Despite its reputation as one of Verdi’s least convincing
scores,
Un Giorno di Regno can work surprisingly well on disc and in
the theatre. Perhaps this is not surprising as although it is usually
described as Verdi’s only comic opera apart from
Falstaff there
are plenty of passages in his other operas that, if not wholly comic, have a
lighter character than the main thrust of those operas.They stand out in
greater relief as a consequence.
Un Giorno di Regno is very obviously a descendant of the
comic operas of Rossini and Donizetti but has a character of its own, less
relaxed and more steely, frenzied even, than those comparators. The driving
rhythms and melodic lines could come from any of Verdi’s earlier
operas but all the usual requirements of comic opera of this period are
present including extended
buffo duets for the Barone and the
Tesoriere.
This recording is rightly marketed as being “historical”
as it was the first commercial recording of the opera. It was however by no
means complete as almost every number is brutally cut, excising not merely
second verses but large and small chunks within numbers, often for no
obvious purpose. The result is briefer and even less relaxed in character,
but the harm done to the form of each number is drastic. The first genuinely
complete version was recorded by Philips with Jessye Norman and Jose
Carreras, conducted by Lamberto Gardelli. That appears not currently to be
available but I would be surprised if it were restored during next
year’s Verdi anniversary. If that is the case, for anyone with a
serious interest in Verdi or this opera in particular, it will be an
essential purchase if they do not have it already.
The present account is nonetheless somewhat more than a stopgap, although
the vicious cuts and dim recording will always count against it, and
the lack of text, translation or even synopsis do little to commend
the present reissue; it is also available from other sources. It is
for the singing, or more particularly for certain singers, that this
is worth hearing. The way in which the three baritones or basses relish
and put across their (many) words, in ensembles in particular, and the
sweetness of the singing of Lina Pagliughi and Juan Oncina are sources
of great delight. This sort of idiomatic performance helps prevent the
opera seeming merely coarse or routine as it can in unsympathetic hands
or throats. It is hard when listening to it to remember that Verdi wrote
it during a period of great personal unhappiness, unless it is in the
almost fierce gaiety that results at times. If this recording helps
to convince more people of its merits it can be welcomed albeit without
enormous enthusiasm.
John Sheppard
