Whatever its dramatic merits – and‚ make no mistake‚ a great performance can rivet sense – Rossini’s Bianca e Falliero is a vocal showcase of an opera. The sheer ferocity of the vocal writing and its erotic allure (something of a rarity in Rossini) are awe­inspiring‚ as is the close­gearing of the bel canto style to musical and psychological ends. Rossini wrote the opera for La Scala‚ Milan in the autumn of 1819. Set in 17th­century Venice‚ the story charts the machinations of a brutal father who would rather have the brilliant young general Falliero compromised‚ arraigned and executed than see him marry his daughter. In the French melodrama from which Felice Romani took his libretto‚ Falliero comes to a grim end at the hands of the powers­that­be. Romani‚ mindful of the susceptibilities of Milan’s Austrian rulers‚ opted for a happier ending. The opera owes its revival in modern times to a new Critical Edition by Gabriele Dotto and a series of semi­staged performances at the 1986 Pesaro Festival. The Pesaro production‚ featuring Katia Ricciarelli and Marilyn Horne in the title­roles‚ was an astonishing experience which Cetra/Ricordi subsequently released on CD (9/94). The set is not currently available‚ though many Rossinians will possess it‚ making life difficult for any would­be rival. That said‚ a distinguished newcomer on a label which is known to keep its recordings in print cannot but be welcome. How close does the new performance get to the core of the opera’s heart? Where the Falliero‚ Jennifer Larmore‚ is concerned‚ very close indeed. Her reading is more measured than Horne’s‚ less grandiloquent; what Larmore sacrifices in obdurate boastfulness in Falliero’s Act 1 cavatina‚ she more than makes up for in the integration of the scene’s musical and dramatic elements. On the other hand‚ when the chips are down – as they are in the great Council Chamber scene in Act 2 when Falliero’s hopes are in ruins‚ his life threatened – Horne is difficult to outstare. Larmore’s performance of the scene gathers intensity as it progresses; Horne’s has it in extraordinary measure in every phrase. Majella Cullagh‚ whose Bianca gathers intensity as the opera itself progresses‚ is at her most commanding in the confrontation with her father in Act 2 and in the opera’s denouement‚ the celebrated Quartet. She is also fresher­voiced in the epilogue than the performance­weary Ricciarelli. Not that Cullagh’s singing of this epilogue (La donna del lago’s ‘Tanti affetti’‚ freshly dressed) is entirely blithe. Comparisons with Ricciarelli elsewhere in the opera are bound to be invidious since it was she‚ a vocally alluring Bianca in a way that Cullagh never quite is‚ who first showed us that it was not notes Rossini was committing to paper but the revealed consciousness of a girl in thrall to rapture‚ grief and fear. Ricciarelli’s singing in the Act 1 ‘flower’ cavatina and in the two great duets with Falliero was‚ and remains‚ a miracle of recreative interpretation. The comprimario roles are better taken here than at Pesaro. Barry Banks’s Contareno may not terrify as Chris Merritt’s did‚ in the letter­reading in Act 2 in particular‚ but it is a good deal easier on the ear. David Parry’s conducting is both vivid and shrewdly considerate. It may not be as consistently arresting as Renzetti’s at Pesaro but there are few‚ if any‚ moments of unwanted stasis. The recording‚ not surprisingly‚ is an altogether more consistent affair than the live Pesaro version‚ though that was good enough where the principals are concerned in everything but the epilogue. The Pesaro set came with a fine essay on the opera by Gabriele Dotto. Somewhat surprisingly‚ Opera Rara settles for a gentle canter through Rossini’s life and works‚ and a no more than mildly enthusiastic assessment of Bianca e Falliero. On points of detail‚ the crescendo theme in the overture to Bianca e Falliero derives from Ermione not the pastiche Eduardo e Cristina; nor is it true to say that Rossini enjoyed ‘generally good’ physical health after his retirement from opera in 1829. Will these tired old tales about Rossini ever be laid to rest?