Giuseppe Verdi - Il Corsaro
Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, Valencia, 2018
Fabio Biondi, Nicola Raab, Michael Fabiano, Kristina Mkhitaryan, Oksana Dyka, Vito Priante, Evgeny Stavinsky
OperaVision - 8th April 2018
The
quality of early Verdi operas is variable, even by the composers own
admission, but some are certainly worth of occasional revival, even if
it's just for curiosity value. A few - very few, maybe only one
(Macbeth) - are worthy of being included more often as part of the
familiar Verdi canon, others are crude and forgettable (Alzira, Attila),
some are flawed but redeemable through a good production and an
interesting interpretation (I Due Foscari, Stiffelio, Giovanna d'Arco,
Luisa Miller). Il Corsaro probably belongs in the latter category, but
its qualities can be enhanced with a good staging and exceptional
singing and the 2018 Valencia production goes some way towards
demonstrating and achieving that.
It's rare however that
you can do anything redeemable with the staging of any early Verdi
opera; which in the main consist of romantic melodramas in oppressive
wartime situations that don't have much in the way of subtext, nuance or
depth. The singing, particularly that of the lead soprano role, can
also be extremely challenging far beyond the merits of the piece without
really adding to the drama. That's all part of the Verdi DNA however
that comes into fruition mid-career, and it can be fascinating to
explore the hints already there of the greatness to come if you have a
production good enough to tease them out.
The first good
sign in the Valencia production is that there's a bit of imagination and
style applied to the production design rather than literal slavishness
to the libretto's locations. Instead of ship anchored at a Greek island
where the chief corsair Corrado is languishing in exile and reduced to
piracy, we find ourselves in Act I within the mind of a broken man,
sitting at writing desk remembering better times or dreaming of taking
part in further exploits. His wife Medora looks on in despair at his
downfall and, alarmed at the flask of what may be laudanum he is
imbibing, she slips it into her pocket.
Corrado however
has other vices and is clearly not adverse to a pipe of opium. In his
mind the Ottoman Empire still a threat, so in Act II the bold Byronic
adventurer once more visits the exotic East of delights and dangers.
There he visits a harem and attracts the attention of Gulnara, the
favourite of the Pasha Seid. Seid and his warriors launch into a battle
with the corsairs, putting the city and the harem to flame. Corrado
rescues Gulnara from the conflagration and is captured while doing so,
and earns the mercy of Seid. Until Seid becomes suspicious of Gulnara's
feelings for this brave corsair...
There's no need to get
to clever with the concept, but there's no need for literal realism
either, as combined with Verdi's bombast, the Byronic hero's romantic
adventures in the exotic East could seem a little bit over the top. Il
Corsaro is tremendous fun, but not particularly memorable and hard for a
modern audience to take seriously. Director Nicola Raab doesn't try to
get too clever by imposing an unworkable concept on top of what is a
fairly straightforward romantic adventure, and without betraying the
original spirit of the work she finds a good way of making it a little
more 'realistic' or relatable by playing it out as an opium-induced
flight of imagination, which as it was originally written by Lord Byron
it may well have been.
The production doesn't need a
literal depiction that takes it all seriously and literally then.
There's more than enough dynamic in the music and the contrasts and
colours that lie between East and West, between Christian and Muslim,
between men and women. Verdi of course depicts all that in grand brush
strokes, all sword and flame, blood and thunder, gods and demons.
There's nothing wishy-washy about early Verdi (or middle or late Verdi
either, I suppose), and Fabio Biondi's conducting of the Orquestra de la
Comunitat Valenciana emphasises the sheer brio with which Verdi attacks
the material, where there is also at least some measure of
sophistication in the melodies and romantic sentiments.
There's a similar contrast between
imagination and reality in George Souglides's production design that
shows this flitting between dreams of adventure and the sudden
down-to-earth shifts of reality that seep in. Projections of battles and
flames are thrown onto a screen that is torn down like a sheet of
paper, emphasising that it's all the projection of a troubled mind,
allowing it to be taken seriously but not literally. It's a good
middle-way to approach early Verdi, giving us spectacle and
entertainment and permitting all the spirit of the work to come through
without having to look at it ironically or indulgently. That's probably
about the best you can hope for in Il Corsaro.
Well, that
and some great singing, as that can make all the difference. The
Valencia production gets off to a terrific start, the clever production
design and the invigorating score matched by a committed Michael Fabiano
in the role of Corrado and Kristina Mkhitaryan as his wife Medora. As
he showed in Dmitri Tcherniakov's radical reworking of Carmen for
Aix-en-Provence 2017, Fabiano isn't thrown by contradictions between
characters who are seen to be role-playing and allows a touch of
bewilderment creep into the heroic sincerity of the performance.
Mkhitaryan is mightily impressive as Medora, showing a fullness of voice
and a deep emotional expression. Medora however is not the principal
soprano role, and it's Oksana Dyka who has to struggle with that
challenge as Gulnara. Inevitably she is pushed and her pitch wavers
occasionally, but it's a valiant effort. Vito Priante sings well but
throwing pantomime villain poses he is unable to make much of the role
of Seid.
The singing performances and the full-on musical
performance under Fabio Biondi carry the work though the dramatic
weaknesses of Act III. There's a long scene of Corrado refusing to
accept Gulnara's help of escape ("Fly from your prison to freedom, my
soul") by manfully accepting his fate only to eventually agree, but as
Corrado puffs on his opium pipe, the production does well to try to
associate his behaviour as being captive of his addiction or the
affliction of his desires and fears. Medora is also saddled with more
despairing sentiments that lead up to her suicide and Corrado following,
but there's no denying that Verdi provides all the thrills and spills
that lead up to this heroic-romantic conclusion, and Biondi hammers it
home.
Links: Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, OperaVision
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi - Lo frate 'nnamorato
Teatro G.B Pergolesi, Jesi - 2011
Fabio Biondi, Willy Landin, Nicola Alaimo, Elena Belfiore, Patrizia Biccirè, Jurgita Adamonyte, Barbara di Castri, David Alegret, Laura Cherici, Rosa Bove, Filippo Morace
Arthaus Musik - Blu-ray
It's remarkable. Up until only a year or two ago, Pergolesi's reputation rested mainly on a few important sacred compositions (notably his Stabat Mater) and a few comic opera works that were perhaps more famous for the historical significance than for their musical qualities. Now, thanks to the work of the Pergolesi-Spontini Foundation and the release of all his operas on DVD (only his earliest religious drama Le conversione e morte di S. Guglielmo has yet to be released), we have a much more complete picture of a composer who tragically died in 1736 at the age of only 26. It's been something of a revelation.
The two most famous Pergolesi operas prior to these new editions of his other work - La Serva Padrona and Lo frate 'nnamorato - now actually prove to be among the lesser of Pergolesi's compositions when compared to his achievements in the opera seria style (particularly his incomparable version of L'Olimpiade). The place of these two works in opera history however is still assured and significant on account of the part they played in the Querelle des buffons, with the Italian opera buffa style moving away from the rigid formalism of royal entertainments on classical themes. Dealing with subjects relating to common people, they can undoubtedly be seen to have had an important influence on Mozart in this respect. Written in the Neapolitan dialect, the 'commedia per musica' Lo frate 'nnamorato has an even more down-to-earth quality and a more complex arrangement than the Intermezzo origins and the domestic revolutionary sentiments of La Serva Padrona.
The plot of Lo frate 'nnamorato - which is one of Pergolesi's earliest works - now seems quite typical of the genre that he helped create. There's a complicated web of romantic entanglements where everyone is in love with someone who doesn't love them, a situation that would likely end in unhappiness for all concerned were it not for some late revelations about lost relatives, secret identities and unexplained mysterious backgrounds. The social context however doesn't appear to be particularly significant - the marriages being arranged are more for convenience than for gaining of social status. The primary mover, for example, is an elderly gentleman, Marcaniello who hopes to marry one of his friend Carlo's nieces Nina along with his son Don Pietro marrying the other niece Nena, in exchange for a match being made for Carlo with his own daughter Luggrezia. Unfortunately Luggrezia is in love with Ascanio, so that messes up the arrangement somewhat, particularly since Ascanio is more drawn to Carlo's nieces.
The significance of Lo frate 'nnamorato of course is that this complicated set of affairs is played not for the sentiments of melancholy and despair over betrayal and unrequited love, but for the humour implicit in the situation. Little of that however comes from the main characters, although Don Pietro is certainly a bit of a joker who likes to flirt with the maids and tries certain unconventional methods of romantic persuasion while the others just seem to prefer bemoaning the lot that fate has drawn for them. It's actually the maids Vanella and Cardella however who are the real heart of the work - down-to-earth, a little more realistic about life, taking no nonsense from Don Pietro or indeed any of the other men and masters, two "serva padronas" irreverently making fun of their self-indulgence, false hopes, illusions and self-deceptions.
Without the seemingly minor contributions of Vanella and Cardella, Lo frate 'nnamorato would indeed be a rather conventional account of characters in the throes of despair over the trials of unrequited love, but the work also gains from Pergolesi's musical arrangements, his inventive comic writing and the earthy character of the libretto's Neapolitan dialect. That's given a fine account here in the 2011 production at Jesi by Fabio Biondi leading his Europa Galante ensemble on violin. It's a small ensemble of about 12 musicians, but as such the precision playing is all the more evident, as is the inherent warmth and lyricism within the score itself. It's a beautiful performance of the work that, unfortunately, isn't entirely matched by the production itself or the singing, which often feels rather lacking in life.
The singing on all the Pergolesi performances from Jesi so far has been of an exceptional standard, but their Lo frate 'nnamorato isn't the strongest. The problem could be that there are quite a number of demanding roles to fill here that require strong singers experienced and capable enough to handle the lyrical coloratura, and that's a bit lacking in some places. The young cast however are all good, the voices fresh, lyrical and distinctive, particularly in the roles where it counts. Patrizia Biccirè's Nena is one of the best performers here and Elena Belfiore - the mezzo-soprano used for the Ascanio countertenor/castrato role - is also excellent. The Act II trio between Ascanio, Nena and Nina ('Se 'l foco mio t' infiamma') is accordingly one of the highlights.
If the coloratura is tricky and shows up weaknesses in some of the singers, the staging itself isn't particularly helpful. The sets for Willy Landin's production are attractive however and the updating of the period to what looks like the 1950s doesn't do the work any harm at all. It's beautifully lit and coloured with warm sepias, oranges and browns, a provincial Italian village with gossipy neighbours and maids looking on and flirting with Don Pietro who arrives on the set on his moped. The stage directions however, although they try to keep the singers involved in some occupation, don't really succeed in making it come to life. The best performances then tend to be the ones then who manage to strike a good balance between the singing requirements and entering into the spirit of the work. Fortunately, in that respect the maids Vanella and Cardella played by Laura Cherici and Rosa Bove are both excellent, keeping the work vital and entertaining to such an extent that it drags a little when they are not on the stage.
Arthaus provide another quality BD release for Lo frate 'nnamorato. The image quality is superb, clear with warm colouration, and the audio tracks capture all the detail of the musical arrangements and the singing. The disc is a BD50, compatible for all regions. Subtitles are in Italian, English, German, French, Spanish and Korean. There are no extra features other than Trailers for the other Arthaus Pergolesi titles and a booklet with an essay on the work. There is no synopsis, but the plot is covered briefly in the essay and there is a full track listing that helps initially identify all the characters.
