GAETANO DONIZETTI (1797-1848): Maria di Rohan.

Description: The first Opera Rara recording on period instruments (and the bel canto genre has been slow to see period instruments in general on disc) and only the fourth of this opera to appear on CD. As the late John Steane put it in his review of the out-of-print 1996 Nightingale Classics version, "it still commands admiration, provides fascinating material for a study of its links forward with mid-period Verdi, and catches at the heart every now and then with a sweetness and a tension that are all its own." Includes as appendices the five revisions for the 1843 Paris performance in which a tenor role was transposed to mezzo-soprano. Shelf-space warriors note that Opera Rara has moved from flip-open heavy-duty box to less heavy-duty slip-case which will fit perfectly on your shelves with other CDs, while not changing any other aspect of their luxury presentation. 2 CDs. Italian-English libretto. Krassimira Stoyanova (soprano), José Bros (tenor), Christopher Purves (baritone), Graeme Broadbent (bass), Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment;  Mark Elder.