BARGAIN OF THE MONTH
Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901)
Un ballo in Maschera - Opera in 3 Acts (1859)
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)
RCA Italiana Opera orchestra and Chorus/Erich Leinsdorf
rec. RCA Italiana studios, Rome, Italy, June 1966
SONY OPERA HOUSE 88697581322 [68.36 + 59.35]
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