GAETANO DONIZETTI

G A ET ANO D ONIZETTI
LA FAVORITE
Kate Aldrich
Shi Yijie
Ludovic Tézier
Giovanni Furlanetto
Orchestre National du Capitole
Conducted by Antonello Allemandi
Staged by Vincent Boussard
Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse
G A ETANO D ONIZETTI
( T H E FAVO U R E D O N E )
Conductor
Orchestra
Chorus
Chorus Master
Stage Director
Costume Designer
Antonello Allemandi
Orchestre National du Capitole
Chœur du Capitole
Alfonso Caiani
Vincent Boussard
Christian Lacroix
Léonor de Guzman
Fernand
Alphonse XI
Balthazar
Don Gaspar
Inès
Kate Aldrich
Shi Yijie
Ludovic Tézier
Giovanni Furlanetto
Alain Gabriel
Marie-Bénédicte Souquet
Produced by CLC productions
Video Director Olivier Simonnet
Length: approx. 145'
Shot in HDTV 1080/50i
Cat. no. A01050031
A production of CLC productions
in co-production with Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse and
UNITEL with the participation of France Televisions and
Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée
“Each note a masterpiece”, said Arturo Toscanini of Donizetti’s La Favorite.
Something of a seldom-performed rarity today, it was rarely out of the Paris
opera repertoire in the decades that followed its premiere. It is considered
one of the composer’s most cogent works of music drama and shows
Donizetti at the height of his powers as an orchestrator. The opera is the first
original French opera by the Italian bel canto composer - a happy congruence
of the Italian and French operatic traditions.
“The Favourite” is set in 14th-century Spain,
where the young novice Fernand falls in love
with young noblewoman Léonore, leaves the
monastic order and enlists in the army, unaware
that the love of his life is the King’s favourite
mistress …
The young Chinese tenor Yijie Shi in the leading
role of Fernand emerges as the discovery of
the evening. “His singing leaves nothing to be
desired and he plays the part with a full and complete richness of voice from
the very first scene” (Forum Opera). His aria “Ange si pur” in the fourth
act, a big number for the great tenors since the days of Caruso, earned
him tumultuous applause. At his side, Kate Aldrich impressed with her “rich
mezzo timbre, effortless high notes, a supple voice” (La Depeche). Ludovic
Tézier as the King “is quite simply indispensable
in the role of Alphonse XI to which he brings a
vocal colour and presence that are magnificent”
(Concert Classic).
Vincent Boussard’s staging catches the eye
with a simple clarity that shows off the elegant
and colourful robes by Christian Lacroix, one
of the most successful and influential Paris
fashion designers of our age – “a spectacle
of extreme aesthetic coherence” (Concert
Classic). The Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse
was regarded in Donizetti’s time as one of the most important centres of bel
canto and remains one of France’s most important opera houses to this day.
World Sales:
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LA FAVORITE