I Puritani (2007)

Its hard to imagine a video opera collection without this superbly sung MET production of Bellinis I Puritani Not that its perfect by any means but its excellencesmost especially Anna Netrebkos electrifying singing and acting of Elvirabanish carping about other aspects of this memorable night at the opera Netrebko is fragile from the start her facial expressions and hand movements immediately conveying the girls vulnerability She has a mad scene in each act the first when she realizes her fiancé has disappeared with another woman the third in the final act a brief relapse when her returned fiancé is taken by the army to be executed But its in the second act that the real fireworks occur with a Mad Scene that rivals Donizettis Lucia for bel canto primacy Here Elvira is first heard offstage after the chorus has informed us that shes deranged She enters wearing her wedding gown and begins Qui la voce in a voice as frail as her psyche