Meyerbeer opera with Emmanuel Villaume conducting the Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro La Fenice di Venezia directed by Pier Lui.
In recent years not only music festivals but also important opera theatres have turned their attention towards the neglected masterpieces of the lyrical repertoire. Thus also Venice's Teatro La Fenice, in a commendable effort, staged this Pia de' Tolomei by Donizetti, with some of the best singers available today for this type of repertoire. Initial response to this opera, which was performed for the first time in 1837, was ambiguous, so much so that Donizetti re-worked it as many as three times. The version here recorded is that of the critical edition recently published by Ricordi, with the tragic finale originally conceived by the composer. The listener will undoubtedly wonder, once more, at Donizetti's wealth of melodic inspiration, especially when it comes to the character of Pia, wonderfully interpreted, here, by Patrizia Ciofi.
Laura Polverelli (born 1967) is an Italian operatic mezzo-soprano who has sung leading roles in the opera houses of Europe and North America and has recorded on the Decca, Naïve, and Opera Rara labels amongst others. Polverelli was born in Siena where she received her initial training under Anastasia Tomaszewski Schepis and went on to further training with Carlo Bergonzi and Alfredo Kraus at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana followed by two years with Rita Hirner-Lill at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich. She made her debut at the Teatro Comunale di Treviso as Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor. After winning second prize in the 1993 Neue Stimmen competition, she began an international career, appearing in Germany, France, Austria and Italy. She made her North American debut in 1996 at Seattle Opera in the title role of Rossini's La Cenerentola. Later that year she sang the title role in Cesti's L'Argia in its first performance in modern times. Source: Article "Laura Polverelli" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
By browsing this website, you accept our cookies policy.