Carlo Enrico Pasta's opera Atahualpa

[mikehopf]

Tonight on Argentine Radio Clasica National:

La ópera: Carlo Enrico Pasta
Atahualpa
Aris Agiris, barítono
Ivan Magrí, tenor
Vasily Ladyuk, barítono
Carlo Cigni, bajo
Arianna Ballotta, soprano
Xavier Fernandez, barítono
Coro Nacional del Perú / Javier Súnico
Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional del Perú / Manuel López-Gómez

[Alan Howe]

Carlo Enrico Pasta (b. 17 November 1817; d. 31 August 1898), Italian composer. Born in Milan, Pasta studied there and in Paris. In 1855 he settled in Lima, where he was active in the musical life of the city. A musical pioneer, he composed zarzuelas and operas using texts from Peruvian writers; Pasta was the first composer to take as his subject matter Peruvian folklore and Peru's pre-Columbian history. He was a member of the fraternity of Santa Cecilia. His first opera, I tredici, premiered in Turin's Teatro Sutera (1851). La fronda (1872) and Una tazza di thé (1872) premiered in Lima, and Atahualpa (1875), based on a libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, was first performed at Genoa's Teatro Paganini.

Interesting. But it would help if a link could be supplied...

[Alan Howe]

...and can anyone record it, please?

[alberto]

The performance indicated appears to be the same contained in a new Decca recording (conductor, singers, orchestra are the same).
IMHO rather surprising (but positively, I would say) from Decca.

[Mark Thomas]

I'll try to record it. The link is here. Just click on En Vivo in the red box at the top of the screen to get the live feed.

My Spanish being non-existent, Google Translate produces:

The great success of Aida, created to celebrate the construction of the Suez Canal, encouraged the Italian composer Enrico Carlo Pasta thinking about something similar for the Americas. Thus, he asked Antonio Ghislanzoni, the same librettist of Aida, write a text on the conquest of Peru. The music incorporates local issues, including the issue of the National Anthem of Peru, and very similar ingredients to Aida: peoples in war, freedom in danger, love between conquerors and conquered. Thus he was born the work of the epic opera Atahualpa, but was unlucky compared to the famous Aida. Only some success in representing Genoa, Milan and Lima, and then fell into oblivion until the original score disappeared. A century and a half later, thanks to the interest of Ernesto Palacio, a new orchestration of the score commissioned Matteo Angeloni. The work was presented with great success in Lima in 2013 and was recorded live. This Saturday at 14, An Evening at the Opera,   we invite you to listen Atahualpa, Enrico Carlo Pasta, a record recently published in Peru. Aris Argiris, Vasilyk Ladyuk, Ivan Magri, Arianna Ballota, Carlo Cigni and the participation of the Choir and the Orchestre National de Peru, led by Manuel Lopez Gomez.

One evening at the opera, every Saturday at 14, for the 96.7

It's broadcast at 14:00 in Argentina, which is 18:00 in the UK and 19:00 in western Europe.

[Alan Howe]

Thanks, Alberto. It is indeed a Decca/Universal release:
http://www.universalmusic.it/classica/artista/discografia/?ida=615044
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Atahualpa-Lopez/dp/B00VN2U7SE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1442056974&sr=8-2&keywords=atahualpa

We'd better not record it, then...

[Mark Thomas]

Ah, unaccountably I didn't see your post Alberto. Sorry 

[Mark Thomas]

Atahualpa is downloadable in mp3 format from Musicload (Germany) or from amazon.es (Spain). Audio samples are available at both. IMSLP has the score here.

[mikehopf]

What a delicious work! More Pasta, please!

[Alan Howe]

Excerpts suggest sub-early Verdi, well-sung, but with a distinctively average orchestra recorded in a dead acoustic. I hope the whole thing turns out to be better than that (my copy's on order), but I'm starting with low-ish expectations...

[Alan Howe]

Actually, the opera's quite a bit better than I expected. It has some rousing sections, plenty of variety and some really lovely melodies. The idiom is definitely early Verdi - think I Masnadieri rather than Il Trovatore. It's roughly contemporary with Aida, but that's light-years ahead in terms of originality.

It is also pretty well-sung by the principal soloists and more than competently played by the orchestra. If there is an issue, it's the somewhat close and boxy acoustic and extreme left-right separation of the orchestra (which could do with a few more strings).

Not an undiscovered masterpiece, but tasty Peruvian pasta indeed - thanks, Mike!

[Alan Howe]

BTW a libretto's included with the CDs, but it's only in Spanish and Italian! Harumph!

[Alan Howe]

A further listen reveals that the orchestra is distinctly below-average. I think the opera could have been better done, but frankly we're unlikely to get another chance to hear it. It's not a great piece, but it's enjoyable enough. If it had been a bit cheaper I might have given it a warmer welcome (it's not really a very distinguished recording or performance overall), but if you have a soft-spot for generic, mid-19th century Italian-style opera, this'll prove diverting enough...

[Mark Thomas]

Alan's right in all respects, but I have enjoyed getting to know Atahualpa all the same, despite making the mistake of only listening to it properly straight after hearing David's magnificent Herculaneum, which outclasses it musically, never mind as a performance and a recording. That said, although Atahualpa is old-fashioned for its time, it is still an enjoyable and dramatic work, full of good tunes, which is sung with persuasive conviction by the principals. The orchestra is puny and distant and the acoustic boxy, but anyone who is happy to put up with listening to an average opera release from Bongiovanni, say, will find nothing to complain about. Definitely recommended, with those caveats.