Home listening - a world premiere recording for… Puccini

The Guardian 0

Mark Elder conducts a star cast in the original one-act version of Le Willis. Plus, a thrilling new account of Bluebeard’s Castle

• Opera Rara, half a century old next year, is a goldmine for anyone on a quest for rarities. You don’t expect Puccini to be among its composers, yet its latest release is the world premiere recording of his first opera, Le Willis (1884), in the original one-act version. Based on the legend of the sylph-like Vila, who appear in the ballet Giselle, it is better known in its 1889 two-act revision, called Le Villi (music from which is included here).

Unlikely to be staged, this is the ideal way to explore Puccini’s youthful gift for lyricism and melody and to hear how, even in his early 20s, despite the static drama, he could shape a duet into a heartfelt emotional episode. The conductor is Opera Rara’s former artistic director, Mark Elder, with Ermonela Jaho in the title role and Arsen Soghomonyan as her faithless lover, Roberto, deftly accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.