I have often been critical of Opera Rara´s releases because they don´t always get the best singers available, strange for a label whose priority is Bel Canto. Here we get again their reigning diva Carmen Giannattasio, a singer I imagine is better live than on records. In Opera Rara´s La Donna del Lago she was rather disappointing, the voice is interesting but it doesn´t record well. In Caterina Cornaro she is far more successful, first of all because she is in more command of her role, and she actually gives "a performance".
Caterina Cornaro, one of Donizetti´s last operas, has had a difficult history, it was a failure at it´s 1844 premier, and even though it was better received at a later performance, it was not revived till the 1970´s.
It is by no means Donizetti´s best dramatic opera, but David Parry and his cast made a good case for it, in fact this is one of the liveliest and most thrilling of all Opera Rara´s studio recordings. It has juicy roles for the tenor and the baritone, and both do well.
And since Caterina Cornaro has only ever had another commercial recording in the now defunct Agorá label, it is good to see it back in the catalogue and in a recording that does it justice.