Poliuto

Sony Classical announces a further batch of complete recordings from the CBS/Sony and RCA Victor catalogues. The newest installment of this popular series features some unusual repertoire as well as documents of the New York Metropolitan Opera in it's postwar heyday. Another rarity, this one Italian, is Donizetti's Poliuto, a story of the martyrdom of a saint, based on a tragedy by Corneille. The work, which clearly influenced Verdi, is filled with splendid music - the second act finale has been called one of the best sustained ensemble passages in all of Italian opera. In this 1986 recording from Vienna, the title role is taken by José Carreras, "in splendid form... Katia Ricciarelli gives the heroine an inward warmth and tenderness" (Penguin Guide).