Time to add a few more titles to my personal survey of favorite opera scores. I’ve already made it up to 1819, with twenty-some gems appraised. But before I continue, a few words about where my head’s been for the last couple of months.
Early in May I made a great discovery on a site called rateyourmusic.com. It was a post called “Baroque Opera” put together by someone called Xenakis. In it the author posted a list of the 159 baroque era operas he’d explored so far, each with brief commentaries describing his reactions. I found Xenakis’s observations both cogent and entertaining. What’s more the piece supplied me with a treasure trove of baroque titles I’d never listened to and in most cases had never even heard of. My own excavations began immediately both on YouTube and at the Public Library. First explored was “Isbe” (Jean-Joseph de Mondeville) from 1742. I’d never heard of either the opera or its composer but Xenakis rated it very highly. And boy was I glad I listened to that recommendation. It’s a wonderful work, excitingly presented in a 2016 recording conducted by Gyorg Vashegyi. Since then I’ve been happily rediscovering a number of other works that would probably have escaped my attention were it not for Xenakis.
Currently I’m happily embroiled in “Orfeo”(Luigi Rossi-1647). Baroque and early Romantic composers seemed to write operas about the Orpheus legend with the same frequency that celebrities of a few years back used to post ice bucket challenge videos. I’ve heard and enjoyed many of them. But this may be my favorite of all. The libretto (by Francesco Buti) adds a number of new characters to the familiar story, most of them meddling gods and goddesses hauling in their own percolating subplots. But the opera never seems overpopulated. That’s because composer Rossi seems to draw from a bottomless well of musical inspiration. Every character, every plot thread gets to make its own distinctive melodic impact. Rossi has a particular gift for creating sublimely harmonic duets and ensemble numbers. And the addition of new characters to the mix just gives him more opportunities to display that marvelous gift. The recording I’m listening to is from 1991 (Harmonia Mundi label), conducted by the great William Christie. He and his group Les Arts Florissants have been absolutely critical in both preserving baroque opera’s legacy and sparking modern enthusiasm for it. Orchestra and chorus are superb, the soloists all splendid. Seek it out. You won’t be disappointed.
Anyway, back to the present (or at least to 1820). Here’s the next entry in my own chronological survey.
MARGHERITA D’ANJOU(Meyerbeer-1820)
Jakob Beer (later known professionally as Giacomo Meyerbeer) was born to a wealthy and socially prominent family in Germany in 1891. His musical talents were evident early on; by the age of nine he’d emerged as a widely heralded piano prodigy. But composing was Beer’s real ambition and his first opera (in German) appeared when he was twenty.
Feeling that Italy was at that point opera’s real creative center, the young man moved there in 1813. Falling in love with the country’s music and culture, he totally immersed himself in the new scene, studying, learning and growing by leaps and bounds. It was at this time that he adopted the Italianate “Giacomo” as his first name and changed his last name to “Meyerbeer” (combining his grand father’s first name “Meyer” with the family name “Beer”). Looking toward the wildly successful Rossini (six months younger than Meyerbeer) for inspiration, the young German began to create Italian operas. “Emma di Resburgo”(1819) received favorable attention. But it was “Margherita d’Anjou” the following year that gave Meyerbeer” his first substantial hit. Many more were to follow. “Margherita” is set in 15th century Britain. The title character is the widow of English king Henry VI, deposed and killed during the Wars of the Roses. She returns from exile determined to reclaim the throne for her young son. With its full complement of onstage pageantry and rousing choral interludes. the work prefigures the grandly scaled French operas that would bring Meyerbeer to the height of his fame in later years. Oddly, the composer seems reluctant to completely dispense with the recitatives that were quickly falling out of fashion. They’re not pervasive in “Margherita” but occur frequently enough to make their presence felt. Not enough, though, to take the spotlight away from the real glories of Meyerbeer’s score. Each lovely aria is followed by another of equal allure in an imposing display of melodic invention. Meyerbeer’s sympathetic orchestrations weave a cocoon of comfort and tenderness around his singers, one that can’t help but encourage commitment and inspiration. A 2002 recording from Opera Rara (beautifully conducted by David Parry) fully reveals what a treasure this work is.
ALESSANDRO NELL’INDIE(Pacini-1824)
Set against the colorful backdrop of Alexander the Great’s attempt to conquer India, this one starts off with a lovely choral prelude. Fortunately the chorus reappears often during the proceedings, at times coming to the rescue when things occasionally threaten to get plodding. “Alessandro”’s a prime example of what was called a clemency opera, wherein an authority figure’s sudden magnanimity solves everyone’s problems just before the curtain falls. A great hit in its day but basically unrevived until Opera Rara’s high quality recording in 2006.
IL CROCIATO IN EGITTO(Meyerbeer-1824)
A spectacle set during the time of the Crusades. There’s lots of attractive music on hand but a preponderance of recitatives throughout keeps interrupting the general flow. Audiences of the time didn’t seem to mind, though. This was the work that made Meyerbeer’s international reputation. One of the great popular successes of the 1820’s; nowadays it’s hardly ever performed.
LA DAME BLANCHE(Boieldieu-1825)
This one’s a real curiosity. Though widely accepted as an opera, the thing is liberally peppered with dialogue sequences. Which seem to qualify it as more of an operetta. Yet this is many decades before the operetta as a genre really took hold, What’s more, large swaths of “La Dame Blanche” sound specifically like a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. And that pair didn’t hit the scene till the 1870’s. But if W.S. Gilbert had written English lyrics to some of the music from Boieldieu’s score and incorporated it into one of the G&S operettas, I suspect audiences would have been perfectly happy with the results. The plot of “La Dame Blanche” is convoluted nonsense involving an amnesiac, a mysterious veiled lady and a spooky castle whose ownership is up for grabs. Things take place but none of it carries much dramatic weight – or even makes much sense. What can’t be denied, though, is the charm of Boieldieu’s music. Edit out the dialogue and this can be enjoyed by any music lover – whatever their language – from happy start to happy finish.
ELVIDA(Donizetti-1826)
A one acter, jaunty and melodious. The soprano heroine gets some lovely showcase moments. With many splendid choral passages also on offer.
CARITEA, REGINA DI SPAGNA(Mercadante-1826)
Mercadante was an avid admirer of Rossini. He also had a marvelous knack for mimicking Rossini’s popular style. Caritea illustrates that point nicely. One could be forgiven for thinking that this was, in fact, a Rossini piece – though – by this time – Rossini himself had decamped from Italy and launched a new and successful career in France. “Caritea” is fairly long -and I kept waiting for it to run out of steam. But it never did. Pleasantly listenable from beginning to end. I imagine audiences must have left the theater in 1826 feeling their evening had been enjoyably spent.
ALINA REGINA DI GOLCONDA(Donizetti-1828).
There’s nothing in the score to suggest this opera’s exotic setting. But it still makes for very pleasant listening. Alina of the title is a European maiden captured by pirates and carried off to Golconda in India. The local king, smitten in fairytale style, takes her as his queen. And there's still a great deal more story after that. All suitably adorned with show-off coloratura moments for its heroine and lots of effectively integrated choral dazzle.
DER VAMPYR(Marschner-1828)
A startling creation, “Der Vampyr” seems many generations ahead of the period when it was first written and performed. Some say it was heavily influenced by Weber’s famous supernatural opera “Der Freischutz” from 1821. But to these ears Weber’s approach sounds straightforward and rather conventional next to that of Marschner, who skilfully blends older musical styles with sudden rhythmic and tonal shifts that can take your breath away. Wagner saw both onstage as a youngster and remembered the Weber as disappointing, the Marschner as a genuine revelation. Certainly , Marschner’s opera has a strong premise. A charismatic vampire has till midnight to find three pure – but willing – victims or his own existence will cease. For whatever reasons, the opera has never really entered the standard repertoire. But there have been some worthy revivals over the years. The BBC did a TV production, setting it in Jack the Ripper’s London. And on YouTube I caught the second half of a Hungarian production (the first part being maddeningly unavailable). This time they relocated it to feudal Japan, giving the piece altogether different levels of fascination. visual and otherwise. The CD to get is the Cappriccio one from 1999 with Franz Hawlata, outstanding in the title role. A really magnificent recording.
IMELDA DE’ LAMBERTAZZI(Donizetti-1830)
A Romeo and Juliet type scenario enhanced by a well constructed score. Nice mix of stirring drama and lilting melody. A particular highlight is the heroine’s ‘Ma il ciel non ode I miei lamenti” in Act One. Surprised it’s not a more frequent choice for sopranos to single out for concert or album performance.
IL DILUVIO UNIVERSALE(Donizetti-1830)
Composers, often eager for commissions, sometimes wrote works for specific religious and state occasions. This opera, based on the Biblical story of the Great Flood, was created to be performed during the Lenten season in Genoa. As a listening experience, it comes off as a very spirited oratorio, full of stirring choral passages, often aiming for (and capturing) a grandeur commensurate to its subject.
ROSMONDA D’INGHILTERRA(Donizetti-1834)
This opera concerns Henry II of England and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, principals of the famous play (and film) “The Lion in Winter”. The purported incidents here take place much earlier in their lives. If true, they would certainly add further credibility to the bitterly complicated relationship the two shared in later years. The pair’s behaviour in the course of Donizetti’s opera leads to violence and tragedy and would certainly afford each plenty of reason to blame the other. Henry seduces an innocent (Rosmonda) - who doesn’t know he’s the king and doesn’t know he’s married. He installs his lovelorn conquest in a remote hiding place. But Eleanor gets wind of the affair and begins to plot a complicated revenge. Neither Henry nor Eleanor are portrayed as complete villains but the results of their considerable misbehaviour redound most tragically on Rosmonda herself. Donizetti’s music is crisply engaging throughout. But he invest particular sensitivity and tenderness in the passages sung by Rosmonda. The opera, while mildly popular when it first appeared, languished in obscurity for 150 years or so thereafter. Two Opera Rare recordings, one in 1975 the other in 1994 did much to reestablish its profile. In the later version, future luminary Renee Fleming played Rosmonda and the resultant acclaim did much to put her on the map.
