Is there, I wonder, a distinct change in the air in terms
of operatic recital discs on CD? In the last couple of years
there
have been issues glorying in at least two other vocal luminaries
of the primo ottocento, that golden period of operatic composition
denoting and encompassing the first five decades of the nineteenth
century in Italy. It was the glorious period of
bel canto,
when composers wrote for the popular entertainment of the people,
all the people, not just the moneyed or privileged. Vocal display
was the order of the day. Later in the century it was overtaken
by dramatic romanticism and, in Italy, verismo, opera about the
drama of everyday life.
The first of the discs I refer to is
Arias for Rubini,
featuring Juan Diego Florez (see
review)
and which has a follow-up entitled
Belcanto spectacular (see
review).
Rubini was the tenor for whom Bellini, in his opera
I Puritani,
wrote those high Ds in the duet
Vieni, vieni fra queste braccia,
following them with another and the horrendously difficult high
F no less in the ensemble
Credeasi misera. Premiered in
Paris in 1835 the opera was taken to London and elsewhere by
the quartet of singers from the premiere. The same four singers
became known as the
Puritani quartet. Along with Rubini
they included the soprano Giulia Grisi, the baritone Tamburini
and the bass Luigi Lablache, formidable singers all, according
to contemporary reports. Dominating my reading at present is
a biography, the first in English, entitled
The Great Lablache;
my review of it will appear in due course.
The second CD collection I refer to is that by Cecilia Bartoli
and titled
Maria (see
review).
The title and contents relate to the great singing actress, and
vocal wonder, Maria Malibran who died tragically young in 1836
following a fall from a horse whilst pregnant. The CD notes that
Malibran had a range of nearly three octaves, from E below middle
C to high C. Hers was voice with great flexibility and a velvety
and dark-grained tone. Joyce DiDonato gave a concert at the 2008
Rossini Festival at Pesaro entitled
Maria Malibran (see
her
journal).
Now along comes this CD devoted to arias by Rossini. Its sub-title
is
Colbran the Muse. It is devoted to arias that
Rossini specifically composed for the Spanish soprano Isabella
Colbran. A little more history is appropriate to put their relationship
in perspective.
After the great success in Venice in 1813 of his operas
Tancredi and
L’Italiana
in Algeri, Rossini’s
career was on an upward
curve. The entrepreneur and formidable impresario of the Royal
Theatres of Naples, Domenico Barbaja, saw him as pre-eminent
among his contemporaries. He summoned Rossini to the city in
the spring of 1815 and offered him the position of musical director
of the city’s two Royal Theatres, the San Carlo and Fondo.
Barbaja’s proposals appealed to Rossini for several reasons.
Not only was his annual fee generous and guaranteed, but also
the San Carlo had a professional orchestra, unlike the theatres
of Rome and Venice for example. The composer saw this as a considerable
advantage as he aspired to push the boundaries of his opera composition
into more adventurous directions and which would also be more
acceptable to the sophisticated audience of the San Carlo. Also
under the terms of the contract, whilst Rossini was to provide
two operas each year for Naples he was permitted to compose occasional
works for other cities, a licence he pushed to the limits.
The roster of singers Barbaja had assembled, and which Rossini
would have to accommodate in his operas for the city, included
the florid tenor Andrea Nozzari and the Spanish dramatic soprano
Isabella Colbran, reputed to be Barbaja’s mistress. Both
singers appeared in all nine
opera seria Rossini premiered
at the San Carlo during his tenure. As Philip Gossett states
in his usually erudite booklet note, there is some uncertainty
as to whether the Colbran roles belong to the soprano or mezzo
fach. She was classified as a soprano whilst Rossini was writing
for her and is described as such in the autographs. However,
by the time of his arrival in Naples her voice had darkened and
the composer did not exploit her upper register as he did for
the florid Giovanni David. Rossini had also to accommodate the
fact that Colbran was a slow starter in that her voice took time
to warm up. Consequently, except in
Elisabetta, Regina d'Inghilterra, Rossini’s
fifteenth and
the first of his Naples operas (4-10-1815),
there
are no showy entrance arias. These were not only considered the
norm at the time, but a soprano would often demand a more challenging
one than that written if she did not deem it to show off her
vocal talents sufficiently. In the case of
Elisabetta, it
is the cavatina
Quant'è grato all'alma mia (Tr.6).
This has interesting pre-echoes of Rosina’s
Una voce
poca fa from
Il Barbiere di Siviglia, that followed
four months later in Rome, (20-2-1816). It starts immediately
after the Queen’s entrance with her ladies in act one,
with only a few bars with chorus for the soloist. On a CD like
this that is no problem and DiDonato shows her excellent flexibility,
coloratura, trill, variety of vocal colour and range. All of
these abilities help explain why so many of the roles that Rossini
wrote for Colbran suit to perfection a flexible lyric mezzo voice
such as hers.
By the time of Rossini’s second opera seria for Naples,
Otello,
(4-12-1816) not only had Rossini learnt his singer’s foibles,
she had changed her affections and they were living together.
In
Otello Desdemona’s major contributions come at
the end of act two and the opening scene of act three in Desdemona’s
bedroom together with Emelia. This opens with the recitative
with the orchestra gentle swelling as Emilia notes her mistress’s
anguish (tr.7) before the intrusion of the brief Gondoliers song
(tr.8). A brief recitative for the trio introduces Desdemona’s
Willow Song
Assisa appiè d'un salice (tr.12) with
its gentle harp introduction and sung phrases, with decoration,
exactly realised by DiDonato. This is followed by some vocal
fireworks, somewhat abbreviated compared with the Opera Rara
version sung by Elisabeth Futral (see
review)
as she laments and hears noises on the glass of the windows.
The concluding prayer
Deh calma, o ciel, nel sonno (tr.13)
has DiDonato floating some lovely phrases that lie easily on
my ear. The Gondolier of Lawrence Brownlee, with a rather tight
but pronounced vibrato, is credited, but not the worthy Emilia
of Roberta De Nicola.
The variety of Rossini’s musical invention for Colbran
is well illustrated by the vocal and histrionic demands in his
third opera for Naples,
Armida, premiered on 11 November
1817. It was the most implausible opera Rossini composed for
the San Carlo, just rebuilt after a fire. Barbaja was keen for
a work of musical individuality, one breaking away from the prevailing
conventions. Above all he wanted a work utilising the new facilities
of the refurbished theatre in terms of scenic effect and dance.
In fact Rossini produced his most romantic opera to date in terms
of the opulence of the music, including three extended love duets,
with his music matching the lavish staging. This included Armida’s
palace and enchanted garden. The lovers were to descend on a
cloud that becomes Armida’s chariot and, as she waves her
wand, turns into her castle. Armida cannot really be kept on
ice until the last act and sings an aria of seduction of Rinaldo
in her enchanted palace (tr.1). DiDonato’s singing is exemplary
in its phrasing, decoration and variety of nuance and colour.
The aria contrasts brilliantly with the closing final trio from
the opera with vocal fireworks wholly typical of a finale of
the day (trs.14-16). Whilst not going to extremes of tessitura,
this requires well articulated runs and dramatic declamation
both well achieved by DiDonato with barely a whiff of aspiration
whilst being wholly convincing in dramatic expressiveness. Her
expressiveness is also well portrayed in the lament
Dove son
io! (tr.15) as Armida seeks revenge and glories as the demons
destroy everything by fire as she departs on her chariot,
È ver...
gode quest'anima (tr.16). It must have been quite a visual
spectacular and if any theatre stages it today they would have
to go a long way to better DiDonato in the title role.
Thus far on CD and DVD I have only known the singer as
Cenerentola (see
review)
and Rosina in
Il Barbiere (see
review).
This recital is a thoroughly convincing justification for her
move to the more dramatic roles that Rossini wrote for Colbran.
I gather from DiDonato’s
blog that
she is already scheduled for
La donna del lago. Listening
to her fine legato and interpretation in the melodic and reflective
Oh
mattutini albori! from act two of that opera (tr.2), the
brilliance of the rondo finale
Tanti affetti in tal momento (Tr.3)
and concluding
Fra il padre, e fra l'amante (tr.4), I
would love to have been there as this is virtuoso Rossini singing
at its very best.
Surely Pesaro must use DiDonato, preferably alongside Juan Diego
Florez before too long. The Festival needs to stage
Semiramide,
the last composition Rossini wrote specifically for Colbran (3-2-1823).
It was the composer’s thirty-fourth opera. He had turned
his back on Naples and the work was presented as part of a special
season in Venice devoted to his operas. Gossett reports contemporary
critical comment on Colbran’s performance, which was not
well received. Her voice had gone and she retired after a Rossini
season in London the same year. The two had married the year
before with the rather unusual arrangements of her paying a dowry
to her man. Unusual by today’s standards, less so in an
era when the diva earned more for her performances than the composer
of the work did for his efforts. Colbran had also inherited her
father’s estate.
In
Semiramide Rossini gave Colbran, for the first time
since
Elisabetta, a two-tempo cavatina with one of his
finest cabalettas.
Bel raggio lusinghier (tr.8) has become
much loved by coloratura sopranos as evidenced by Sutherland’s
recording of 1966 (Decca 425 481-2). Sutherland’s decorations
go beyond Rossini whose writing it appears was also beyond Colbran.
Not so DiDonato, who brings colour, expression and virtuoso well-supported
singing and diction to the aria. It is a pity that Virgin did
not follow the Rossini chronology and conclude with this piece.
The vibrant idiomatic Santa Cecilia chorus and the conducting
of Edoardo Müller contribute to this outstanding CD. Any
grumbles? Only that I sense unnecessary added echo around the
voices. Put the CD in your computer drive and there are added ‘Open
Disc’ benefits.
I started this review by sensing a change in the air in respect
of such recitals and how they are harking back to the
bel
canto era. I cannot remember, in the first decades of LP
and CD, even from the likes of Sutherland, a disc devoted to
this genre let alone naming a singer from the era in the title.
Bigger voices dominated in that period when every month brought
a cluster of opera recordings from the likes of Verdi, Puccini
and Wagner. Nowadays lighter and more flexible voices predominate
whilst festivals in particular, and also the great opera houses,
are responding in terms of repertoire. There is a mine of such
gold out there to be garnered and the singers to go with it,
none more skilled than Joyce DiDonato.
I have given much more detail and consideration to this recital
than normal. I sense it is one of those rare ones which will
be looked back on in years to come as setting standards in this
repertoire. It has that wow factor; even in February I am sure
it will feature in my
Records of the Year selections come
December.
Robert J Farr
Joyce DiDonato
(mezzo) 
