After the composition of his great trio of so-called
middle period operas,
Rigoletto (1851),
Il Trovatore and
La
Traviata (both 1853), Verdi was a rich and powerful man.
He had purchased an estate at Sant’Agata, near his birthplace,
and found peace and great pleasure in its development. He no
longer needed to write two operas each year and only agreed a
contract if location, singers and subject appealed to him. In
1857 he wanted to write an opera based on Shakespeare’s
King
Lear. However, when the Teatro San Carlo in Naples approached
him Verdi did not believe the house soprano to be suitable for
his vision of Cordelia. He chose instead the subject of
Un
Ballo in Maschera. He asked the poet Antonio Somma to prepare
a libretto. When this was submitted to the censor in Naples they
made seven major objections that involved no fewer than 297 lines
of the 884 in the text! Their objections involved the assassination
of a king, the location in northern Europe, the inclusion of
sorcery and the use of firearms on stage. Poet and composer agreed
a transfer of location to Boston, the King to Duke and a stabbing
not shooting. Any chance of these concessions went with the news
of Felice Orsini’s attempt on the life of Napoleon III
of France in Paris on 13 January 1858. The Naples Chief of Police
ruled that the opera text would have to be re-written in its
entirety to preclude any dancing on stage and the murder must
be off-stage.
Amid some acrimony and a threatened court case Verdi sought another
venue. The censor in Rome was more accommodating and the opera
saw its first performance at the Teatro Apollo on 17 February
1859 with the King becoming Riccardo, Earl of Warwick, an English
colonial governor, his secretary and friend became Renato. Of
those operas composed between
Il Trovatore and
La Traviata and
Aida (1871)
Un
Ballo in Maschera was the only opera of Verdi’s reduced
output to maintain a foothold in the repertoire throughout its
life. Both
Il Trovatore and
Aida require spinto,
or large, voices. Whilst
Un Ballo in Maschera has lovely,
lyrical and light-hearted moments it is one of drama and the
plotting and realisation of murder. For the soprano part of Amelia
a large voice is needed with strength in the lower tones to match
the dark hues of the music, particularly in
Morro, ma prima
in grazia as she pleads with her husband to see her children
before he kills her (CD 2 tr.6) as well as the soaring notes
and lyrical tonal beauty in the love duet with Ricardo (CD 1.tr.23).
Likewise the role of Riccardo requires a tenor with light-hearted
elegance of phrase, the heft to match the demands of the love
duet and expressiveness to encompass the compassion of his dying
moments at the climax of the drama (CD 2 tr.24).
To these vocal demands on the two principals must be added the
characterisation and vocal skills required for the roles of Oscar,
Ulrica and Renato. Despite these challenges,
Un Ballo in Maschera has
proved popular in both theatre and recording studio. It is one
of Callas’s more successful recorded Verdi roles (see
review)
whilst of the great tenors of the last decades of the twentieth
century Pavarotti, Domingo and Bergonzi recorded it twice in
the studio and Carreras once. In my view none of these great
tenors encompassed the demands of the role as does Bergonzi in
this recording. It even outclasses his earlier effort for a rather
hard-driving Solti (see
review).
Among many vocal gems of the composer’s music recorded
by Bergonzi in his heyday, his beautiful tone is matched by wonderful
diction, legato and variety of expression. Listen to his characterisation
in
La rivedra nell’estasi (
With rapture I shall
look upon her CD 1 tr.2 part) with his lighthearted portrayal
of Ricardo’s frivolousness at Ulrica’s abode in
Di
tu fedele (tr.13). Then again there’s his ardent declaration
of love as he meets Amelia under the gallows (tr.23). It’s
some of the best Verdi tenor singing in a generation.
To Bergonzi’s consummate interpretation I must add similar
accolades to the realisation be Leontyne Price of Amelia. Her
smoky tones can and do rise to lyrical heights in her terror
in
Ecco l’orrido campo as Amelia arrives to gather
the leaves of a plant at the foot of the gallows (tr.21). They
express love in the duet as Riccardo arrives (tr.23) whilst also
expressing desperation with her plight in
Morro, ma prima
in grazia with dramatic low notes and a quite astonishing
diminuendo at the conclusion of the aria (CD 2 tr.6). No other
soprano on record manages these challenges with such finesse,
lack of strain and pure expressiveness.
Having bestowed superlatives on the two lovers, what am I left
with to describe the other three principals: Oscar, the Page,
Ulrica the gypsy and Renato the husband of Amelia? Reri Grist’s
Oscar is pert of character and voice, her flexible leggiero soprano
perfect for the part. Likewise the young Shirley Verrett takes
a lot of beating as Ulrica, singing with a wide variety of tonal
expression, steady sonorous tone and good legato. As Renato Robert
Merrill, who was often criticised for vocal blandness compared
with Gobbi’s capacity for vocal characterisation, sings
with rock-solid tone that we would welcome in the present dearth
of true Verdi baritones. His act 1
Alla vita che t’arride (CD
1 tr.4) is lyrically expressive whilst he is also able to convince
in the dramatically vehement
Eri tu as Renato accuses
his wife and regrets the bliss he has lost (CD 2 tr.8). The lesser
roles of the two co-assassins are adequately taken by Ezio Flagello
and Ferruccio Mazzoli.
On the rostrum the often under-rated Erich Leinsdorf conducts
with passion and a good feel for Verdian line. The chorus, that
of the Rome Opera in all but name, (contracted elsewhere) are
vibrant and involved in music that is embedded in their bones.
Whilst not having the depth of image of the later Sony recorded
operas in this series this recording has stood up well to the
passing of time with the voices clear and forward in a bright
acoustic.
Robert J Farr
Riccardo, Count of
Warwick and Governor - Carlo Bergonzi (tenor); Renato, his secretary
- Robert Merrill (baritone); Amelia, Renato’s wife, loved
by Riccardo - Leontyne Price (soprano); Ulrica, a fortune-teller
- Shirley Verrett
(mezzo); Oscar, Riccardo’s page - Reri Grist (soprano); Silvano, a sailor
- Mario Basioli (baritone); Samuel, enemy of Riccardo - Ezio Flagello (bass);
Tom, another enemy of Riccardo - Ferruccio Mazzoli (bass) 
