Meyerbeer: L'Étoile du Nord
8.660498-500 (Naxos Records, CD, 3 discs)
DDD
REISSUE (13 May 2022)
Playing time: 77'33"/49'15"/47'04" - TT 173'52"
Tracks: 18 + 13 + 8
Booklet pages: 16
℗ 1997 Naxos Rights US Inc
© 2022 Naxos Rights US Inc
Main country of recording: Ireland
Country of manufacture: Germany
Reviewer: Gerald Fenech
Review of Meyerbeer: L'Étoile du Nord published on 24 May 2022
Elizabeth Futral, soprano (Catherine)
Vladmir Ognev, bass (Peter the Great)
Darina Takova, soprano (Prascovia)
Aled Hall, tenor (Danilowitz)
Christopher Maltman, baritone (Gritzenko)
Juan Diego Flórez, tenor (Georges)
Agnete Munk Rasmussen, soprano (Natalia)
Patrizia Cigna, soprano (Ekimona)
Robert Lee, tenor (Ismailov)
Fernand Bernadi, bass (Reynolds)
Luis Ledesma, baritone (Yermolov)
Wexford Festival Opera Chorus
Lubomír Mátl, chorus master
National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland
Elaine Clarke, leader
Fergus Shiel, stage band conductor
Vladimir Jurowski, conductor
Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864):
L'Étoile du Nord ('The North Star', opera in three acts, 1854, to a libretto by Eugène Scribe)
CD1
1 Overture
2-18 Act I
CD2
1-13 Act II
CD3
1-8 Act III
The first two tracks of CD1 were missing from the digital copy of this album sent for review.
Recorded live on 27 and 30 October and 2 November 1996 at the Wexford Festival in Ireland.
Previously released on Marco Polo 8.223829-31.
After composing a spectacular series of grand operas for the Paris Opéra, Meyerbeer turned to two comic operas with spoken dialogue. One of these was L'Étoile du Nord ('The North Star') which is strictly an opéra de demi-caractère, containing both comic and serious elements. This fusion was one of Meyerbeer's most important contributions to the development of grand opera. The plot is a peculiar mixture of village wooing and military life, with music that is full of colour, featuring superb choruses and exceptional orchestration. This 1996 Wexford Festival Opera production features a dazzling young cast under the direction of Vladimir Jurowski.