Rousing Pages of Early Verdi Worth Hearing

Opera~Opera p. 349.18
January 2007
Clive O'Connell [reviewer]

From all accounts the recently quiescent Melbourne City Opera administration has finally decided to leave the usual fields that it tills of well-known if not mainstream opera.

This concert performance of a rarely heard Verdi work served the excellent purpose of filling out part of those large gaps in one's live performance experiences and also helped to lay to rest certain legends about Il Corsaro that have acquired the status of received truth simply because any opposing arguments could not be voiced with assurance.

Not surprisingly, these three performances from MCO were the Australian premiere.

Having little to do but stand and sing their contributions from behind the orchestra, the MCO chorus made a sterling impact; both the pirate men and the odalisques...

Similarly Erich Fackert's orchestra gave a brisk reading of the score, staying on the ball. The concentrated body of violins worked with a will in the opera's demandingly active pages, particularly the storm music that accompanies Gulnara's murder of the Pasha which was performed with Rossinian brio.

— CLIVE O'CONNELL