Italian composer Salvatore Sciarrino had already begun work on an opera based on madrigalist Carlo Gesualdo's notorious murder of his wife and her lover in 1590 when he learned that Alfred Schnittke was working on a similar project. He deleted the sections of the text and music that specifically referred to Gesualdo and used a chanson by Claude le Jeune for 1609 as the musical reference for the opera. Luci mie traditrici (Oh My Betraying Eyes) is spare in the extreme, both in its instrumentation and fragmented vocal gestures. The listener willing and able to surrender to Sciarrino's austere textures and unconventional melodic writing can experience the opera as an intense, sharply focused work with surprising musical and dramatic power. The more conventional sections, in which Sciarrino uses le Jeune's chanson in increasingly menacing manifestations, help anchor the opera emotionally and contribute to the mounting tension leading up to the murders. By the final appearance of the chanson and depiction of the murders that follow, Sciarrino's sparse, creepy gestures seem entirely apt and tie the whole experience together. The opera already had a very fine 2000 recording featuring
Beat Furrer leading the exemplary ensemble
Klangforum Wien. In spite of the technical excellence of those performers' execution, this 2003 version with
Tito Ceccherini and
Ensemble Risognanze surpasses it in the immediacy of the performance. It's a live recording, and while there is a trade off of some audience noise, the energy of the singers more than compensates for it. There seems to be chemistry between the singers (who are also technically above reproach) and their interactions have real dramatic urgency. The earlier recording made a few departures from the score, such as giving the contralto role of The Visitor to a countertenor, and the soprano Prelude to a baritone. This release follows the composer's casting intentions more faithfully, and the whole enterprise has Sciarrino's imprimatur. For the fan of new opera and cutting-edge European modernism who must chose, this is the version to have, but anyone who loves the composer's music will probably want to hear both.