Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901)
Attila - opera in a prologue and three acts (1846)
Attila, King of the Huns - Samuel Ramey (bass); Ezio, a Roman general - Giorgio
Zancanaro (baritone); Odabella, daughter of the Lord of Aquileia - Cheryl Studer
(soprano); Foresto, a knight of Aquilea - Neil Schicoff (tenor); Uldino, a
young Breton, Attila’s slave - Ernesto Gavazzi (tenor); Leone, an ancient
Roman - Giorgio Surian (bass)
Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, Milan/Riccardo Muti
rec. Abanella, Milan, July-August 1989
EMI CLASSICS 3 09106 2 [76.01 + 39.50 + CD-ROM]
Premiered in 1846, when Verdi was thirty-three years old, Attila is
Verdi’s ninth opera. It appeared well into the period following the success
of his third opera, Nabucco in 1841. He called this period his Years
in the galley as, during this time, he was constantly on the move from
his base in Milan to bring his latest opera to the stage and supervise revivals
of others. The punishing pace took its toll on his frail psyche and bodily
well-being. In 1845 he wrote My mind is always black. I must look forward
to the passing of the next three years. I must write six operas. One of
those six was Attila. It was the first of three written under a contract
with the publisher Lucca who retained all rights. It was the first time Verdi
had written for a publisher not a theatre. Some years later Lucca sold the
autograph to a wealthy Englishman living in Florence. It is now held in the
British Museum and is the only Verdi autograph not held by the Italian publisher
Ricordi or the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.
Based on Zacharias Werner’s play Attila, König der Hunnen,
the opera was first performed at the Teatro La Fenice, Venice, on 17 March
1846. It follows on from the failure of Alzira whose limitations the
composer himself recognised. Interest in Attila only waned as it was
overtaken by the popularity of the great trio of the composer’s middle
period: Rigoletto, Il Trovatore and La Traviata.
With their rousing choruses and oppressed people, Verdi’s early operas
became associated with the Risorgimento, the battle for the unification of
the separate states of the Italian peninsula, most of which were under foreign
occupation. Certainly, when the Roman General Ezio calls on the conquering
Attila, You may have the universe but leave Italy to me, the
line roused the contemporary population against the occupying Hapsburgs. Verdi
was certainly inspired by the story, and although there are significant choral
contributions, the librettists followed his instructions to concentrate on
the principals.
The role of the somewhat magnanimous victor, Attila, requires a full
and refulgent basso cantante voice. In the well-conducted and recorded
rival CD version on Philips (426 115-2), one of the earliest of its early Verdi
recordings, Ruggero Raimondi sings the title role sonorously albeit with a
lugubrious touch. In this EMI reissue, Samuel Ramey’s singing is strong
voiced, well characterised and has good diction and an idiomatic feel for a
Verdian phrase. These attributes are heard to good effect in Attila’s
duet with Ezio who utters the fateful phrase Avrai tu l’universo, Resti
l’Italia a me (CD 1 tr.10). The duet between Attila and Ezio is thrilling
in typical middle period Verdian style with some rum-ti-tum music that belies
the sentiments expressed (CD 1 trs. 9-12). The Ezio of Giorgio Zancanaro matches
Ramey for vocal strength but fails to do so in characterisation. His singing
lacks any great variety of tonal colour and is no match for that of Sherrill
Milnes on the Philips issue (CD 2 trs.1-4). As Foresto, the American Neil Schicoff
is even less of a match for the ever vocally elegant Bergonzi. Shicoff sounds
strained in places, monochromic in tone with the tendency for an incipient
bleat to protrude when the voice is under pressure (CD 1 trs.16-19). The role
of Odabella, whose father Attila has killed and who stabs him in revenge at
the conclusion of the finale (CD 2 tr.18), needs a strong voiced soprano with
flexibility and heft as well as a wide tonal palette. Cheryl Studer has these
qualities in abundance in her outstanding portrayal here and is a very significant
plus over Cristina Deutekom for Philips who lacks the ideal tonal weight and
variety as well as dramatic vibrancy.
Of the two conductors, both distinguished Verdians, Muti is strict in adhering
to the score and is intensely dramatic whilst Gardelli for Philips is better
balanced in his treatment of the more lyric moments. The idiomatic chorus of
La Scala, whose Italian squilla is a big plus, aids Muti in his realisation
of the work. However, the added clarity of the digital recording is somewhat
marred by the rather forward placing of the soloists which adds a hardness
that the analogue recording of Philips avoids. That being said, the Abanella
is far preferable as a recording venue to La Scala whose acoustics have defeated
many recording engineers.
Robert J Farr