Although the chance to hear Donizetti's important and under-rated score for Adelia is something to celebrate, the cast assembled by RCA for this new recording is seriously substandard. Indeed, it is difficult to muster enthusiasm for the project at all, aside from the fact that it is available cheaply (largely because the libretto is only available as a PDF file on the second CD, saving printing costs) and the conducting is truly excellent.
Adelia, o la figlia dell'arciere is a three-act melodrama written by Donizetti for the Teatro Apollo in Rome, where it received its premiere on 11 February 1841 (the year after the completion of two of his most extraordinary French masterpieces, La Favorite and La fille du régiment). Dogged by problems with the libretto, and by having to prepare La Favorite at the same time and at short notice, Adelia struggled from the start. The premiere was also a troubled affair: the theatre was oversubscribed (even the composer had to get a ticket via the black market, according to the CD liner notes) and a riot ensued, much to the distress of the prima donna Giuseppina Strepponi (Verdi's future wife and a soprano of great repute in her own right).
It seems that subsequent performances went more smoothly and the opera's reputation grew briefly, but this new recording is a rarity (I'm not aware of another in the catalogue of a major label) and stage performances are few and far between.
On the plus side, Gustav Kuhn's conducting of the Haydn Chor and the Haydn Orchester von Bozen und Trient is so superlative that the orchestral and concerted numbers of the opera come across extremely well. The rhythms are full of spring, and there is both drive and time to breathe in the tempos.
However, there is no choice but to report that most of the singing is absolutely appalling. Most of it is so ill-tuned, unstylish and overstretched that it is actually difficult to listen to, and it is unlikely I will listen to it again. Indeed, were the conducting not so good, the rating would be one star. It is a shame when there is so much talent around, and when new complete opera recordings are so rare, that a major record label has invested in such a second-rate cast.
Michela Sburlati makes a valiant attempt at the title role but the coloratura is way beyond her capabilities and finds her producing harsh, out-of tune sounds at the top in all the major numbers. David Sotgiu is perhaps more acceptable as Oliviero (at least he understands the style and has a better natural instrument), but there are intermittent intonation problems; Xavier Rouillon is strained as Comino; and Andrea Silvestrelli's Arnoldo is marred by a hollow tone.
The Donizetti connoisseur will not want to be without this recording for the sake of being able to hear the score, which is inspired and contains the usual mixture of virtuoso solo arias and rousing set pieces. But the musical values leave much to be desired.