Carlo Colombara: The art of the bass (NAXOS)

Described as “the great Verdian bass” (Le Figaro) and a “Mefistofele who stood out over all the others” (Der Neue Merker), Carlo Colombara brings some of the most famous bass rôles to life in this wide-ranging programme. Emotions range from the pride of Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen, through the terrors of Verdi’s Attila, to the tender recollections of Rachmaninov’s Aleko. Mephistopheles strides powerfully through both Gounod and Boito’s operas, and Rossini’s comic wit contrasts with the darkness of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov.

Key Facts Picture format: NTSC 16:9 Sound format: PCM Stereo 2.0Region code: 0 (worldwide) Subtitles: English and original languages (French, Italian, Russian) Running time: 68 minsNo. of DVDs: 1 Tracklist 1. Giuseppe Verdi: Don Carlo, Act III: Ella giammai m’amò 2. Giuseppe Verdi: Simon Boccanegra, Prologue: Il lacerato spirito 3. Giuseppe Verdi: Nabucco, Act II: Tu sul labrro de’ veggenti fulminasti, o sommo Iddio 4. Giuseppe Verdi: Attila, Act I: Mentre gonfiarsi l’anima parea 5. Georges Bizet: Carmen, Act II: Votre toast, je peux vous le render 6. Gioachino Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia, Act II: La calunnia è un venticello 7. Charles Gounod: Faust, Act IV: Vous faites l’endormie 8. Arrigo Boito: Mefistofele, Act II: Ecco il mondo 9. Sergei Rachmaninov: Aleko: Aleko’s Cavatina 10. Modest Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov, Act IV: Proshchái moy syn* Sofia National Opera Chorus Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, György G. Ráth,conductor Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Ghiaurov,conductor Prague Tchaikovsky Orchestra, Fabrizio Milani,conductor

Giuseppe Verdi: Nabucco (TDK/ BRILLIANT CLASSICS)

Artists:
Renato Bruson: Nabucco
Lauren Flanigan: Abigaille
Carlo Colombara: Zaccaria
Monica Bacelli: Fenena
Maurizio Frusoni: Ismaele
Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro San Carlo
Conductor: Paolo Carignani
Director: Fabio Sparvoli

Key Facts:
Lenght: 132 minutes
Recording date:1997
You can buy it here

REVIEWS

“Colombara is a substantial find with his clear, resonant bass”
Michael Richter, Opera Japonica

“Carlo Colombara makes an impact. Authoritative of voice and imposing in demeanour, he display a smooth legato and an even range (including a firm high E natural)”.
Colin Clarke, Music Web

Giacomo Puccini: Turandot (RCA)

The video version of this unique September 1998 production reveals much of the merit of staging Puccini's last opera--a tale of an icy Chinese princess ultimately overcome by love--in an historically suitable setting, a courtyard surrounded by ancient halls, palaces, and gardens in Beijing. There's actually little tangible effect of the setting on the sound of the recording, which stands on the considerable merits of its soloists and conductor Zubin Mehta's apparent glory in the opera's majesty.

Artists:

Giovanna Casolla: La principessa Turandot
Carlo Colombara: Timur
Sergei Larin: Calaf
Barbara Frittoli: Liu
José Fardilha: Ping
Francesco Piccoli: Pang
Carlo Allemano: Pong
Vittorio Vitelli: Un mandarino

Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Conductor: Zubin Mehta

PRICE

You can buy it here and here

REVIEWS
“Carlo Colombara, the Timur, is a good basso”.
James Miller, Andante

Gaetano Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor (Opus Arte)

Donizetti's great tragedy is his undisputed masterpiece of melancholic romanticism, with the doomed love between Lucia and Edgardo retold from Sir Walter Scott's novel The Bride of Lammermoor. The 1992 production heightens the story’s powerful libretto with its dramatic visual design and first class musical performances.

Artists:
Renato Bruson: Enrico Ashton
Mariella Devia: Lucia
Vincenzo La Scola: Sir. Edgardo
Marco Berti: Lord Arturo Bucklaw
Carlo Colombara: Raimondo Bidebent
Floriana Sovilla: Alisa
Ernesto Gavazzi: Normann

Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala
Conductor: Stefano Ranzani
Stage Director: Pier' Alli

Key Facts:
Running time: 143 min.

You can buy it here

REVIEWS

“Carlo Colombara is a tower of ecclesiastical strength as the sympathetic yet ‘politically correct’ Raimondo”
Music Web International

Giuseppe Verdi: Jérusalem (TDK)

Artists:

Ivan Momirov: Gaston
Veronica Villarroel: Hélène
Federica Bragaglia: Isaure
Alain Fondary: Le Comte de Toulouse
Carlo Colombara: Roger
Carlo di Cristoforo: Adhémar de Monteuil

Coro e Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice
Conductor: Michel Plasson
Stage director: Piergiorgio Gay

Key Facts:
Length: 166 min.
Label: TDK
Recording date: November, 2000

You can buy it here

REVIEWS
“Carlo Colombara reléve le défi d’un personnage déchiré, qui par détermination décuple ses efforts pour retrouver l’humanité que sa jalousie première, avait écartée… Pour les solistes, notre enthousiasme s’émousse, sauf pour le Roger de Carlo Colombara dont la tenue de rôle au fur et à mesure du spectacle se bonifie de scène en scène”.
ClassicNews.com

“The most convincing singer is bass Carlo Colombara as the real murderer, Roger”
Review Focus

“The older generation does better, with Carlo Colombara vigorous and committed as the near-brother-killer-turned-hermit Roger”
BBC Music Magazine

“As the guilt-ridden Roger, the most interesting character in Jerusalem, Carlo Colomban sings with his customary authority”.
Gramophone

Amilcare Ponchielli: La Gioconda (Dynamic)

Recorded live at the Arena di Verona, Italy, June 2005

Artists

Andrea Gruber (La Gioconda, a street singer)
Marco Berti (Enzo Grimaldi, exiled Genoese prince in love with Laura)
Alberto Mastromarino (Barnaba, sadistic spy who lusts after Gioconda)
Eildiko Komlosi (Laura Adorno, wife of Alvise and loved by Enzo)
Carlo Colombara (Alvise, one of the Heads of the State Inquisition)
Elisabetta Fiorillo (La Cieca, blind mother of Gioconda)

Orchestra, Chorus and Corps de Ballet of the Arena di Verona
Donato Renzetti (conductor)
Pier Luigi Pizzi (director)

Key Facts
Length: 162 min.
Nº of disc: 2 DVD, 3 CDs
Label: DYNAMIC

You can buy it here

REVIEWS

“Colombara is another to reveal a lovely legato”
Colin Clarke, Music Web

“Carlo Colombara, en Alvise, a du creux et de la noblesse”
Vincent Deloge, ResMusica

“Both the Barnaba of Alberto Mastromarino and the Alvise of Carlo Colombara are sung with firm expressive tone. Carlo Colombara’s Alvise is strongly sung and acted. He is physically imposing and sings with good diction and a wide range of expression in Si, morir ella (D 2 Ch.1). He is a very definite plus among today’s Italian basso cantante. His vocal and acting abilities are very evident and a great strength in this production”.
Robert J Farr, Music Web

“Bass Carlo Colombara sings Alvise with the requisite snarl and notable tonal center”.
Robert Levine, Classic Today

Amilcare Ponchielli: La Gioconda (TDK)

This DVD was recorded live in the Gran Teatre del Liceu of Barcelona in 2005

Artists:

Deborah Voight: Gioconda
Elisabetta Fiorillo: Laura Adorno a Genoese lady, Alvise’s wife
Carlo Colombara: Alvise Badoero, one of the heads of the State Inquisition
Ewa Podels: La Cieca, Gioconda’s blind mother
Richard Margison: Enzo Grimaldo, Genoese prince
Orchestra & Chorus of the Arena di Verona
Conductor: Daniel Oren
Stage director: Pier Luigi Pizzi

Key Facts
Length: 174 min.
Nº of disc: 2
Label: TDK

You can buy it here

REVIEWS

“Carlo Colombara, whom I first heard on Morandi’s Naxos recording of Verdi’s Requiem and was deeply impressed, is a bit woolly in the first act but comes into his own in the third where he cuts an imposing Alvise and sings the recitative and aria that open the act with dark steady tone”.
Göran Forsling, Music Web

“Carlo Colombara is a properly cold Alvise, his sound big and scary as he condemns [Laura] to death”.
Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

“Carlo Colombara est un Alvise à la voix chaude et incisive”.
Valéry Fleurquin, ResMusica

“Solider Bass Carlo Colombara”
Jochen Breiholz, Rondo

Giuseppe Verdi: Nabucco (Decca)

Artists

Leo Nucci (Nabucco)
Maria Guleghina (Abigaille)
Carlo Colombara (Zaccaria)

Orchestra & Chorus of the Arena di Verona Daniel Oren (conductor)

Key Facts

Filmed in High-Definition Widescreen. Includes 'Making of' documentary as an extra and English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Chinese subtitles.
Duration: 154 mins
Nº of disc: 1 Disc
Format: NTSC DVD
Audio Selection: LPCM Stereo / DTS 5.1 Surround

You can buy it here

REVIEWS

“Très crédible dans son rôle…Carlo Colombara (Zaccaria) ne manque pas de voix non plus”.
Jean-Charles Goldstuck, ResMusic.com

“Best of the principals is Carlo Colombara’s Zaccaria, who delivers big and authoritative singing”.
George Hall, BBC Music Magazine

“Carlo Colombara's Zaccaria is robust and of vibrant colour”.
Fabio Zannoni, Il Giornale della Musica

“…al costat del gran Zaccaria que és Carlo Colombara”.
Jaume Radigales, Dietari Operistic

“La basse Carlo Colombara est un Zaccaria tout àfait correct”.
Audrey Vasselin, ClassiqueInfoDisque.com

“The High Priest, Zaccaria, the third major character, has one of the great bass roles in the Verdi repertoire: finely sung here by Carlo Colombara, firm, sonorous and noble in bearing”.
John Steane, Music Web