La fedeltà premiata (Antal Doráti recording)
1976 studio album by Antal Dorati
La fedeltà premiata ("Fidelity rewarded") is a 162-minute studio album of Joseph Haydn's opera, performed by Luigi Alva, Ileana Cotrubas, Tonny Landy, Kari Lövaas, Maurizio Mazzieri, Frederica von Stade, Lucia Valentini Terrani and Alan Titus with the Chœurs de la Radio Suisse Romande and the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne under the direction of Antal Doráti. It was released in 1976.
Background
La fedeltà premiata was first performed in 1781. When it was revived in 1782, Haydn shortened and rearranged his opera and introduced extensive transpositions to accommodate recasting: Celia was changed from a mezzo-soprano to a soprano and Count Perrucchetto from a bass to a tenor, the Count gaining another aria in the process. The score used in Doráti's album is the edition compiled by the Haydn scholar H. C. Robbins Landon, which is based on Haydn's original version. The album presents Haydn's music in its entirety, except for some minor cuts to recitativo secco marked as optional by Haydn himself. Stanley Sadie wrote that as far as he was aware, the album was the first complete recording of the opera ever made.
When Doráti first approached Decca and other companies to suggest recording Haydn's operas, they rejected his proposal as too risky. La fedeltà premiata and the other works in Doráti's Haydn cycle were only taped after Philips's producer, Erik Smith, had secured support from the European Broadcasting Union.
Recording
The album was recorded using analogue technology in June 1975 in the community theatre of Épalinges, a village high in the hills above Lausanne, Switzerland.
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Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 9, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q85775454. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1976, 1781, 1782 and 1975.
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