Elvira Vasso Papantoniou

Bianca Claudia Parada

Armando Antonio Liviero

Alvaro Amadeo Zambon

Gusmano George Pappas

Inigo Alessandro Maddalena

Ennelina Silvana Mazzzieri

Coro and Orchestra of the Teatro la Fenice, Venice. Ettore Gracis, cond. MRF 83 3 LPs M

Le Due Illustri Rivali is a very unusual work for Mercadante's "reform" period. Coming between Il Giuramento and Elena da Feltre, it is far more lyrical than either, and has only one real dramatic confrontation, that in the last act, between Bianca and Elvira, so beautifully recorded by Scotto and Freni, where the hero (Armando)'s beloved (Elvira), virtually blackmails the Queen of Navarre (Bianca) into relinquishing whatever rights she felt she had to him. Striking as that duet is, the opera's best known excerpt had long been the tenor's "Qual celeste tuo sembiante", which occurs in the second act, when Armando believes Elvira dead, and is mourning her near the crypt she is in. This aria had long been a concert favorite of the great tenor Mario's, and was frequently inserted into the last act of Lucrezia Borgia by tenors such as Julian Gayarré. It has the overall atmosphere of "Quando le sere al placido", from Luisa Miller, which was to come eleven years later. But, unlike, Luisa Miller. the work has a happy ending, Elvira revives, and she and Armando marry.

Unfortunately, the sound of this recording is atrocious, and the cast, especially the ladies, fail to do this wonderful score justice. The men are more or less adequate, and do not mar whatever little enjoyment can still be had. If there is any single Mercadante opera, that has already been recorded, that is simply crying out for another revival this is it. Provided, of course, that two first class sopranos and a first class lyric tenor are available. Short of a revival of the entire score, the previously mentioned tenor aria is certainly worth consideration for inclusion in a Mercadante concert or recording of individual arias.

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