Ernani

Ernani is the fifth of Verdi's canon (1844) and in many ways the beginning of the real Verdian operatic dramas. Ernani is focused on a clear set of issues and as pronounced by Budden (The Operas of Verdi) in this opera Verdi defines the male voice arch types he will use for the rest of his career. The granite like monochromatic bass (Silva) to whom honor and family pride are excessively important, the heroic tenor whose lyrical, ardent, suffering lover and his railing against authority makes him the romantic hero as Victor Hugo had invented him. The third voice type will be the most potent force in Italian opera to come; The Verdi baritone. In the character Carlo, the King of Spain and soon to be Emperor Carlo V he is a mix of conflicting noble and impulsive desires. He looms largest over the events and lives of the others. His is the throne and the power. It is a powerful and exciting story.At it's premiere this opera was an overwhelming success. It really made Verdi famous and the leading composer of the day. After its triumph in Milan the following year there were over fifty productions throughout Italy and a dozen of so outside Italy; even in Vienna. The romantic revolution in literature and opera was on its way.Interestingly it was the first Verdi opera to be done in America and in the early 1900's was quite popular; Caruso and Scotti sang arias from it often. (Grandma's Victrola belted out the Soldier's drinking song "Eviva! Beviam, Beviam! often when I was a wee tot.) It soon lost favor and was very rarely done in my younger days but I did hear the majestic Leonard Warren as Carlo and the superb Leontyne Price as Elvira. (Her "Ernani, involami!" still rings in my ears - talk about a "hot" number!) Pavarotti sang the tenor part beautifully. His aria "O tu che l'alma adora" from the 1983 DVD of the Met's production with Leona Mitchell is a fine recording for the technology of the time.The cast in this 2005 recording is a roster of good singers. The drama is dominated by the king Don Carlo and in this recording I'm happy to say that baritone Carlo Guelfi does just that. He has a big commanding voice forceful but not forced throughout it's range. He has the looks and the commanding presence with a regal demeanor. He's just right for the part; here a zephyr, now a storm. As de Silva, grandee of Espana, Giacomo Prestia was the inflexible bearer of honor and his word even in the face of death. As with the others it was a serviceable job of acting and action kept on it's relentless pace. Marco Berti has a strong voice not quite mastered but he certainly carried off his part well. He will smooth out the rough edges in vocal production and acting and can make an excellent Verdi tenor. Susan Neves certainly has the voice and controls it well. Her "Ernani, involami" was impressive. She has the range. She needs to slim down and get more involved in the action onstage.The sets made this old traditionalist quite happy. It's a clever setting and a pleasant change from most modern clap-trap. The costumes were also very well done. Bravi! to those involved. As conductor Antonello Allemandi kept everything going at a steady pace and the orchestra under tight control. All in all a good performance of a good opera!

I almost didn't buy this because of the other awful review on this site. It doesn't pay to rely on one review of anything. Susan Neves is outstanding in this and her only other DVD of Nabucco. I also liked Carlo Guelfi as Carlo. The conducting was a llttle unanimated at the beginning but got better. I don't understand the negative comments about the sound. I have been an opera lover for over 60 years and saw Corelli and price in Ernani live. Don't miss getting this because of one bad review.

This a traditional perfomance (in the best respect), with a nice set and nice costumes. At times, a found the staging a little bit "static", with singers standing on the same spot doing their singing. This makes the perfomance somewhat lifeless at times. The singers are good. At first I found that Marco Berti (Ernani) and Susan Neves (Elvira) had problems with intonation, but that soon improved, and later they on they came in good voice. The other main characters - Carlo Guelfi (Don Carlo) and Giacomo Prestia (Silva) are also very good. These singers cannot compete with Domingo, Freni, Bruson, and Ghiaurov in a  La Scala production from 1982 , but on the other hand, the sound quality and the picture quality of that production does not nearly match the present one.

I'd like to nominate this as the worst modern ERNANI. Besides the rudimentary conducting (the muffled orchestra sounds as if covered by a blanket), the four principals - wooden actors whose names I don't even care to remember - are wobbly and gasp for breath while phrasing their lines (extremely painful to watch and hear). Though Dynamic is known for its note-complete sets, in the light of such a poor performance, the excision of second verses is more than welcome (there's also a short cut in the finale). The middle-of-the-road staging isn't as disastrous as the overall performance, which does improve a little in Act 4 (too late). Badly edited, the music sometimes doesn't match the picture. The English subtitles are unreliable (eg 'Intendo, intendo' = 'I hear, I hear'!). Dynamic's release of this production on DVD one year after the CD version has added insult to injury. If you know your 'Ernani' very well and have enjoyed it hearing top performers in the major roles, this isn't for you. A full-price cipher (the star above is Verdi's). If, for some reviewer or other, this recording deserves 5 stars, then the classic ones deserve a million.

I must apologize for my unfairly low evaluation of Ernani. I watched and listened again. Indeed, it was much better by a long shot than it came across to me the first time. I must have been tired or inattentive or angry. Certainly, I want to encourage the Tutto Verdi series. While I'm not wild about this performance, it is very competent and at times rousing. Please, as I did, listen again and reconsider if an initial negative response is questionable for any reason.

I'd like to nominate this as the worst modern ERNANI. Besides the rudimentary conducting (the muffled orchestra sounds as if covered by a blanket), the four principals - wooden actors whose names I don't even care to remember - are wobbly and gasp for breath while phrasing their lines (extremely painful to watch and hear). Though Dynamic is known for its note-complete sets, in the light of such a poor performance, the excision of second verses is more than welcome (there's also a short cut in the finale). The middle-of-the-road staging isn't as disastrous as the overall performance, which does improve a little in Act 4 (too late). Badly edited, the music sometimes doesn't match the picture. The English subtitles are unreliable (eg 'Intendo, intendo' = 'I hear, I hear'!). Dynamic's release of this production on DVD one year after the CD version has added insult to injury. A full-price cipher (the star above is Verdi's).

La realizzazione del blu-ray è veramente deludente, sia dal punto di vista della resa sonora, che delle riprese filmate.Per la cattiva qualità del sonoro è difficile farsi persino un giudizio della qualità delle voci, nessuna delle quali mi è parsa comunque in grado di fornire un'efficace interpretazione dei ruoli di un'opera dove Verdi raggiunge raramente le qualità eccellenti espresse nei suoi capolavori posteriori.Totalmente scorretto dichiarare poi in copertina la possibilità di scegliere i sottotitoli in più lingue, quando manca addirittura il menu di scelta appropriato, e si è così costretti ad assistere all'intero spettacolo senza i sottotitoli suddetti, che consentirebbero a chiunque di seguire meglio l'intricato libretto. Mancando, come suddetto, ogni menu di selezione dei formati, non è possibile neppure selezionare il formato del suono, come sarebbe invece previsto sulla copertina della confezione del blu-ray.

Ho acquistato molti bluray delle opere di Verdi rappresentate al teatro regio di Parma e tale preferenza è dovuta a diversi motivi: 1) La qualità degli allestimenti e la professionalità eccellente dei cantanti: il prestigio del teatro è indiscutibile 2)il booklet che a differenza di molte altre produzioni non manca di rispetto al pubblico italiano 3) la sinossi video e i sottotitoli anch'essi in italiano 3)La qualità video splendida. Purtroppo quanto affermato al punto 3 non è stato soddisfatto. Per quanto riguarda l'Ernani , sebbene venga dichiarato che lo spettacolo è stato ripreso in hd, si vede molto male. L'immagine è "sporca", poco luminosa e quel che peggio sembra sfocata o meglio deformata da una lente che la rende confusa, ho provato in due diversi televisori e lettori bluray e l'esito è sempre lo stesso.

I'd like to nominate this as the worst modern ERNANI. Besides the rudimentary conducting (the muffled orchestra sounds as if covered by a blanket), the four principals - wooden actors whose names I don't even care to remember - are wobbly and gasp for breath while phrasing their lines (extremely painful to watch and hear). Though Dynamic is known for its note-complete sets, in the light of such a poor performance, the excision of second verses is more than welcome (there's also a short cut in the finale). The middle-of-the-road staging isn't as disastrous as the overall performance, which does improve a little in Act 4 (too late). Badly edited, the music sometimes doesn't match the picture. The English subtitles are unreliable (eg 'Intendo, intendo' = 'I hear, I hear'!). Dynamic's release of this production on DVD one year after the CD version has added insult to injury. A full-price cipher (the star above is Verdi's).

Ein weiteres Highlight aus der TUTTO VERDI Serie. Hochwertige Besetzung, edle Inszenierung, sehr würdig zum Jubiläum!Endlich gibt es dieses rare Juwel in einer modernen, perfekten Aufnahme- so macht Oper spass.Ähnlich wie I Lombardi mit vielen Chorpassagen und herrlichen Melodien.

Diese Aufnahme habe ich weggegeben.Denn sie war irgendwie musikalisch wie szenisch "verwurstelt".Daher meines Erachtens eher als nicht empfehlenswert zu qualifizieren.