Ponchielli: La Gioconda

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Idiomatic conducting from Gianandrea Gavazzeni is a plus, alongside Ettore Bastianini’s cogent Barnaba. Anita Cerquetti is a solid Gioconda, Mario Del Monaco a bold Enzo, but the sound is rough. — BBC Music Magazine, March 2020, 2 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 17th May 2019
Catalogue No: ELQ4828597
Label: Eloquence
Length: 2 hours 30 minutes

Ponchielli: La Gioconda / Act 1

Work length48:57

$9.90

$13.50

Ettore Bastianini (baritone), Anita Cerquetti (soprano), Cesare Siepi (bass (vocal)), Franca Sacchi (mezzo-soprano), Giulietta Simionato (mezzo-soprano), Mario del Monaco (tenor), Athos Cesarini (tenor), Giorgio Giorgetti (baritone)
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Recorded: 1957-07
Recording Venue: Teatro Della Pergola, Florence

Preludio

Track length4:18

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$1.50

Feste! Pane! Feste!

Track length2:53

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E cantan su lor tombe!

Track length5:23

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L'ora non giunse ancor

Track length12:58

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Voce di donna ... a te questo rosario

Track length4:59

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Enzo Grimaldo, Principe di Santafior

Track length5:34

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Maledici? sta ben

Track length2:01

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O monumento!

Track length3:20

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Carneval! Baccanal!

Track length7:31

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Ponchielli: La Gioconda / Act 2

Work length34:14

$9.90

$13.50

Anita Cerquetti (soprano), Ettore Bastianini (baritone), Mario del Monaco (tenor), Giuda Pasella (bass (vocal)), Giulietta Simionato (mezzo-soprano)
Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Recorded: 1957-07
Recording Venue: Teatro Della Pergola, Florence

Ho! he! ho! he! Fissa il timone!

Track length3:41

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Pescator, affonda l'esca

Track length3:54

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Sia gloria ai canti dei navaganti!

Track length3:59

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Cielo e mar!

Track length4:23

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Ma chi vien?...Oh! la sinistra voce!

Track length4:18

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Laggiù fra le nebbe remote

Track length2:53

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Stella del marinar!

Track length2:16

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E un anatema!

Track length3:22

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Il mio braccia t'afferra!

Track length5:28

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Ponchielli: La Gioconda / Act 3

Work length36:50

$8.80

$12.00

Cesare Siepi (bass (vocal)), Ettore Bastianini (baritone), Giulietta Simionato (mezzo-soprano), Anita Cerquetti (soprano), Mario del Monaco (tenor), Franca Sacchi (mezzo-soprano)
Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Recorded: 1957-07
Recording Venue: Teatro Della Pergola, Florence

Sì, morir ella de'!

Track length1:51

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Là turbini e farnetichi

Track length2:50

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Qui chiamata m'avete?... Bella così, madonna

Track length5:32

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La gaia canzone fa l'eco languir

Track length4:47

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Benvenuti, messeri!

Track length3:43

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Grazie vi rendo

Track length0:59

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Il ballo delle ore (Dance of the Hours) ... Prodigio!

Track length8:53

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Vieni! Lasciami! ohimè!

Track length8:15

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Ponchielli: La Gioconda / Act 4

Work length29:59

$6.60

$9.00

Giulietta Simionato (mezzo-soprano), Anita Cerquetti (soprano), Mario del Monaco (tenor), Ettore Bastianini (baritone), Edio Peruzzi (baritone)
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Recorded: 1957-07
Recording Venue: Teatro Della Pergola, Florence

Preludio ... Nessun v'ha visto?

Track length4:53

$1.10

$1.50

Suicidio!

Track length3:36

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Ecco il velen di Laura

Track length7:32

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Ah, il cor mi si ravviva

Track length7:51

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Ora posso morir

Track length1:52

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Così mantieni il patto?

Track length4:15

$1.10

$1.50

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The first stereo recording of Ponchielli’s most famous opera, with a towering performance of the title role captured in classic Decca sound.

There is more to La Gioconda than the ‘Dance of the Hours’, more even than the hit ‘Suicidio’ aria of the ill-fated and ironically-titled Venetian ballad-singer who holds the stage. There are scenes of carnival, blackest treachery, rapturous passion and unexpected compassion. In short, it’s a verismo feast day, but no less a field day for enterprising audio engineers, with its constant physical action, its sopranos shouting imprecations at one another from the deck of Enzo’s yacht, and its big, multi-voiced first- and third-act finales.

Singing La Gioconda, the young Anita Cerquetti drew inevitable comparisons with La Divina herself, Maria Callas, but reviewers at the time and listeners ever since have been surprised to find that Cerquetti is by no means overshadowed by the comparison. As recorded during the summer of 1957, her voice may be smaller, less in sheer size than in range of characterisation, but she proved herself a more than worthy replacement for Callas when she sang Norma at short notice in Rome six months later, and the Decca engineers capture her at the peak of her all-too meteoric career: vocal infirmity enforced her retirement from the stage in 1961 at the age of just 30.

Cerquetti is supported here by a distinguished verismo cast under the experienced baton of Gianandrea Gavazzeni. Particular praise has always been directed at Giulietta Simionato singing the role of Laura, La Gioconda’s rival, while Mario del Monaco and Ettore Bastianini sing in the forthright, uninhibited style demanded both by Boito’s libretto and Ponchielli’s music. This issue of La Gioconda is complemented by the Eloquence reissue of Cerquetti’s stunning Decca recital (482 6801), which features a tantalising sample of her Tosca alongside earlier Italian repertoire by Spontini, Bellini and Verdi.

‘Cerquetti sustains this exacting role to perfection. A beautiful voice, well managed, always in tune and with a dramatic edge to it that yet is not hard, promises well for the future.’ - The Musical Times, May 1958

‘To compare Anita Cerquetti’s Gioconda with Callas’s is a revelation. Cerquetti brings to the role intelligence, musicianship, and an appealing voice, invariablyprettier than Callas’s above high G... Callas’ makes one’s palms sweat. And yet what Cerquetti does with the part is considerably more than merely acceptable.’ - High Fidelity, May 1958

Reviews

March 2020

Idiomatic conducting from Gianandrea Gavazzeni is a plus, alongside Ettore Bastianini’s cogent Barnaba. Anita Cerquetti is a solid Gioconda, Mario Del Monaco a bold Enzo, but the sound is rough.

Ponchielli: La Gioconda

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