Halevy: La Reine De Chypre – Hervé Niquet

   in Opera Now (Oct, 2018)
Halévy is best known, if at all, for La Juive, so it’s a pleasure to hear another grand opera of his in La Reine de Chypre, an embroidered plot based on the life of the Venetian ruler of Cyprus in the 15th century, Caterina Cornaro (here, Catarina). With a libretto that inspired operas by contemporaries as diverse as Balfe, Lachner and Donizetti, Halévy had only a minor success with his version, reviewed at its premiere in 1841 by none less than Berlioz and Wagner, the latter surprisingly enthusiastically. It is a fine work, full of elegant arias, rousing ensembles, and providing the singers with opportunities to show off. It …