Carlo Allemano; Lavinia Bini; Mattia Olivieri; Marco Bussi; Lucia Cirillo; Luigi De Donato; Federico Benetti; Emanuele D'Aguanno; Coro della Radiotelevisione svizzera; Orchestra Della Svizzera Italiana; Diego Fasolis - Richard Flury: Casanova e l'Albertolli

Two traditions coalesce in Casanova e l'Albertolli (1937), the third of the four operas by the Swiss late-Romantic composer Richard Flury (1896-1967): Italian bel canto and the Swiss Festspiel - high art and popular culture. Styled a 'Commedia lirica', it invests the comic intrigue onstage with sweeping melodies of Puccinian richness, combining them with choruses based on Ticino folksong - it even has a yodelling chorus - in an engaging hybrid that deserves to be far better known. At the end, of course, evil is banished and love rewarded, but the entire score is dappled with happy inspirations that will bring a smile to the listener's lips.