Donizetti: Les Martyrs – Mark Elder

   in Opera Now (May, 2015)
You may be able to think of some singers you would like to throw to the lions: Opera Rara’s latest CD release, Les Martyrs, does the job for you. Donizetti’s 1840 Parisian reworking of the unperformed Poliuto is the composer at his considerable best, rich with melody, striking orchestration and some exciting effects. Added to the composer’s expected Italianate lyricism one can hear Berlioz and Meyerbeer in this scoring, for example the startling chorus that opens the final scene. Mark Elder conducts with fervour, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment plays superbly and the cast is excellent. As Polyeucte and Pauline, a couple on the verge of a ‘conscious uncoupling’ …