Salieri - La Grotta di Trofonio / Les Talens Lyriques, Rousset (with Bonus DVD)

An amazing opera, so funny, lovely libretto. I highly recommend it.

Prior to purchasing this recording, the only 2 things I knew about Salieri were:1). Like Mozart, he was inaccurately portrayed in the film "Amadeus" - both personally and artistically.2). His works are very hard to come by!I saw this recording in a CD store used, for $17, so I thought why not? Well, I must say that, after spending a lot of time listening to this recording it is such a shame that Salieri is widely known for his character in "Amadeus" rather than the merits of his work.I am a huge Mozart fan, and his Da Ponte operas are probably my three favorite operas. La Grotta premiered in Vienna a year before Figaro, and was hugely popular - far more popular than Figaro at the time, at least according the liner notes, which are probably accurate. Is this opera as good as the Da Ponte/Mozart operas? Of course not. But, that should not deter anyone from giving this charming, brilliant, and beautiful opera a listen to. Let's face facts - no composer has ever achieved the sheer brilliance Mozart has. This leads to the overshadowing of his Classical Period counterparts.La Grotta is a wonderfully entertaining opera. It's got a great story line, great buffa music, nice ensemble work, extended finales, and wonderful arias. Salieri was more than a competent composer - he was a master at vocal writing, at least based on this work. There is not a dull moment to be found here - all extremely enjoyable.The conducting, cast, and orchestral playing is all first rate!! Raffaella Milanesi (Ofelia) delivers her first aria "D'un dolce amor la face" with such pure/beautiful tone. I am a new fan of hers. Beautiful voice. "D'un dolce" is simply gorgeous and her performance is breathtaking. The rest of the cast is perfectly adequate - no disappointments to be found anywhere.My only disappointment is in the packaging - namely the booklet. It has some nice information on Salieri and the work, but not enough in my opinion. The libretto is in Italian and English. However, there is no synopsis, and I haven't had time to read the libretto yet.All in all, this is a very charming and well-done work. Kudos Salieri! It is a shame his works are hard to come by, but with labels like DG's Archiv, Harmonia Mundi, Dynamic, and Musica Numeris bringing back forgotten works, I have high hopes more of Salieri's operas will surface in quality recordings, such as this one.I am just thrilled. I have done the operas of Haydn, Cimarosa, Paisellio, and Gluck in hopes of capturing something magical like Mozart. I hadn't found it until I purchase "La Grotta di Trofino".If you like Classical Period opera, do yourself a favor and pick this up. You will quickly realize Salieri is not the composer Peter Shaffer portrayed him as in "Amadeus".

OK, so I'm not the most learned person in the world of opera but I do know what I like. Being curious about Salieri I decided to take a chance on one of his operas. This seemed to have the most favorable ratings so I settled on it. I am greatly pleased. To my untrained ears, I could not distinguish this between Salieri and Mozart. Not Don Giovanni perhaps, but if I were told this was one of Mozart's early operas I'd have no reason to question. Same style etc. The CD is well produced with a clear crisp sound. The arias and duets are exciting and fun to listen to. If you're curious about Salieri and want to take a chance you can't go wrong with this one. I think he has been unjustly overlooked. I will be buying more of him.

The packaging is a bit strange, the booklet art questionable & some of the print so small it's very hard to read. The DVD is European format (PAL) so unplayable in the U.S. The sound quality, singers & orchestra are all excellent. The music is tuneful & fun to listen to. A must buy for fans of late 18th century opera buffa & Salieri music in particular.

Not being trained in music theory, I cannot speak to the musicology of this work, but I do know enough to say with confidence that this opera is as good as classical writing ever achieved (maybe there are finer libretti, but I refer to the music). I have full recordings of most of the Mozart operas. Dare I say, I like this work just as much as any of them? There is fun, life, depth, variety and sheer zest in this work. "La Grotta" provides unexpected, inventive and rewarding music at every turn. Salieri was in utter command of his abilities and virtuoso of this operatic style. If this is not a masterpiece, I'm not sure how to define one. Maestro Rousset states on the DVD extra that he was surprised to find that Salieri had so much to offer. Ditto that. I plan to purchase more recordings of Salieri's works now that I know. The performances on this CD are steller, the voices surely, but most especially the orchestra. No one should hesitate to purchase this CD if they love Classical music. The DVD special is icing on the cake, so to speak. It made me crave to see an actual performance of this opera. Dancing skeletons on stage and all!

A true charmer of a comic opera from the pen of the undeservedly maligned Salieri. The clever libretto is by the Abbe Casti, as Salieri had apparently had a falling out with the originally intended Lorenzo Da Ponte. The plot is a delightfully confusing satire on charlatanism. The singers are superb,if a little too closely recorded. The orchestra, under Christophe Rousset is full of vital energy and elan.My copy of the bonus DVD was European coded instead of non-regional, so I couldn't really play it properly, but it seems to feature excerpts from the opera and an interesting interview with Rousset. I am curious if other people had the same problem ?

I entirely agree with the above reviews of Salieri's opera. "Les Talens Lyriques" are a fantastic cast and you get the feeling that they enjoy performing this work. The opera itself is a masterpiece although the libretto is not the best (Salieri's "Axur, Re d'Ormus" has a much better libretto by Da Ponte, Mozart's favorite librettist).It is a shame that so few recordings of Salieri's operas exist, but in a way Mozart killed Salieri!

I downloaded the opera in the MP3 format.This is some of Salieri's most inspired opera with outstanding vocal and orchestral performances splendidly recorded.Highly recommended!

Salieri steht im Schatten Mozarts und sein Ruf hat auch dadurch gelitten, dass man ihm die Ermordung Mozarts nachgesagt hat. Dies ist jedoch absolute Legende, tatsächlich waren die beiden befreundet und Salieri hat nach Mozarts Tod dessen Witwe finanziell unterstützt.Der immer wieder erhobene Vorwurf, Salieris Musik erreiche nicht die Tiefe Mozarts, war wohl ausschlaggebend dafür, dass Salieri in Vergessenheit geriet. (Könnte man diesen Vorwurf nicht auch gegenüber Rossini erheben? Und dennoch genießen die Opernfreunde seine Musik.)Umso verdienstvoller ist diese Aufnahme eine seiner wohl besten Opern.Immer wieder stößt man im Libretto, das übrigens völlig undramatisch ist, auf den Begriff "vanità", und wie Salieri die Eitelkeiten der Gesellschaft vorführt ist einfach meisterlich und Mozarts Kunst durchaus ebenbürtig.Selten habe ich eine Opernaufnahme mit so großem Genuss gehört. Man gewinnt den Eindruck, dass die Künstler sich mit Musik und Gesang identifizieren und Spaß an der Ausführung haben.Nachdem ich diese Aufnahme gehört hatte, habe ich nach weiteren Einspielungen von "Les Talens Lyriques" mit dem Dirigenten Rousset gesucht und auch bestellt. Leider sind momentan die meisten der Einspielungen vergriffen.Jeder, der Mozarts Musik liebt, wird an dieser Einspielung der Oper Salieris seine Freude haben. Unbedingt empfehlenswert.Als weitere große Oper Salieris sei "Axur, Re d'Ormus" empfohlen, von der bisher auch nur eine einzige Einspielung existiert, die aber durchaus empfehlenswert ist.