First performed in 1812 at La Scala, La pietra del paragone (The touchstone) proved to be a hit for the 20-year-old Rossini, with 53 performances that season. The plot concerns Count Asdrubale (bass-baritone), who is pursued by three women. He wants to know if he is loved for himself or his wealth and so he devises an elaborate scheme, abetted by his servant, Fabrizio, to make it look as if an African prince has stripped him of his belongings. Only the widowed Marchesa, Clarice, and Asdrubale’s friend, the poet Giocondo (who also loves Clarice, unrequitedly), remain loyal when the plot is discovered at the end of Act 1. In the second act the other characters–a journalist (Macrobio), a bad poet (Pacuvio), and the grabby women, Aspasia and Donna Fulvia–try to humiliate one another while Clarice disguises herself as her own dead twin brother and discovers that the Count truly loves her. Pacuvio sings an aria–one of his poems–in Act 1, and Gioacchino Zarrelli sings it pretty well, with good, silly poise. Much of the plot is unnecessarily confusing.
This is the third recording of this opera to appear: the first is from the early 1970s (on Vanguard, under Newell Jenkins) and stars John Reardon, Beverly Wolff, and the very young and charming José Carreras. A Bongiovanni recording, slightly cut, came out about 10 years ago. Either is preferable to this new one. The ensemble work here is shoddy, and Rossini’s intricate ensembles lose their effectiveness because at least one voice is off-mike most of the time. In addition, Raffaele Costantini, who sings the Count, sounds much older than the 30 years the Count is supposed to be–more like Don Bartolo, in an all-purpose buffo sort of way. Alessandre Codeluppi isn’t a bad tenor (Giocondo), but neither is he very good (and he can’t compare with Carreras or William Matteuzzi), and although Agata Bienkowska as Clarice gets better–much better, in fact–as the opera progresses, her sound is not ingratiating (Sara Mingardo is on Bongiovanni). The rest are good enough and the performance is spirited–but there are too many mediocrities and annoyances here to warrant more attention.
