Johann Simon MAYR (1763-1845)
Alfredo il Grande, opera seria in due atti (1819)
Alfredo/Elfrido – Marie-Luise Dressen (mezzo), Gutrumo – Markus Schäfer (tenor), Etelberto – Daniel Ochoa (bass), Alinda – Anna Feith (soprano), Alsvita – Sophia Körber (soprano), Amundo - Philipp Polhardt (tenor)
Members of the Bavarian State Opera Chorus, Simon Mayr Chorus
Concerto de Bassus/Franz Hauk
rec. 18-25 August 2019, Kongreationssaal, Neuburg an der Donau, Bavaria, Germany
Booklet with notes and synopsis in English and German
First Recording
NAXOS 8.660483-84 [87:08 + 69:16]
Naxos and the Munich-based conductor Franz Hauk continue their gradual exhumations of the long abandoned operas of J.S. Mayr, with this new release of his opera on the subject of Alfred the Great. The opera premiered in Bergamo in 1819, with further productions in Milan and Brescia, after 1822 it disappeared entirely from the repertory. The story concerns King Alfred’s need to don the disguise of a wandering bard during one of the Danish invasions of England, something which has only the most tenuous of links to any real events in the life of the 9th century king.
The overture begins with some rather dramatic and original sounding music for its period. The composer was clearly inspired by Beethoven, both here and in a later prison scene for the heroine in which the accompanied recitatives are exciting and have a strong similarity to Fidelio. There is also an oddly bouncy yet percussive wedding march which left me feeling confused. Elsewhere I discovered that much of Mayr’s music is imaginatively scored, decorative and versatile without being entirely memorable. Despite this, there is a beautiful romanza in the second act for Alfred/Alsvita which clearly inspired Giacomo Meyerbeer to create the ravishing trio that he wrote for Il crociato in Egitto in 1824, the two pieces are remarkably similar to one another.
The title role is sung by Marie-Luise Dressen. Her gentle and slightly pungent sound is most attractive. She displays a well-schooled voice but doesn’t contribute much in the way of characterization. Perhaps the fault for that lies with Mayr rather than the singer. She phrases the music of the romanza quite lovingly. As the heroine Alsvita, Sophia Körber reveals a voice with a distinctively plaintive sound and a vocal timbre that often reminded me of Cheryl Studer. She acquits herself honorably in the more dramatic music of the dungeon scene and she blends well with Dressen in the delicately traced duet in Act One.
Among the male singers Markus Schäfer’s Gutrumo gets a lengthy opening aria with chorus. He manages it well with only the occasional patch of cloudy tone. Daniel Ochoa makes a definite impression as Etelberto, the heroine’s father. While he has no aria of his own he is a strong presence in many of the ensembles with his trenchant bass tone.
Franz Hauk leads his period ensemble, the Concerto de Bassus, in a loving exploration of the unfamiliar score. The orchestra plays beautifully for him, although a few more string players would be welcome to flesh out the music. I suspect that Mayr would have had a larger orchestra available to him in 1819; still this is a minor point. This recording, with its finely engineered studio sound and diligent cast, deserves a welcome for throwing light on another long lost operatic curiosity.
Mike Parr
