To many Meyerbeer is
known as the father of ‘Grand Opera’,
and his talent is justly associated
with the scenes of spectacle and splendour
that were the hallmarks of his Paris
operas. Certainly other composers, such
as Verdi, felt the consequences of Meyerbeer’s
influence when commissioned to write
works for the French capital. Meyerbeer’s
impact on Wagner is more problematic,
and whilst the latter acknowledged that
he owed much to the former’s approach
to the stage, he preferred to name others
as musical influences. Perhaps Wagner’s
known anti-Semitism was influential
in this judgement and attitude; Meyerbeer
was born Jakob Liebmann Beer, the son
of a wealthy Jewish Berlin banker.
A piano prodigy, Meyerbeer
studied composition but his first efforts
at oratorio and opera were failures
and he took Salieri’s advice and went
to Italy to study the human voice. In
Venice in 1816 he heard Rossini’s ‘Tancredi’
and, captivated, he proceeded to write
in a similar style to the great man
and this influence is evident in at
least the first two works in this selection
of the six operas that Meyerbeer wrote
in his nine years in Italy. All were,
in varying degrees, successful. Despite
pleas from Weber to return to Germany
and that operatic genre, Meyerbeer went
to Paris in 1826 for the production
of his last Italian operas, ‘Il Crociato’,
in that city, and was so attracted to
it and French culture that he made it
his home. Meyerbeer returned to Germany
in the 1840s and was ‘Generalmusikdirektor’
in Berlin from 1842-1849. There he conducted
his own operas as well as being responsible
for the production of Wagner’s ‘Rienzi’
and getting the Berlin Opera to accept
‘Der Fliegende Holländer’. In 1863
Meyerbeer returned to Paris for the
staging of his opera ‘L’Africaine’ on
which he had been working for 25 years;
he died before it was finally produced.
Of the six ‘Italian
Operas’ featured on this disc the earliest,
‘Romilda’ was premiered at the Teatro
Nuovo in Padua on 19 July 1817 when
Meyerbeer was 25 years old. The trio
‘Che barbaro tormento’ (tr. 4) is very
much in the Rossinian style whilst lacking
the latter’s hallmarks when at his best.
Chris Merritt, Bronwen Mills and Anne
Mason all sing securely with the soprano
top line being most impressive. The
impact of Romilda was such that Meyerbeer’s
next work, ‘Semiramide’, was premiered
at the important Teatro Regio in Turin
and the Act I aria ‘Il piacer’ is sung
with full vibrantly expressive tone
by Yvonne Kenny (tr. 5). The canonic
sexet from ‘Emma Di Resburgo’ (tr. 6)
started life as a trio in Semiramide.
The opera received its first performance
at the ‘San Benedetto’ in Venice in
June 1819 shortly after Rossini’s ‘Edoardo
e Cristina’, which was largely made
up of self borrowings. In ‘Emma’, Meyerbeer
moved more towards his own distinctive
style and the work was a huge success
with the added bonus of establishing
a lasting friendship with Rossini. The
sextet ‘Di gioja, di pace’ features
a strongly sung Emma by Bronwen Mills
and the secure tenor of Paul Nilon as
Norcesto.
The success of ‘Emma’,
and with Meyerbeer now seen as the equal
of Rossini, his next work, the fourth
‘Italian Opera’, ‘Marghereta d’Anjou’,
was premiered on 14th November
1820 at La Scala, Milan, then, as now,
Italy’s most prestigious theatre. It
had a libretto by Felice Romani, the
pre-eminent librettist of his day. The
work is designated ‘melodramma semiseria’;
by 1820 the practice of mixing ‘buffa’
and ‘seria’ characteristics within the
same work was well established. The
trio ‘Pensa, e guarda. Amico, all’erta’
(tr. 9) is for three basses. It has
typical buffa patter as Riccardo, sung
by Alastair Miles, puts Carlo and the
quack doctor Michele, the buffa role,
through a series of questions. Miles,
Geoffrey Dalton and Russell Smythe sing
and interact vocally very well. In the
recently issued complete recording of
the opera by Opera Rara, to be reviewed
by me on this site, Miles sings the
role of Carlo.
Following up ‘Marghereta
d’Anjou’ was always going to be difficult
for Meyerbeer and ‘L’Esule di Granata’,
premiered at La Scala a few months after
‘Marghereta’, was less successful. Librettist
Romani’s widow suggests that part of
the reason was an anti-German cabal
who regarded Meyerbeer as an interloper.
Certainly the extended scene and duet
from the work featured here show no
lack of distinct and characterful melodic
invention (trs. 11-13). Miles as Sulemano
is particularly firm-toned and sonorous
(tr. 12). However, it is really in’
Il Crociato in Egitto’ (The Crusader
in Egypt) that Meyerbeer’s Italian period
reached its apotheosis. The work quickly
became internationally recognised as
a masterpiece. Premiered at Venice’s
‘La Fenice’ it featured what is suggested
was the last major role written for
a castrato, that of Armando. Extracts
from this work are interspersed throughout
this disc (trs. 1-3, 7, 8, 10 and 14-16)
and are taken from Opera Rara’s complete
recording of the opera released in 1992.
That recording includes the new music
and revisions the composer made for
subsequent productions that he himself
supervised. The opening scene (trs.
1-3), originally written for the role
of Felicia, was first re-written for
the castrato Velluti as Armando before
being transposed for the tenor role
of Adriano. A younger Bruce Ford, with
his clear diction and stable voice,
has become the ‘house tenor’ in Opera
Rara’s many excursions into the bel-canto
repertory. He sings the scene with full
tone, elegant phrasing and fine characterisation.
From the initial version of the opera
two other Opera Rara regulars, the soprano
Yvonne Kenny and the mezzo Diana Montague
as Armando, sing the extended duet ‘Ah!
Non ti son più cara’ (trs. 7-8).
One can appreciate to the full the demands
and ideal delivery of the bel-canto
repertoire. Likewise with the lower-toned
mezzo of Della Jones singing the original
castrato version of the aria ‘Cara mano
dell’amore’ (tr. 10). Ms Jones’ contribution
is notable for its rich wide-ranging
tone and vocal flexibility. The great
and famously grand finale of Act I is
an appropriate highlight and conclusion
to this excellent selection (trs. 14-16).
David Parry conducts
all the excerpts with style and the
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir take a full
part when appropriate. The recording
standard is all that one could wish
for whilst the manner of presentation
of the booklet details are less so;
no words or translations are included.
Whether it would have been better to
put all 36 minutes of the excerpts from
‘Il Crociato’ together at the end, allowing
easier appreciation of the evolution
of Meyerbeer’s genius, is a matter of
debate. As it is individual listeners
can programme their machines for their
own choice. I wouldn’t want that issue
to in any way detract from either the
enjoyment I have had in listening to
this music so well performed, or the
opportunity to better understand this
period of operatic composition. Very
strongly recommended.
Robert J. Farr
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir