Opera Rara ORC 21
Leonora	Elizabeth Futral
Estella	Jennifer Larmore
Carlo	Bruce Ford
Arnoldo	Roberto Frontali
Guglielmo	Garry Magee
Conductor	David Parry

Like all of Pacini's familiar operas, Carlo di Borgogna contains many individual pieces of great beauty, especially the penultimate aria for the chief male protagonist, Carlo, Duke of Burgundy, the last movement of the introduction, a stretta which sweeps everything before it, the three scenes in which both Carlo and Estella appear: a trio in Act I, the act I finale and a duet in Act II. There also is a magnificent swearing of the oath for Arnoldo and Guglielmo. Could their names be a coincidence :-)?

The hardest thing to try to figure out about this opera is why it was such a failure at its premiere. Perhaps the problem was that it was ahead of its time, with an extraordinarily striking orchestral accompaniment.

The plot is unusual--it is fairly commonplace for a soprano to be forced to marry against her will, here it is the tenor--and not only that, but a reigning Duke. Estella refuses to accept the situation, hence much of the drama.

The performance is wonderful, due again to one of the finest casts so far assembled by Opera Rara. Bruce Ford is just about perfect for the title role, which he sings with deep feeling and almost reckless abandon, while Elizabeth Futral, Jennifer Larmore and Roberto Frontali strike me as being equally perfect for their roles. I am pleased to include a guest review by Mr. Ken Meltzer

I didn't hear Carlo as a "tenorcentric" opera. The tenor role is certainly thrilling, but all of the four leads have superb, dramatic music. I've heard four Pacini operas-The Last Day of Pompey, Carlo di Borgogna, Saffo, and Maria.

I think Saffo and Maria are both a must, but, based on my limited experience, I think it would also be important to hear Pacini's style before these "breakthrough" operas. Given the overall excellence of the Opera Rara recording, that seems a great place to start.

Thanks, Ken. I agree, and trust that more Pacini operas will be coming.