo Ferretti. p.r. Roma, Teatro Valle, 7 gennaio 1827

Otto mesi in due ore (1827), melodramma romantico in tre parti di Domenico Gilardoni. p.r. Napoli, Teatro Nuovo, 13 maggio 1827

Il borgomastro di Saardam (1827), melodramma giocoso in due Atti di Domenico Gilardoni. p.r. Npoli, Teatro del Fondo, 19 agosto 1827

Le convenienze e inconvenienze teatrali (1827), dramma giocoso in due Atti di Gaetano Donizetti. p.r. Napoli, Teatro Nuovo, 21 novembre 1827

L'esule di Roma o Il Proscritto o Settimio il Proscritto (1828), melodramma eroico in due Atti di Domenico Gilardoni. p.r. Napoli, Teatro San Carlo, 1 gennaio 1828

Alina regina di Golconda (1828), di Felice Romani. p.r. Genova, Teatro Carlo Felice, 12 maggio 1828

Gianni da Calais (1828), melodramma semiserio in tre Atti di Domenico Gilardoni. p.r. Napoli, Teatro del Fondo, 2 agosto 1828

Il Paria (1829), melodramma in due Atti di Domenico Gilardoni. p.r. Napoli, Teatro San Carlo, 12 gennaio 1829

Il giovedì grasso o Il nuovo Pourceaugnac (1829), farsa in un Atto di Domenico Gilardoni. p.r. Napoli, Teatro del Fondo, 26 febbraio 1829

Il castello di Kenilworth (1829), melodramma serio in tre Atti di Andrea Leone Tottola. p.r. Napoli, Teatro San Carlo, 6 luglio 1829

I pazzi per progetto (1830), farsa in un Atto di Domenico Gilardoni. p.r. Napoli, Teatro del Fondo, 6 febbraio 1830

Il Diluvio Universale (1830), azione tragico sacra di Domenico Gilardoni. p.r. Napoli, Teatro San Carlo, 28 febbraio 1830

Imelda de' Lambertazzi (1830), melodramma tragico in due Atti di Andrea Leone Tottola. p.r. Napoli, Teatro San Carlo, 23 agosto 1830

Anna Bolena (1830), tragedia lirica in tre Atti di Felice Romani. p.r. Milano, Teatro Carcano, 26 dicembre 1830

Gianni di Parigi (1831), melodramma in due Atti di Felice Romani. p.r. Milano, Teatro alla Scala, 10 settembre 1839. Festival di Bergamo 1988

Francesca di Foix (1831), melodramma in un Atto di Domenico Gilardoni. p.r. Napoli, Teatro San Carlo, 30 maggio 1831

La romanziera e l'uomo nero (1831), opera buffa in un Atto su libretto di Domenico Gilardoni. p.r. Napoli, Teatro del Fondo, estate 1831

Fausta (1832), melodramma serio in due Atti di Domenico Gilardoni e ultimato da Gaetano Donizetti. p.r. Napoli, Teatro San Carlo, 12 gennaio 1832

Ugo conte di Parigi (1832), tragedia lirica in due Atti di Felice Romani. p.r. Milano, Teatro alla Scala, 13 marzo 1832

L'Elisir d'amore (1832), melodramma giocoso in due Atti di Felice Romani. p.r. Milano, Teatro della Canobbiana, 12 maggio 1832

Sancia di Castiglia (1832), tragedia lirica in due Atti di Pietro Salatino. p.r. Napoli, Teatro San Carlo, 4 novembre 1832

Il furioso all'isola di San Domingo (1833), melodramma in due Atti di Jacopo Ferretti. p.r. Roma, Teatro Valle, 2 gennaio 1833. Accademia Chigiana di Siena 1958

Parisina d'Este o Parisina (1833), tragedia lirica in tre Atti di Felice Romani. p.r. Firenze, Teatro alla Pegola, 17 marzo 1833

Torquato Tasso (1833), melodramma in tre Atti di Jacopo Ferretti. p.r. Roma, Teatro Valle, 9 settembre 1833

Lucrezia Borgia (1833), melodramma in un prologo e due Atti di Felice Romani. p.r. Milano, Teatro alla Scala, 26 dicembre 1833

Rosmonda d'Inghilterra (1834), melodramma serio in due Atti di Felice Romani. p.r. Firenze, Teatro alla Pergola, 27 febbraio 1834

Maria Stuarda (1834), tragedia lirica in tre Atti di Giuseppe Bardari, revisione di Calisto Bassi. p.r. Milano, Teatro alla Scala, 30 dicembre 1835

Buondelmonte (1834), tragedia lirica in due Atti di Pietro Salatino. p.r. Napoli, Teatro San Carlo, 18 ottobre 1834

Gemma di Vergy (1834), tragedia lirica in due Atti di Giovanni Emanuele Bidéra. p.r. Milano, Teatro alla Scala, 26 dicembre 1834

Marin Faliero (1835), tragedia lirica in tre Atti di Giovanni Emanuele Bidéra. p.r. Parigi, Théâtre des Italiens, 12 marzo 1835

Lucia di Lammermoor (1835), dramma tragico in due parti di Salvatore Cammarano. p.r. Napoli, Teatro San Carlo, 26 dicembre 1835

Belisario (1836), tragedia lirica in tre parti di Salvatore Cammarano. p.r. Venezia, Teatro La Fenice, 4 febbraio 1836

Il campanello (1836), opera buffa in un Atto di Gaetano Donizetti. p.r. Napoli, Teatro Nuovo, 1 giugno 1836

Betly (1836), opera buffa in un Atto di Gaetano Donizetti. p.r. Napoli, Teatro Nuovo, 24 agosto 1836

L'Assedio di Calais (1836), dramma lirico in tre Atti di Salvatore Cammarano. p.r. Napoli, Teatro San Carlo, 19 novembre 1836

Pia de' Tolomei (1837), tragedia lirica in due parti di Salvatore Cammarano. p.r. Venezia, Teatro Apollo, 18 febbraio 1837

Roberto Devereux o Il conte d'Essex (1837), tragedia lirica in tre Atti di Salvatore Cammnarano. p.r. Napoli, Teatro San Carlo, 29 ottobre 1837

Maria de Rudenz (1838), dramma tragico in tre parti di Salvatore Cammarano. p.r. Venezia Teatro la Fenice, 30 gennaio 1838

Poliuto (1838), tragedia lirica in tre Atti di Salvatore Cammarano. p.r. Napoli Teatro San Carlo, 30 novembre 1848

Il duca d'Alba (1839 - 1842), opera in tre Atti di Eugè ne Scribe nella versione ritmica di Angelo Zanardini. p.r. Roma, Teatro Apollo, 22 marzo 1882

La Figlia del Reggimento (1840), melodramma comico in due Atti rinnovato di Callisto Bassi. p.r. Parigi, Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique, 11 febbraio 1840

Les martyrs (1840), opéra en quatres Actes de Eugè ne Scribe. p.r. Parigi, Théâtre de l'Opéra, 10 aprile 1840

La favorita (1840), dramma serio in quattro parti di Alphonse Royer e Gustave Vaëz, tradotto dal francese da F.Jannetti, p.r. Parigi, Théâtre de l'Opéra, 2 divembre 1840

Adelia (1841), melodramma serio in tre Atti di Felice Romani e Girolamo Marini. p.r. Roma, Teatro Apollo, 11 febbraio 1841

Rita ou le mari battu (1841), opera comica in un Atto di Gustavo Vaëz. p.r. Parigi, Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique, 7 maggio 1860

Maria Padilla (1841), melodramma in tre Atti di Gaetano Rossi. p.r. Milano, Teatro alla Scala, 23 dicembre 1841

Ne m'oublié pas (1841) opera comica in due Atti incompiuta

Linda di Chamounix (1841), melodramma semiserio in tre Atti di Gaetano Rossi. p.r. Vienna, Teatro di Porta Carinzia, 19 maggio 1842

Caterina Cornaro (1843), tragedia lirica in un Prologo e due Atti di Giacomo Sacchéro. p.r. Napoli, Teatro San Carlo, 12 gennaio 1844

Don Pasquale (1843), dramma lirico in tre Atti di M.A. Giovanni Ruffini p.r. Parigi, Théâtre des Italiens, 3 gennaio 1843

Maria di Rohan o il Conte di Chalais (1843), melodramma tragico in tre Atti di Salvatore Cammarano. p.r. Vienna, Teatro di Porta Carinzia, 5 giugno 1843

Don Sebastiano, re di Portogallo (1843), dramma serio in cinque Atti di Eugè ne Scribe, p.r.Parigi, Théâtre de l'Opéra, 13 novembre 1843

La fidanzata (1843), farsa in un Atto incompiuta

Baci,
Maddalena

Pues más compuso Giovanni Paisiello.

pero Donizetti vivo 25 años menos, y compuso operas como loco....

Paisiello murio con 76 años, Donizetti con 51.
En 25 años se pueden hacer muchas cosas.

Por eso murió sin un ápice de cordura. No es broma.

Prácticamente las conozco todas. Solo faltan una pocas de las cuales no hay ni grabación pirata.

En mayor grado todas tienen su interés. Quizás las primeras tiran a Rossini y a su maestro Mayr, pero ya se observa el genio del maestro de Bergamo.

Si quieres más detalle estimada Maddalena, con mucho gusto.

Pues ya que has pedido información, yo te dire algunas , aparte de las super-conocidas:

L'ajo nell'imbarazzo o Don Gregorio ( si te gusta el Donizetti buffo)

Zoraida di Granata - El diluvio Universale - Maria Padilla


Cuando las oigas, me lo comunicas y te diré mas. SE FELIZ

Pues a que acabó como una cabra, el pobre

His illness and death
For Paris too came his last and most momentous comedy: Don Pasquale of 1843, which not only raised the roof with an unparalleled cast (Grisi, Mario, Tamburini, Lablache) but had the honour of bidding farewell, almost, to the long and irresistible tradition of Italian comic opera

It said farewell too, almost, to the composer himself. For decades he had suffered from fevers, headaches, nausea, lightning indispositions for which no real diagnosis was ever made, these accompanied by a fervour of composition indicative of a cerebral dysrhythmia quite beyond the normal span. In 1845 he was struck by paralysis, followed by a rapid dementia. Until his death early in 1848 he remained stubbornly inaccessible. It has been commonplace to attribute this collapse to a venereal infection despite an unrealistically long gestation, but modern diagnosis with genetic imprinting at its disposal would probably look at the case again in another light-

http://www.donizettisociety.com/

Traducción aproximada: Su enfermedad y muerte. Para París también fué su última y más trascendental comedia: Don Pasquale, de 1843, que no sólo elevó el techo con un cast sin paralelos (Grisi, Mario, Tamburini, Lablanche) , si no que tuvo el honor de dar la despedida, casi, a la larga e irresistible tradición de la ópera cómica italiana. Casi dijo también adiós al propio compositor. Durante décadas había sufrido de fiebres, dolores de cabeza, nauseas, indisposiciones súbitas para las cuales nunca se hizo un verdadero diagnóstico, siendo acompañadas por un fervor en la composición indicativo de un desajuste (dysrhythmia?) cerebral bastante más allá del margen normal. En 1845 fué golpeado por la parálisis, seguida por una rápida demencia. Hasta su muerte a principios de 1848 permaneció obstinadamente inaccesible. Ha sido el pensamiento común atribuir este colapso a una infección venérea a pesar de la poco realista larga incubación, pero el diagnóstico moderno con sus técnicas de huella genética a su disposición, podría probablemente volver a estudiar el caso bajo otra luz.

Al ritmo que llevaba Donizetti, 67 óperas ...

Sobre su locura, siempre tuve entendido que fue causada por la sífilis.

Y claro que me gustarían más detalles (de la obra, no de la sífilis) ...

Baci,
Maddalena

Bueno, parece que no está tan claro eso de la sífilis.


P.D. Voy a editar el mensaje de antes para meter una pequeña traducción.

The dedicated art of opera recording
GEORGIA SMITH, Paris International Herald Tribune

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2005


In London on Nov. 6, the Theater Royal Drury Lane will present a concert version of "Il Diluvio Universale," by Gaetano Donizetti. You might recognize the name Donizetti. But what is that title?

It's "The Universal Flood," one of many Donizetti operas that no one performs anymore. It renders the story of Noah with a melodramatic armory of clashing tribes, pagan curses, betrayal, passion and, of course, rain. Plus florid singing: trills and cadenzas, roller-coaster scales and breathtaking high and low notes.

The London Philharmonic and Opera Rara, a nonprofit record company, are producing the show, which will be recorded beforehand. At a time when major record labels have all but quit making full-length opera recordings, Opera Rara has never been busier resurrecting forgotten works and putting them on disc to exacting musical and technical standards. Small but persistent, the company is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year.

"I'm not trying to educate the public at all," says Patric Schmid, Opera Rara's artistic director. "I'm trying to entertain them. People want 'Bohème' and 'Figaro,' but after a while they want to know what's beyond. For example, if you like your middle-period Verdi - and I adore it - you might want to hear some Pacini and Mercadante, because it's a similar period. There's a lot more there."

Says Nicholas Limansky, a music journalist who is on the board of the Vocal Record Collectors Society in New York: "Opera Rara is the company you go to for really high-class, first-rate productions of works that just aren't performed. Overall, they're absolutely spectacular. It's the way that commercial recordings should be done, and aren't."

Precision deployment

Recording opera is sophisticated art, and a near-military organizational enterprise. Schmid takes on the research and casting, and supervises production and editing. Recording crews and technical services are hired freelance; studio space is rented. A tiny staff of six does all the rest out of an East London office above a rackety nightclub.

How does Schmid ferret out the gems? For one thing, he researches what the best singers of the past performed. He also reads diaries and memoirs of composers, to see what they liked. Gaetano Rossini, Giacomo Meyerbeer - "These guys all went to see each other's work," Schmid says. "Meyerbeer's diaries are full of going to the opera to see other people's operas."

Next hurdle: finding the music. For example, a few years ago Schmid was curious about "Carlo di Borgogna," by Giovanni Pacini. "'Carlo' had never been published," he says. "It had 10 performances and was forgotten. I wondered what it was like because of the great singers who had been in it. But everybody said there was no score. And I thought, 'That can't be. Fenice has everything."

He went to La Fenice, the Venice opera house, and indeed found a manuscript in its archive. By now, he was casting the show in his mind. "I looked at the aria for Carlo and thought, ooh, a B-flat aria - the best note in Bruce Ford's voice is a B-flat." Bruce Ford is a tenor who regularly stars in Opera Rara productions.

One of the women's parts had been written for the 19th-century diva Giuditta Grisi. Schmid said to himself, "Jenny Larmore for the Grisi part," knowing that the American mezzo's voice would suit the music.

Scheduling singers is no mean feat. "Advance planning is critical in this world," says Stephen Revell, Opera Rara's managing director. "Minimum, 18 months to two years if you want to get the singers you want. We're now planning into the end of 2008, and we'll be looking at 2009."

An opera, like a movie, is recorded in separate scenes, out of sequence. The orchestra is the biggest scheduling priority, but soloists need to be managed, too - especially when they're being pushed and pulled all over a soundstage in order to match the sound to the drama.

The recording itself is an intricate construction. "You have to do it in chunks, in sections, and then put them all together," says Schmid. "The different bands or groups of people can't see each other; they're all in different rooms. They can hear each other because they've got headphones, and they can see the conductor on a screen. You get it together, but it takes several tries. It's better to do it on the day and get it right. Otherwise, you're into multitrack recording and it takes forever."

One reason such a small company can stick to such high standards is that it is stubbornly nonprofit, and has the help of foundations, fund-raising and a supporting organization, the Opera Rara Association. As sales grow, the company can fund some recordings on its own, even if a foundation isn't interested in the latest unheard-of piece Schmid has unearthed. Which is important, because his main criterion is pleasing himself.

In London on Nov. 6, the Theater Royal Drury Lane will present a concert version of "Il Diluvio Universale," by Gaetano Donizetti. You might recognize the name Donizetti. But what is that title?

It's "The Universal Flood," one of many Donizetti operas that no one performs anymore. It renders the story of Noah with a melodramatic armory of clashing tribes, pagan curses, betrayal, passion and, of course, rain. Plus florid singing: trills and cadenzas, roller-coaster scales and breathtaking high and low notes.

The London Philharmonic and Opera Rara, a nonprofit record company, are producing the show, which will be recorded beforehand. At a time when major record labels have all but quit making full-length opera recordings, Opera Rara has never been busier resurrecting forgotten works and putting them on disc to exacting musical and technical standards. Small but persistent, the company is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year.

"I'm not trying to educate the public at all," says Patric Schmid, Opera Rara's artistic director. "I'm trying to entertain them. People want 'Bohème' and 'Figaro,' but after a while they want to know what's beyond. For example, if you like your middle-period Verdi - and I adore it - you might want to hear some Pacini and Mercadante, because it's a similar period. There's a lot more there."

Says Nicholas Limansky, a music journalist who is on the board of the Vocal Record Collectors Society in New York: "Opera Rara is the company you go to for really high-class, first-rate productions of works that just aren't performed. Overall, they're absolutely spectacular. It's the way that commercial recordings should be done, and aren't."

Precision deployment

Recording opera is sophisticated art, and a near-military organizational enterprise. Schmid takes on the research and casting, and supervises production and editing. Recording crews and technical services are hired freelance; studio space is rented. A tiny staff of six does all the rest out of an East London office above a rackety nightclub.

How does Schmid ferret out the gems? For one thing, he researches what the best singers of the past performed. He also reads diaries and memoirs of composers, to see what they liked. Gaetano Rossini, Giacomo Meyerbeer - "These guys all went to see each other's work," Schmid says. "Meyerbeer's diaries are full of going to the opera to see other people's operas."

Next hurdle: finding the music. For example, a few years ago Schmid was curious about "Carlo di Borgogna," by Giovanni Pacini. "'Carlo' had never been published," he says. "It had 10 performances and was forgotten. I wondered what it was like because of the great singers who had been in it. But everybody said there was no score. And I thought, 'That can't be. Fenice has everything."

He went to La Fenice, the Venice opera house, and indeed found a manuscript in its archive. By now, he was casting the show in his mind. "I looked at the aria for Carlo and thought, ooh, a B-flat aria - the best note in Bruce Ford's voice is a B-flat." Bruce Ford is a tenor who regularly stars in Opera Rara productions.

One of the women's parts had been written for the 19th-century diva Giuditta Grisi. Schmid said to himself, "Jenny Larmore for the Grisi part," knowing that the American mezzo's voice would suit the music.

Scheduling singers is no mean feat. "Advance planning is critical in this world," says Stephen Revell, Opera Rara's managing director. "Minimum, 18 months to two years if you want to get the singers you want. We're now planning into the end of 2008, and we'll be looking at 2009."

An opera, like a movie, is recorded in separate scenes, out of sequence. The orchestra is the biggest scheduling priority, but soloists need to be managed, too - especially when they're being pushed and pulled all over a soundstage in order to match the sound to the drama.

The recording itself is an intricate construction. "You have to do it in chunks, in sections, and then put them all together," says Schmid. "The different bands or groups of people can't see each other; they're all in different rooms. They can hear each other because they've got headphones, and they can see the conductor on a screen. You get it together, but it takes several tries. It's better to do it on the day and get it right. Otherwise, you're into multitrack recording and it takes forever."

One reason such a small company can stick to such high standards is that it is stubbornly nonprofit, and has the help of foundations, fund-raising and a supporting organization, the Opera Rara Association. As sales grow, the company can fund some recordings on its own, even if a foundation isn't interested in the latest unheard-of piece Schmid has unearthed. Which is important, because his main criterion is pleasing himself.

In London on Nov. 6, the Theater Royal Drury Lane will present a concert version of "Il Diluvio Universale," by Gaetano Donizetti. You might recognize the name Donizetti. But what is that title?

It's "The Universal Flood," one of many Donizetti operas that no one performs anymore. It renders the story of Noah with a melodramatic armory of clashing tribes, pagan curses, betrayal, passion and, of course, rain. Plus florid singing: trills and cadenzas, roller-coaster scales and breathtaking high and low notes.

The London Philharmonic and Opera Rara, a nonprofit record company, are producing the show, which will be recorded beforehand. At a time when major record labels have all but quit making full-length opera recordings, Opera Rara has never been busier resurrecting forgotten works and putting them on disc to exacting musical and technical standards. Small but persistent, the company is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year.

"I'm not trying to educate the public at all," says Patric Schmid, Opera Rara's artistic director. "I'm trying to entertain them. People want 'Bohème' and 'Figaro,' but after a while they want to know what's beyond. For example, if you like your middle-period Verdi - and I adore it - you might want to hear some Pacini and Mercadante, because it's a similar period. There's a lot more there."

Says Nicholas Limansky, a music journalist who is on the board of the Vocal Record Collectors Society in New York: "Opera Rara is the company you go to for really high-class, first-rate productions of works that just aren't performed. Overall, they're absolutely spectacular. It's the way that commercial recordings should be done, and aren't."

Precision deployment

Recording opera is sophisticated art, and a near-military organizational enterprise. Schmid takes on the research and casting, and supervises production and editing. Recording crews and technical services are hired freelance; studio space is rented. A tiny staff of six does all the rest out of an East London office above a rackety nightclub.

How does Schmid ferret out the gems? For one thing, he researches what the best singers of the past performed. He also reads diaries and memoirs of composers, to see what they liked. Gaetano Rossini, Giacomo Meyerbeer - "These guys all went to see each other's work," Schmid says. "Meyerbeer's diaries are full of going to the opera to see other people's operas."

Next hurdle: finding the music. For example, a few years ago Schmid was curious about "Carlo di Borgogna," by Giovanni Pacini. "'Carlo' had never been published," he says. "It had 10 performances and was forgotten. I wondered what it was like because of the great singers who had been in it. But everybody said there was no score. And I thought, 'That can't be. Fenice has everything."

He went to La Fenice, the Venice opera house, and indeed found a manuscript in its archive. By now, he was casting the show in his mind. "I looked at the aria for Carlo and thought, ooh, a B-flat aria - the best note in Bruce Ford's voice is a B-flat." Bruce Ford is a tenor who regularly stars in Opera Rara productions.

One of the women's parts had been written for the 19th-century diva Giuditta Grisi. Schmid said to himself, "Jenny Larmore for the Grisi part," knowing that the American mezzo's voice would suit the music.

Scheduling singers is no mean feat. "Advance planning is critical in this world," says Stephen Revell, Opera Rara's managing director. "Minimum, 18 months to two years if you want to get the singers you want. We're now planning into the end of 2008, and we'll be looking at 2009."

An opera, like a movie, is recorded in separate scenes, out of sequence. The orchestra is the biggest scheduling priority, but soloists need to be managed, too - especially when they're being pushed and pulled all over a soundstage in order to match the sound to the drama.

The recording itself is an intricate construction. "You have to do it in chunks, in sections, and then put them all together," says Schmid. "The different bands or groups of people can't see each other; they're all in different rooms. They can hear each other because they've got headphones, and they can see the conductor on a screen. You get it together, but it takes several tries. It's better to do it on the day and get it right. Otherwise, you're into multitrack recording and it takes forever."

One reason such a small company can stick to such high standards is that it is stubbornly nonprofit, and has the help of foundations, fund-raising and a supporting organization, the Opera Rara Association. As sales grow, the company can fund some recordings on its own, even if a foundation isn't interested in the latest unheard-of piece Schmid has unearthed. Which is important, because his main criterion is pleasing himself.

In London on Nov. 6, the Theater Royal Drury Lane will present a concert version of "Il Diluvio Universale," by Gaetano Donizetti. You might recognize the name Donizetti. But what is that title?

It's "The Universal Flood," one of many Donizetti operas that no one performs anymore. It renders the story of Noah with a melodramatic armory of clashing tribes, pagan curses, betrayal, passion and, of course, rain. Plus florid singing: trills and cadenzas, roller-coaster scales and breathtaking high and low notes.

The London Philharmonic and Opera Rara, a nonprofit record company, are producing the show, which will be recorded beforehand. At a time when major record labels have all but quit making full-length opera recordings, Opera Rara has never been busier resurrecting forgotten works and putting them on disc to exacting musical and technical standards. Small but persistent, the company is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year.

"I'm not trying to educate the public at all," says Patric Schmid, Opera Rara's artistic director. "I'm trying to entertain them. People want 'Bohème' and 'Figaro,' but after a while they want to know what's beyond. For example, if you like your middle-period Verdi - and I adore it - you might want to hear some Pacini and Mercadante, because it's a similar period. There's a lot more there."

Says Nicholas Limansky, a music journalist who is on the board of the Vocal Record Collectors Society in New York: "Opera Rara is the company you go to for really high-class, first-rate productions of works that just aren't performed. Overall, they're absolutely spectacular. It's the way that commercial recordings should be done, and aren't."

Precision deployment

Recording opera is sophisticated art, and a near-military organizational enterprise. Schmid takes on the research and casting, and supervises production and editing. Recording crews and technical services are hired freelance; studio space is rented. A tiny staff of six does all the rest out of an East London office above a rackety nightclub.

How does Schmid ferret out the gems? For one thing, he researches what the best singers of the past performed. He also reads diaries and memoirs of composers, to see what they liked. Gaetano Rossini, Giacomo Meyerbeer - "These guys all went to see each other's work," Schmid says. "Meyerbeer's diaries are full of going to the opera to see other people's operas."

Next hurdle: finding the music. For example, a few years ago Schmid was curious about "Carlo di Borgogna," by Giovanni Pacini. "'Carlo' had never been published," he says. "It had 10 performances and was forgotten. I wondered what it was like because of the great singers who had been in it. But everybody said there was no score. And I thought, 'That can't be. Fenice has everything."

He went to La Fenice, the Venice opera house, and indeed found a manuscript in its archive. By now, he was casting the show in his mind. "I looked at the aria for Carlo and thought, ooh, a B-flat aria - the best note in Bruce Ford's voice is a B-flat." Bruce Ford is a tenor who regularly stars in Opera Rara productions.

One of the women's parts had been written for the 19th-century diva Giuditta Grisi. Schmid said to himself, "Jenny Larmore for the Grisi part," knowing that the American mezzo's voice would suit the music.

Scheduling singers is no mean feat. "Advance planning is critical in this world," says Stephen Revell, Opera Rara's managing director. "Minimum, 18 months to two years if you want to get the singers you want. We're now planning into the end of 2008, and we'll be looking at 2009."

An opera, like a movie, is recorded in separate scenes, out of sequence. The orchestra is the biggest scheduling priority, but soloists need to be managed, too - especially when they're being pushed and pulled all over a soundstage in order to match the sound to the drama.

The recording itself is an intricate construction. "You have to do it in chunks, in sections, and then put them all together," says Schmid. "The different bands or groups of people can't see each other; they're all in different rooms. They can hear each other because they've got headphones, and they can see the conductor on a screen. You get it together, but it takes several tries. It's better to do it on the day and get it right. Otherwise, you're into multitrack recording and it takes forever."

One reason such a small company can stick to such high standards is that it is stubbornly nonprofit, and has the help of foundations, fund-raising and a supporting organization, the Opera Rara Association. As sales grow, the company can fund some recordings on its own, even if a foundation isn't interested in the latest unheard-of piece Schmid has unearthed. Which is important, because his main criterion is pleasing himself.

----------------------------------------------------------

Il diluvio universale, Theatre Royal, London
By Andrew Clark
Published: November 9 2005 02:00 | Last updated: November 9 2005 02:00

An ill-fated star hung over this event, the latest in a line of bel canto revivals promoted by Patric Schmid of Opera Rara. Just before it started Schmid collapsed and died backstage. The show went on and presumably the recording will too, but Opera Rara has lost the driving force behind its 35-year run. Schmid was not just an enthusiast; he was a connoisseur with a way of making things work.
It would be fine to report that this concert performance was a worthy tribute, but neither Opera Rara nor Donizetti came out well. Il diluvio universale, a three-act "tragic-sacred action" about Noah's Flood, is the young Donizetti's attempt to out-Rossini the older master's Moïse. Written for Naples in 1830, a few months before his breakthrough with Anna Bolena, it shows him ill-suited to the genre of biblical opera. You can't run through the score - as you can in early Verdi - alighting on this or that as proof of a mature style in embryo. The prayers lack grandeur, the choruses fail to ignite.

But if it hadn't been for Schmid, we would never have had the chance to make up our own minds about such forgotten repertoire. The problem with Il diluvio universaleis that it was written for the best singers of the day, something Opera Rara cannot match. For all her style and seriousness Majella Cullagh lacks the vocal personality to raise the roof with Sela's decorative flights. Mirco Palazzi's Noah was a size too small. Only Manuela Custer, as the superbitch Ada, seemed to realise there was a drama going on. Giuliano Carella guided the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Geoffrey Mitchell Choir with panache, but an opera read from the score is no opera at all.

Opera Rara Founder Patric Schmid Dies Suddenly
By Emily Quinn
09 Nov 2005

Patric Schmid, founder and artistic director of Opera Rara, died suddenly before a concert performance of Donizetti’s Il diluvio universale, the Financial Times reports.

Schmid was to give a pre-concert lecture at the Theatre Royal performance.

Opera Rara, a nonprofit record company founded by Schmid and Don White 35 years ago, focuses on forgotten operatic repertoire of the 19th century, and has produced many recordings for the Peter Moores Foundation.

¿Nos haces un resumen?

si, leer en el ordenador tanta linea, me hace perder la concentracion....

¿ME lo parece a mí o es el mismo texto varias veces? Los alumnos suelen hacerlo, pero me sorprende que Fantine lo haga

Creo que esto es todo sin los bises

Ojo entrenado del docente ...

Parece atractivo eso de Opera Rara. ¿Cómo habrá sido la versión original de El Diluvio Universal? ¿A baldazos en el escenario? ¿Con jirafas, elefantes ...? Con razón la hicieron en concierto ...

Baci,
Maddalena