ROSSINI : ERMIONE

Radio New Zealand Concert network
Sunday 18th of December 2011 at 3.03 - 5.30 pm

INTRODUCTION 
REVIEW
REVIEW
REVIEW 
REVIEW

ROSSINI: Ermione, an opera in two acts
Ermione........................ Carmen Giannattasio
Andromaca................... Patricia Bardon
Pirro............................. Paul Nilon
Oreste........................... Colin Lee
Pilade............................ Bülent Bezdüz
Fenicio.......................... Graeme Broadbent
Cleone.......................... Rebecca Bottone
Cefisa........................... Victoria Simmonds
Attalo............................ Loïc Félix
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, London Phil/David Parry
(Opera Rara ORC 42)
Gramophone Awards 2011 Best Opera Recording

Another Trojan War tragedy! Sad to say,  it only received 7 performances in 1819 and then it disappeared, though Rossini knew its true value, and it was eventually revived in 1977. The factors that caused its sudden demise are explained in the introduction and the first of the four reviews (it is thorough and has pictures of the performers at the 2009 concert that became this recording, in the "rare opera" series).

Note that this recording has an essay by New Zealand's own Jeremy Commons.

And how do we pronounce this name ERMIONE in the Italian way. English speakers, who are blissfully or crassly ignorant of phonetic spelling would try Err-my-own-knee. But say the sound (not the name!) of every letter separately E-r-m-i-o-n-e, and then join them up into a unit.