Il Crociato in Egitto - Naxos Music Library

The esteemed Maestro gained admiration even when very young and
continues to do so as his brilliant career comes to full fruition; now it
seems he surpasses himself with this opera, better than he, and only he,
could have done. The extremely talented performers, many of whom
already know how to sustain works of little worth, were engaged to
reveal to us as clearly as possible the unusual beauty of this work; the
Venetian public who have clearly proved their rare insight in judging
the value of musical works, was obliged to welcome with enthusiasm
one of such obvious and special excellence. In fact at the first
performance, Il Crociato by Meyerbeer, sung by Signore Lalande and
Lorenzani and Signori Velluti and Crivelli, was received with
clamorous approval by an overwhelmed concourse of spectators, and
even more emphatically, convincingly and delightedly on the following
evenings, since not one hearing, not two hearings, but only many
hearings are sufficient adequate to evaluate and enjoy as a whole and in
all its parts such valuable music. Given such a spontaneous, widespread
and repeated vote of approval, this opera has already attained a preeminence
which assures the composer, if he had not already achieved
it, a clear and permanent celebrity. None allowed their attention to
waver at all throughout the performance, the numbers nevertheless that
cast a particular spell and were listened to with extra interest were the
Introduction, the duet of Velluti and Crivelli, the trio for the two ladies
and Velluti, the great finale to Act I and the quartet that ends as a
sextet, to say nothing of half a dozen choruses displaying marvellous
development and effect.
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