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SEEN
AND HEARD OPERA REVIEW
Donizetti,
Parisina:
(Concert Performance) Soloists, Geoffrey
Mitchell Choir; London Philharmonic Orchestra/David
Parry. Royal Festival Hall, 6.12.
2008 (CC)
Donizetti’s Parisina (1833) is a mightily
impressive opera. Its strength lies in its musical
structural integrity (a structural integrity that
does not extend to its theatrical side, however) and
its consistency of inspiration rather than in any
particular excerptable numbers.
Its premiere was deservedly successful but the same
cannot be said of subsequent revivals and over time
the opera has fallen into the shadows. Sheer haste
towards the date of the premiere meant that the final
act does not tie up all ends, and that Ugo, the
opera’s tenor lead, dies off-stage. Perhaps the
imbalance of the act timings has not helped its cause
in the opera house: Act I
lasted 1 hour 12 minutes; Act II
was just shy of an hour; Act III,
33 minutes.
The plot is that of a tragedy. Parisina loves Ugo, an
orphan taken into the court of Azzo (historically
Niccolò III, Duke of Ferrara), but she has been
forced to marry Azzo instead. She still loves Ugo
however; and
in jealousy, Azzo sends
Ugo away. This is the background to Act
I, where we find Parisina
downcast. A celebration is ordered to commemorate a
victory in battle, and yet Azzo remains suspicious of
Ugo, ordering him not to return until summoned
personally. Alas, Ugo in fact appears at that very
moment, borne by his love for Parisina. The scene
shifts to Parisina and her
consorts. Parisina is dejected
as usual; enter Ugo, disguised, to press his
love. Trouble comes when Azzo finds out of his return
(Ugo claims ignorance of his ban). As a result of
Parisina’s intercession, Ugo is spared. Act
II brings a tournament, in
which Ugo is the clear hero. Weary after the
festivities, Parisina retires, and it is here that we
are treated to a sleep-talking scene (yes, you read
it correctly) that verges on music-drama. Parisina
indeed talks in her sleep, overheard by Azzo – and it
is Ugo’s name that is on her lips. After
Parisina narrowly escapes
with her life, Azzo has Ugo arrested. As Ugo
is led away, Ernesto, in
one of those archetypical operatic twists, barges in
to reveal that Ugo is actually Azzo’s son
and Ugo is spared. In the brief Act
III, Parisina reads a
letter from Ugo stating they should flee and
that he will come to rescue
her. Instead of Ugo appearing however, Azzo enters.
The windows are opened, and there lies Ugo, dead.
Parisina herself then dies in a paroxysm of grief.
It was rather strange that a pre-performance
announcement stated that Carmen
Giannattasio was suffering from vocal fatigue
and yet we heard little if any from her. Giannattasio
in fact took over as Parisina
from the originally announced Patrizia Ciofi
(a big name whose cancellation, going on the comments
at the pre-concert talk, caused not a little
consternation). Giannattasio was actually a stunning
choice. She is a student of Leyla Gencer at La Scala
and her credentials in this repertoire are actually
immaculate – her repertoire includes Rossini’s
La Donna del lago. Her
great Act III aria was
stunning, and beautiful; her Romanza in Act
II was compelling (note how
Donizetti effortlessly dovetails its end into
Parisina’s lady-in-waiting
Imelda’s reposte). She acts well with her voice and
has great stage presence: her ‘destiny’ aria (“E’ in
me natura il pianto. Forse un destin”) conveyed a
superb sense of desolation, something reflected in
Donizetti’s sparsely-scored accompaniment. More,
Giannattasio was remarkably agile in delivering her
decorations, here and elsewhere, with remarkably few
aspirates. I look forward to renewing acquaintance
with her.
Nicola Ulivieri’s strong baritone suited the role of
Ernesto well – in fact, he was one of the stars of
the evening. Dario Solari, as Azzo, was a little
weak, and there was initially some air around his
voice. Alas though,
the weak link in the cast was the all-important Ugo,
sung by tenor José Bros, whose lightish voice emerged
as over-reedy. Legato lines from Bros tended not to
work either, as his voice felt rather tremulous. In
the long scene between Ugo and Parisina towards the
end of Act I, Bros was
consistently put in the shade by the beautifully
shaded phrasing of Giannattasio. The mezzo Ann Taylor
took the part of Imelda very competently.
Donizetti’s imagination seemingly knew no bounds. His
orchestration is consistently carefully considered
and full of eyebrow-raising touches (one which stood
out was now a powerful horn ensemble underpins
Parisina’s entrance in Act III
(“No … pi? Salir non ponno miei prieghi al ciel”)
before segueing into the
sustained chords that form the backdrop to Parisina’s
vocalisations.
David Parry is now artistic director of Opera Rara,
and Parisina was actually recorded for
commercial release the week before this performance.
His direction of the orchestra was one of firm
control. There was some fine playing from the LPO
horns in the Overture – but why was a sole member of
the RFH staff wandering around the choir stalls
during Donizetti’s opening gambit?In a modern
staging, of course, that would probably indicate
something deep. The
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir was as well-polished as one
would expect.
I await the recording with some impatience, an
impatience compounded by the fact that the opera set
is scheduled for release in September 2009. Unusually
although not uniquely for an opera presented by Opera
Rara, there is a CD precedent, a live account
conducted by Paolo Carignani on Bongiovanni, GB2212,
although given its playing time (a mere one hour 45
minutes) it must surely present a cut score. There
was an LP version with the great Caballé available on
BJRS134-3 which was reissued on CD by Myto (984193).
Finally, you can hear Caballé for free on YouTube
(New York, 1974. Alas, the video is only of nature,
including rather
bizarrely, two horses at play at one point, and not
a sign of Caballé on-stage.
The link is http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vyzGqnIEIi4.
Colin Clarke