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This is an outdoor concert for an enormous audience, staged in a large, architecturally striking public square in Dresden in July 1999, and featuring the most glamorous, young husband and wife currently active on the international operatic scene, soprano Angela Gheorghiu and tenor Roberto Alagna. Before his untimely death at age 54, Giuseppe Sinopoli was considered one of Europe's finest opera conductors, and in the Dresden orchestra and chorus he has performers who match his creative energy. The program seems to have been selected, quite successfully, with two criteria in mind: mass popularity and opportunities to display technical brilliance. Gheorghiu and Alagna join their voices in love duets from Verdi's Otello and Puccini's Madame Butterfly that will appeal especially to the many fans who have been attracted to them as a couple. But each also sings impressive solos in some of opera's top-40 numbers, notably the "Flower Song" from Carmen and "E lucevan le stelle" from Tosca for Alagna, and "Un bel di" from Madame Butterfly and "Pace, pace, mio Dio" from La forza del Destino for Gheorghiu. The chorus and orchestra take the spotlight powerfully in showpieces from La traviata, Il trovatore, Carmen, and Aida, among other selections. The only problem, a small one, is the self-consciously chic dance numbers to selections from Carmen and Aida. --Joe McLellan
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