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Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901)
Ernani - lyric drama in four
acts (1844)
 Ernani, the bandit
- Placido Domingo (ten); Don Carlo, King of Spain - Renato Bruson
(bar); Don Ruy de Silva, a Spanish grandee - Nicolai Ghiaurov (bass);
Elvira, Silva’s niece and loved by Ernani - Mirella Freni (sop); Don Riccardo,
the King’s equerry - Gianfranco Manganotti (ten); Jago, equerry to Silva - Alfredo
Giacomotti (bass)
Orchestra and Chorus of La Scala, Milan/Riccardo Muti
rec. live, production by Luca Ranconi, December 1982
EMI CLASSICS 3818842 [47.34
+ 80.57]
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And
so here it is, at last. Muti’s Ernani has made its
presence felt for nearly a quarter of a century as a full-price,
three disc set. EMI have finally re-released it at lower
mid-price on only two discs, halving the expenditure. In
its current guise it, effectively, blows all the competition
out of the water. This is definitely the version of Ernani to
have.
Recorded
as part of Muti’s long-running cycle of early to middle period
Verdi operas with his La Scala forces in the 1980s, this
particular issue has garnered a huge amount of praise over
the past two decades. It has also attracted a substantial
amount of negative comment regarding Mirella Freni’s account
of Elvira. I will say straight away that this is not Freni’s
finest recorded hour; the voice shows signs of wear and the
part is obviously too big for her. She gets away with a magnificent Aida under
Karajan (available in the same series, see review)
because she recorded it under studio conditions. On the other
hand Freni on a bad night, with a sore throat and a severe
case of flu would sing well enough to eclipse pretty much
any soprano on the contemporary international stage. She
certainly wouldn’t have dropped out of the Salzburg festival.
The
problem with Freni’s performance here, and with any soprano
tackling this part on stage, is that the most taxing moments
happen very early on. The fiendish demands of ‘Ernani, Ernani
involami’ in the second scene of the first act are very difficult
to overcome. Freni, to be fair, fluffs quite a lot of the
passage work and the voice spreads uncomfortably above the
stave. If you can get past that then there is much wonderful
singing to be heard later on, and Freni is passionately and
absolutely committed to the role.
When
this production was broadcast live on British television,
it generated a considerable amount of excitement, due primarily
to the quality of the singing. At the time it was hailed
as some of the finest Verdi singing heard in quite some time.
Two decades later, and with a definite down turn in the number
of great bel canto singers on stage, such quality
makes an even greater impact. Domingo here gives what might
well be his finest recorded performance. Not very many years
after he had first essayed Verdi’s Otello, his voice
is absolutely magnificent. There is an extra baritonal element
to his voice that complements, rather than detracting from,
the heroically ringing high notes. He still retains the incredible
exuberance of his youthful Verdi performances but manages
to allay this with a greater appreciation of the finer details
of Verdi style. His Act 1 cabaletta is a supreme example
of just how exciting Verdi singing can be whilst remaining
eminently stylish. In 1983 this was the finest Ernani recorded;
I doubt very much if Domingo will be bettered.
Thankfully,
we have Bruson and Ghiaurov as the supporting males, both
at their appreciable best. Orchestras in Verdi productions
are often overlooked. Whatever criticism he may deserve,
Muti is a fantastic musical director. Few other conductors
lavish as much care and attention on a score such as this.
The result is that the La Scala forces, who have this music
in their veins anyway, give an electrifying account of the
score. Muti’s reputation as a tyrant is fully borne out by
this performance; I doubt very much if you will often hear
such disciplined playing (and singing) as this.
If
any of my above comments lead you to think that this was
merely an accurate and expertly sung performance, let me
say that this is one of the most purely enjoyable Verdi performances
that I have ever heard. Much will depend upon your opinion
of early Verdi, but if you like your drama full-blooded and
your music as tub-thumpingly blatant as possible, then you’ll
find no finer example in the current catalogue. As if the
singing, conducting and playing were not enough, EMI’s sound
is exceptionally vivid, avoiding most of the pit-falls of
recording at La Scala.
One
minor quibble; the set is nicely presented, has adequate
notes but no libretto. There is a link to the EMI website
where you can acquire one. But I am curious as to who actually
sits in front of a computer following a libretto whilst listening
to a CD? All of the releases in this current batch of EMI
opera issues have specially painted artwork; couldn’t they
have just recycled the old artwork and spent the extra money
on a printed libretto?
Squeezed
onto two discs (with no mid-act disc breaks) it represents
a real bargain and shoots it straight to the top of recommendations
for this opera.
Owen E Walton
see also review by Robert J Farr
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