“After decades of ostracism, today we can finally speak of an actual Mascagni renaissance. The official recording of Pietro Mascagni's (1863-1945) 'Amica', a work that practically disappeared from the repertoire and that nevertheless, when the composer was still alive, considered one of his most original creations, can only be welcomed with enthusiasm ", we can read in the textbook of the CD below.
Indeed, any attempt to bring Pietro Mascagni's works out of obscurity is to be welcomed. Mascagni, now only known for the "Cavalleria rusticana", was a very fascinating composer who never stuck to one formula but always experimented with new ideas. One of his great challenges was composing an opera on prose texts (instead of poetry texts). Mascagni has written several prose operas, including "Guiglielmo Ratcliff" (1895) and "Amica" (1905). In these operas Mascagni tries to approach the effect of the spoken theater by silencing the symphonic orchestra here and there; the singers are then given the opportunity to recite the lyrics at their own pace. These kinds of passages also function as resting points in the otherwise extremely passionate music. Unfortunately, in the performance below (with the Hungarian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra and Choir conducted by Marco Pace) little of this is noticeable. Even though the orchestra is completely silent, the singers still scream. Only Katia Ricciarelli seems to know the effect of the pianissimo (= very soft singing). However, she too is hyperdramatic; here and there she seems to lose control of her voice. However, the opening chorus of this recording is beautiful. Here the choir and orchestra seem to descend from heaven like a warm ray of sunshine. This is Mascagni at its best. (CP) _more
