Antonio Cagnoni (1828-96) Re Lear (1895)

[Alan Howe]

No, it's not Verdi, or even Ponchielli. Nevertheless, Re Lear is a fine opera with melodies galore and particularly captivating ensemble passages. It's very decently performed in the recording on Dynamic (of the first performance(!) given in 2009) - another unjustly neglected work worthy of any opera lover's attention. Does anyone else know it?

[alberto]

I know by Antonio Cagnoni only the contribution ("Quid sum miser") to the collective "Messa per Rossini" (1869) which was composed by thirteen different composers (among them Verdi, whose contribution dwarfes the -not negligible-others' sections). The "Messa per Rossini", unperformed before, was literally resurrected many years ago by Helmut Rilling. who also recorded it and performed it some times. The "Messa" has got some other advocacy.