Donizetti: La Favorite (Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse)

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One of the composer’s most beguiling scores, La Favorite is Donizetti’s La favorita in its original French form; a tale of love and war that represents a glorious mix of Italian bel canto and 19th-century grand opéra. Today’s scholarly interest in Donizetti’s output has helped bring La Favorite back into circulation, and Vincent Boussard’s arresting Toulouse production does full justice to its renewed masterpiece status, accentuating the work’s intimacy through economical sets and Christian Lacroix’s striking costumes, thus drawing attention to the opera’s three main characters. Three international principals take on these demanding roles: Chinese tenor Yijie Shi is a ‘revelation’ (La Dépêche) as Fernand, with French baritone Ludovic Tézier offering suitably rich-toned authority as King Alphonse XI and lauded American mezzo Kate Aldrich – ‘the Carmen of this generation’ (San Francisco Sentinel) – plumbing the emotional depths of Léonor’s music. Conductor and bel canto specialist Antonello Allemandi derives every possible nuance from the score, adding to the passionate proceedings onstage.

Léonor de Guzmán: Kate Aldrich
Fernand: Yijie Shi
Alphonse XI, King of Castile: Ludovic Tézier
Balthazar: Giovanni Furlanetto
Inès: Marie-Bénédicte Souquet
Don Gaspar: Alain Gabriel
A lord: Dongjin Ahn

Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse
Choeur du Capitole de Toulouse

Conductor: Antonello Allemandi
Director: Vincent Boussard

Recorded live at Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, February 2014.

Catalogue numbers: OA1166D (DVD) / OABD7165D (BLU-RAY)

Release Date - March 2015

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