Just as today composers occasionally turn to the cinema for subjects on which to base operas, in the 1820s and 1830s librettists looked to the stage – and not just to plays: La sonnambula is based on Scribe’s story for Herold’s ballet of the same title. The role of Amina was created by Giuditta Pasta who was also Bellini’s first Norma and Beatrice di Tenda, and who, in the same season and at the same theatre as she first sang Amina, was also Donizetti’s Anna Bolena. Pasta was a great dramatic soprano, but as the nineteenth century wore on Amina became a favourite with light voices, especially Jenny Lind. Only in the 1950s and 1960s did Callas and Sutherland reaffirm its potential for more dramatic treatment. (To add to the confusion it was also done by singers we would today call mezzos – Malibran and Viardot – and this was continued not so long ago by Frederica von Stade.)
At her entrance, Luba Orgonasova’s declamation of the recitative preceding “Come per me” is so full and dramatic that it sounds like Norma – and the opening phrase is remarkably similar to “Sediziose voci”. She sings the aria simply and sweetly, but in “Sovra il sen” some fairly modest embellishments reveal a metallic, edgy quality at the top of her voice. Gimenez, one of the most eloquent bel canto tenors, is well suited to the high-lying role of Elvino – in its original form as perilous as that of Arturo in I puritani. He doesn’t risk some of the high options that Pavarotti goes for in the later Bonynge recording (4/87). His voice blends surprisingly well with Orgonasova’s in the two duets in Act 1 and it is his performance that makes this set particularly attractive.
Zedda conducts a very spirited account of the opera. The crucial finale of Act 1 – the scene in the inn – is given complete and the smaller parts are well taken, with Dilber having a big success with the very enthusiastic audience at her Second-Act aria. Any Sonnambula, though, is going to be judged initially by the soprano’s performance of the sleepwalking scene – by this point in the evening Orgonasova obviously has the audience in the palm of her hand and she sings with style and brilliance. Needless to say, if one compares her with singers of the past – from Patti and Tetrazzini to Sutherland and Callas – she still has quite a way to go before she achieves total command.
This is the only Bellini opera available at super-budget price and as such it deserves a special welcome. It is a thoroughly enjoyable live performance, which devotees of Bellini will find interesting. With the earlier Sutherland (5/97) and the Callas versions both recently reissued at mid price, competition in the Sonnambula stakes is fierce. As an all-round recommendation the Sutherland recording detailed above is the one to have, but this bargain version is a good introduction to Bellini for the beginner as well as being a fine souvenir of what was obviously an exciting evening.PO’C