30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MARTINA FRANCA FESTIVAL

 

Performer: Devia, Matteuzzi, Gimenez, Tamar, Bumbry, Cuberly, Ciofi, Aliberti, Antonucci, Pertusi, Cura, Serra, Rancatore, Mok, Valentini-Terrani, etc.

 

This triple-CD set clearly cannot give an exhaustive picture of the Martina Franca Festival’s first thirty years. It was only from 1981 that the operas staged in the courtyard of Palazzo Ducale began to be recorded live and printed in LP and later in CD. Since its beginning the festival has been a stepping stone for many young singers destined for great careers. Among the most memorable performances we remember Devia in Puritani and in a magical modern première of Adelaide di Borgogna (1984), one of Zedda’s most successful revivals; then Aliberti (Semiramide in 1986 and Il pirata in 1987); as well as Cura, Praticò, La Scola, Pertusi, Surian and Vargas, who were called to sing at Martina Franca in days when not many theatres would have believed in them In later years the Festival has decided to give ample room to the younger generations (Ciofi, Tamar, Papi, Rivenq, Scaini, Grassi, Allegretta, Raspagliosi...) and to stage modern premières, proposed in new critical editions by famous musicologists.

 

Among the most successful rediscoveries of recent years we like to remember the original versions of Macbeth and Simon Boccanegra and the French versions of Lucia di Lammermoor and Trovatore.

 

Dynamic 3cds CDS448