Rossini's delightful comic opera Le Comte Ory belongs to the period of the 1820s in which he settled in France, initially as director of the Théâtre Italien (in which post he both staged and wrote operas), later concentrating solely on composing new works. Initially, he returned to some of his Italian operas and reworked them in the French style. Maometto Secondo was revised as Le siege de Corinthe and Mosé in Egitto became Moïse et Pharaon, many of the musical numbers staying the same in both cases but with extra choral parts and the vocal lines adapted to favour the more declamatory style of French opera.
Le Comte Ory was slightly different. Although large portions of the score derive from an earlier opera - this time, Il viaggio a Reims, a pièce d'occasion written to celebrate the coronation of Charles X - the new libretto was entirely different. A witty and sometimes bawdy romp involving abduction and seduction, Le Comte Ory nevertheless has a darker side, too, and Rossini continually shifts between comedy and serious drama.
The opera has fared well on record. A Glyndebourne production from 1957 under Vittorio Gui was recorded and remains a fresh account; unfortunately, it is marred by being based on an unscholarly edition. Forty years later, Andrew Davis rectified the matter at the same opera house, with interesting results that can be seen on DVD. John Eliot Gardiner recorded the opera in the late 1980s with Sumi Jo, and this still remains the benchmark.
A fourth recording from a few years ago captured Juan Diego Florez's turn in the title role on Deutsche Grammophon. While that starry casting is inevitably not matched by Naxos on this new recording, it's hugely to their credit that the quality of the sound is greatly superior to that of DG. Both recordings were made during live performances, but Naxos matches atmosphere with clarity, where the DG recording has some glaring moments of imbalance. Indeed, Naxos has become one of the labels of choice for Rossini in recent years, particularly as a result of the Rossini in Wildbad Festival in Germany; Alberto Zedda's accounts of Tancredi and La Cenerentola (the latter with Joyce DiDonato) are two of the finest Rossini recordings available on any label.
Brad Cohen's conducting of Le Comte Ory on this new recording could not be better. He draws sparkling and bright sounds from the excellent Czech Chamber Soloists, Brno, and the concerted numbers are all lively thanks to the fresh, responsive singing of the Czech Philharmonic Choir. The finale of Act One, for instance, is guaranteed to thrill: it's a well-paced performance of a piece of music that allows a large number of characters to express disparate feelings at the same time.
Two of the singers stand out from the rest as being of an international standard; the rest sound a little provincial at times, challenged to the limits by Rossini's difficult tessituras and demanding coloratura writing, but all are stylish and follow Cohen's enthusiastic lead from start to finish. Mezzo Luisa Islam-Ali-Zade in the relatively small role of Isolier is the finest: her duo with the Count in Act One and the sublime trio in Act Two are the highlights of the recording. Linda Gerrard as the Countess is also of high quality, both enlivening her characterisation and living up to the technical demands of her first-act aria and the second-act duet.
Huw Rhys-Evans puts in a commendable, if far from immaculate, performance as the titular Count. He seems hard pushed at times, but otherwise, his rendition of the part is both credible and sympathetic. Gloria Montanari is the weakest member of the cast, letting the side down with Ragonde's interjections in several of the ensemble numbers. The Tutor's aria is sung sturdily by Wojtek Gerrard, and both Luca Salsi's Raimbaud and Sofia Soloviy's Alice are sensitive, stylistically aware role assumptions.
Although the classiness and detail of Gardiner's earlier reading remains the ideal way to hear this piece, this becomes a solid second choice, and one that I would not hesistate to recommend to any enthusiast of the bel canto. At under ten pounds, it's got to be a bargain.