{"product_id":"8051766590078","title":"Vittorio Gui - Gaspare Spontini: Sponitini: Agnese Di Hohenstaufen - Import 2 CD","description":"\u003cp\u003eCredits:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVittorio Gui\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDescription:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA Rare Record of the Revival Performance of a Spontini Opera\n\nA rare record of the revival performance of a Spontini opera, which is rarely staged. *Agnes of the House of Hohenstaufen* was composed while Spontini was living in Berlin. The score was reconstructed from manuscript fragments scattered across various libraries, and a new Italian-language libretto was created (the original was in German); the opera was performed three times beginning on May 6, 1954. Although the production includes significant cuts, Gui masterfully recreates the German Romantic chivalric spirit characteristic of Spontini’s operas, as well as the ornate costumes of French opera. The singing of a young Franco Corelli (1921–2003) is also a rare treat.\nFrancesco Siciliani, who served as music director of the festival from 1948 to 1957, had planned to stage little-known masterpieces, including works by Spontini. In 1948, Siciliani met Maria Callas through an introduction by Serafin and believed that her voice was a perfect match for the dramatic timbre required by the Spontini works he hoped to revive. Callas made her Florence debut in 1948 in Bellini’s *Norma*, and subsequently appeared at the festival in *La Traviata* in 1951, *Lucia* in 1953, and Cherubini’s *Medea*. Finally, in 1954—the year *Agnese* was to be staged—Callas was set to leave Florence and declined the invitation to perform. The singer selected in a hastily arranged audition was Lucille Udvik, an American singer of Croatian descent. Siciliani considered *Agnese* to be Spontini’s masterpiece, and in 1970, he staged a revival of the opera in concert format, featuring the young Muti conducting, with the Italian text (a new translation, not the one used in the 1954 production) and Tebaldi as the soloist.\nKing International\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggio Live","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53595625652513,"sku":"8051766590078","price":5690.0,"currency_code":"JPY","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0568\/8482\/2076\/files\/8051766590078.jpg?v=1790481993","url":"https:\/\/cdsvinyljapan.com\/products\/8051766590078","provider":"CDs Vinyl Japan Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}