In May 1813 Rossini’s
L’Italiana in Algeri was a great success when it was
premiered at teatro San Bernedetto in Venice. Little more than
a year later Teatro alla Scala in Milan mounted Il Turco
in Italia. Il Turco failed to find even a precarious
foothold in the contemporary repertoire and was probably regarded
as a pale imitation of L’Italiana. It did not help that
the action proceeds at two levels; too tough a nut to crack
for many opera-goers. It is a traditional Buffo with
secco recitatives and few arias. Instead there are numerous
ensembles and that may also have been an obstacle. Last but
not least, it seldom reaches the exalted level of L’Italiana
when it comes to the memorability of the music.
This is of course
a personal view, partly since I have come to know L’Italiana
much better through the years. Rossini hardly ever wrote indifferent
music, so there is a lot to admire, a lot to be amazed at; the
sheer vitality of it is life-enhancing in its modest way. Now
and then he comes up with something that makes time stand still.
In this opera it is Fiorilla’s big recitative and aria with
chorus near the end of the second act, I vostri censi vi
mondo … Squallida veste e bruna (CD2 track 14). This might
have been a high-spot in any tragic Italian opera from the first
half of the 19th century. It wasn’t enough, though,
to ensure the opera as a whole a longer lease of life, even
though it was revived less than a decade later and also reached
London, Edinburgh and New York. The rest is silence, though,
until it was dug up half a century ago and found an ideal interpreter
of Fiorilla’s part in Maria Callas, for once venturing into
comic repertoire. Her rendering of it was also recorded by Columbia
in 1954, a recording that has been recently reissued by Naxos,
almost simultaneously with this brand new set. With Gavazzeni
conducting La Scala forces and a starry cast featuring an imposing
Nicola Rossi-Lemeni as Selim, Nicolai Gedda as Don Narciso and
even veteran buffo Mariano Stabile as the Poet, this is a classic.
There have been others too: on Sony there was one with Montserrat
Caballé, and a Philips version conducted by John Eliot Gardiner
with Sumi Jo as Fiorilla – the latter probably the safest recommendation
for a modern version. Some readers may raise their eyebrows
when seeing the choices of heroines. There must be a world of
difference between the approaches of Callas, Caballé and Jo
to the part. However, as so often in opera, there is rarely
only one way of interpreting a role.
Probably knowing
the vices and virtues of these three, you may ask: ‘ ... and
where do we place Myrtò Papatanasiu?’ She may be a new name
to many. This recording was my first encounter with her. The
answer is: she has her own integrity. As her name reveals she
is Greek and in that respect she could have something in common
with Callas. She is also a good actor, technically accomplished,
handles all the runs and trills and embellishments with superior
ease and she has a great deal of power when needed. There is
a certain hardness to her tone, or rather, it isn’t as liquid
and rounded as Caballé’s and she hasn’t such perfectly controlled
vibrato as Sumi Jo. On the other hand there is none of that
squalliness that is sometimes the reverse side of Callas’s gold
coin, she never smudges a run as Caballé can and she has a power
reserve that is far beyond Sumi Jo’s armoury. In sum Ms Papatanasiu’s
Fiorilla is very much her own. At her first appearance in the
aria Non si dà follia maggiore (CD1 track 6) I noted
the liveliness, the musicality. She only gets better as the
opera progresses, exquisite in duets with Selim and Geronio
in the first act, lovely in her second act cavatina (CD2 track
4) and sparkling in the duet with Selim (CD2 track 6). She crowns
her performance with the aforementioned big second act aria
(CD2 track 14), actually a long tragic scena – and very taxing.
She may have a more limited palette of colours than Callas but
just listen to her fireworks from around 8:00! It is just as
well to learn the name Myrtò Papatanasiu. I’m sure to hear more
from her.
I took the heroine
as my starting point for this review since I think she is the
best reason for buying this set. This does not imply that the
rest is bad but none of the other soloists reaches her level
of excellence. The one who runs her closest is the experienced
Natale De Carolis. This fine singer has been around for more
than twenty years, singing in all the big houses. He is also
a well-known quantity on records. Rummaging for a while in my
collection I found a highlights disc from Le nozze di Figaro
(Naxos 8.554172) where he is a sympathetic valet. Recorded in
1997 he had more sap in his voice than as Selim in the present
2003 offering, but the Figaro cover describes him as a baritone.
Although he is a notch darker than the two baritones on this
set he is not the booming basso that Rossi-Lemeni could be.
Apart from that and a feeling that his voice is becoming a bit
worn, his is a creditable portrait of the Turkish prince. He
is technically assured and always expressive as can be heard
in the duets with Fiorilla. That he can rip off a real tongue-twisting
patter-duet is proved with excellence at the beginning of act
2 (CD2 track 2). His partner there is Don Geronio, sung by Massimiliano
Gagliardo, who is a young man and who sounds young and is quite
light-voiced. Piero Guarnera as the Poet, appropriately enough
sounds older.
Of the two tenors
Amedeo Moretti as Don Narciso sports a bright voice with quite
an edge that seems a bit out of character for a deeply amorous
young man. He has a softer side too but what remains in my memory
is of a slightly acidulous tone. His recitative and aria in
act 2 (CD2 track 8) is a dramatic piece and although he sings
it with gusto he feels slightly over-parted by it. He has the
same kind of voice as Luigi Alva, great Rossinian in the fifties
and sixties, but with more acid and less honey, if you see what
I mean. He is a very secure singer and his top notes have a
certain thrill.
The other tenor,
Daniel Zanfardino, is also vouchsafed an aria (CD2 track 10)
– not by Rossini!. This is much lighter and actually a lovely
piece with a lot of embellishments, sung here with the required
elegance and liquid tone. This singer may be one to watch: according
to the booklet he was born in 1978 so here he was only 25. Take
care of that voice, Daniel! Damiana Pinti as Zaida hasn’t much
to sing but what she has she handles well.
There is a good
orchestra, obviously well-rehearsed, and the playing is lively.
Marzio Conti keeps the music moving. In the overture we hear
a fine French horn solo and also a fiery solo trumpet. Overall
Conti is careful to exhibit Rossini’s sometimes inventive orchestration,
not least the short ritornell between the recitative and the
aria proper in the tenor aria in act two (CD2 track 8). The
recitatives are accompanied by a fortepiano, placed to the far
right. Gianni Fabbrini decorates them quite extensively which
lends them extra liveliness.
I can’t find any
indications in the booklet that this is a live recording but
it obviously is since there is a generous amount of unwritten
bumps and bangs. On the other hand the recording balance is
immaculate, no voices coming and going as is often the case
with live recordings, and there is no sign of an audience: no
one coughing, no applause after separate numbers, not even at
the end of acts. No great loss, actually.
The booklet has
a short essay on the work and the usual synopsis by Keith Anderson
and also artists bios. “The Italian libretto may be accessed
on the Naxos
website.
This will probably
not be a first choice to many. The Callas set is in its own
way hors concours and the Gardiner is a safer bet among
modern recordings. This one nevertheless has its own validity.
First time buyers could very well start here. I don’t think
they will feel short-changed and they will hopefully fall just
as much in love with Myrtò Papatanasiu as I have done.
Göran Forsling
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Natale De Carolis (bass)
– Selim, a Turkish prince; Myrtò Papatanasiu (soprano) – Donna Fiorilla,
a capricious woman; Massimiliano Gagliardo (baritone) – Don Geronio, her
husband; Amedeo Moretti (tenor) – Don Narciso, an admirer of Donna Fiorilla;
Piero Guarnera (baritone) – Prosdocimo, a poet and acquaintance of Don
Geronio; Damiana Pinti (mezzo-soprano) – Zaida, former slave and betrothed
of Selim, then a gypsy; Daniele Zanfardino (tenor) – Albazar, confidant
of Selim, then a gypsy, follower and confidant of Zaida
