The Times

Review of the 2007 concert performance

'Opera Rara has just completed a studio recording; and the two-act melodramma was given a spine-chilling and timber-shivering concert performance.
The London Philharmonic was conducted by David Parry whose masterly control of the nerve-system of this mobile, highly charged melodic declamation was as superb as the singing of the Geoffrey Mitchell Choir.'
Gramophone

'During the composer's lifetime, and for a few years after his death in 1835, it enjoyed considerable international success, though contemporary reviewers were sometimes hostile, criticising its lack of set-piece arias and complaining of the "continual interruptions" to the musical line. It is this that strikes the modern listener as one of the most interesting aspects of the score. Bellini was experimenting with something, if not exactly through-composed, then sacrificing vocal fireworks for the sake of the dramatic structure... Opera Rara has done it proud. David Parry leads the LPO in a gripping account of a tricky piece. Patrizia Ciofi is meltingly pathetic and then imperious when necessary. Dario Schmunck makes a virile and ardent Arturo, and in the crucial role of Valdeburgo (also in disguise, he is Agnese's brother), Mark Stone is suitably warrior-like... The contributions of the Geoffrey Mitchell Choir are splendid. A must for lovers of the bel canto repertory.'
The Cast

Alaide - Patrizia Ciofi

Il Barone di Valdeburgo
- Mark Stone

Arturo
- Dario Schmunck

Isoletta
- Enkelejda Shkosa

The Prior
- Graeme Broadbent

The Lord of Montolino
- Roland Wood

The Geoffrey Mitchell Choir

London Philharmonic Orchestra

David Parry -conductor
BBC Music Magazine

'Opera Rara has fielded what is probably as good an ensemble of young singers as you are likely to be able to gather together for this early work; and David Parry coaxes some stylish playing from the London Philharmonic Orchestra... Dario Schmunck as Arturo, the Count, is on fine form. So is Mark Stone, as his rival Valdeburgo, a properly lyric baritone - their Act I duet crackles with enough electricity to light up the whole of medieval France. La straniera is nothing without The Stranger herself, the exiled Alaide who so rarely shows her face. Patrizia Ciofi is a fine singer, with a corner in bel canto roles, and in her soft passages she touches the heart as tenderly as Bellini intended.'
MusicalCriticism.com

'Bellini's fourth opera, La Straniera, marked out the composer as one of the leading figures of the post-Rossini generation... the composer spins out long lines and focuses on the lyric element as the main tool of expression. Italian soprano Patrizia Ciofi brings the composer's strong characterisation of Alaide to the fore, and triumphs... her beauty of tone and absolute commitment make the numbers in which she appears utterly compelling.

David Parry's conducting of the soloists, the Geoffrey Mitchell Choir and the London Philharmonic is impeccable, not merely propelling the music forward but loosening the reins where the singers need time to maximise the expression.'