It is something of a double that
Maometto II
should receive its belated British premiere at Garsington (see
review)
as this, the first sensible recording of Rossini’s Paris revision
of the work hits the shelves. This performance derives from the Bad
Wildbad Festival; one that has become known as the Pesaro of the North.
It not only makes a speciality of Rossini’s works but also presents
those of often long forgotten Italian operas by German composers of
similar vintage. Naxos has issued several commendable recordings from
this source that allow appreciation of Rossini’s emerging genius
to be heard at modest expense. This issue precedes by one month a performance
of
Semiramide from Bad Wildbad and recorded at the XXIV Festival
(to be reviewed).
Le Siège de Corinthe was the first opera
composed by Rossini for the Paris Opera after his appointment as director
of the Théâtre Italien in Paris in 1823.
Semiramide,
was the last opera he composed for an Italian theatre.
The genesis of
Le Siège is complicated, however a little
context is necessary for an understanding of the music. Rossini’s
original version -
Maometto II - was premiered at the San Carlo
in Naples on 3 December 1820. It was his thirty-first opera and the
eighth, and the most radical, of the reform operas that he had written
for performance there. At Naples Rossini had the benefit of a full-time
orchestra and chorus. It also boasted an unequalled roster of star singers
engaged by Barbaja, the formidable impresario of the Royal Theatres,
who had brought Rossini to Naples as Musical Director. This enabled
Rossini to distance himself from the populist clamour of Rome and Venice
for crescendos and simplistic orchestral forms, static arias, stage
scenes and comic operas. The outcomes were highly dramatic
bel canto
opera seria with flights of coloratura and vocal decorations paralleled
by greater orchestral complexity. This Italian format was not appropriate
for Paris and Rossini needed to grapple with the prosody of the French
language and re-align his own compositional style towards that of his
new hosts. However, before tackling that problem Rossini had the unavoidable
duty of writing an opera to celebrate the coronation of Charles X in
Rheims Cathedral in June 1825. Called
Il viaggio a Reims and
composed to an Italian libretto, it was presented at the Théâtre
Italien on 19 June 1825 (see DVD
review).
The “Coronation Opera” over, the works in French were a
little slow in coming. However, when they did, first in the form of
Le Siège de Corinthe, premiered on 9 October 1826, they
were received with acclaim.
Le Siège was a spectacular
success in both musical and visual presentation and can be seen as the
progenitor of the Grande Opera style. It arrived complete with
de
rigueur ballet that was to dominate at the Paris Opéra (Théâtre
de l’Académie Royale de Musique) for half a century.
The plot is basically the same as for
Maometto II but with the
sacking of Corinthe rather than Venice the scene of the action. This
shift had the advantage of topicality with the Greek struggle for liberty
from the Turks commanding sympathy among Parisians in the 1820s. Pamyra,
daughter of Cléomène, Governor of Corinthe, has fallen
in love with Mahomet using a false name. Her father wishes her to marry
Néocles, a young and heroic Greek officer. When she learns the
truth about Mahomet’s identity she stabs herself rather than be
the wife of the man who has conquered her country. With
en travestie
roles being unacceptable in Paris the role of Néocles is given
to a tenor.
The musical adaptation involved Rossini in a considerable toning down
of the Italian
bel canto display arias, the rewriting of recitatives
and the more extensive use of chorus. Display arias do not wholly disappear
and certainly that for the tenor hero, Néocles in act two (CD2
Tr.6), and the contribution of Pamyra in the finale (CD2 Tr.9) are up
there with the vocal demands in
Maometto II. With that in mind
Bad Wildbad fields two suitable voices, one relatively new, the other
a well known participant in
bel canto recordings from Opera Rara.
The tenor is the American, Michael Spyres. In the UK in May 2013 Spyres
made a big impression stepping in at the premiere of the new Covent
Garden production of Rossini’s
La donna del Lago, the composer’s
immediate predecessor to
Maometto II at Naples, when the scheduled
tenor Colin Lee was forced to withdraw due to indisposition. Both Spyres
and Lee, when the latter had recovered, featured in the live cinema
transmission and matched Juan Diego Florez note for note in their respective
roles. Spyres is up to the demands of the role in this performance too,
singing with vocal flexibility and appealing tone. I note from the artist
biographies - very welcome, thank you Naxos - that he has appeared at
major houses in
bel canto and lyric roles. I look forward to
hearing more from him, not least in this repertoire.
In the second tenor role of Pamyra’s father, Cléomène,
Bad Wildbad has another high-flying tenor able to handle the demanding
tessitura in its cast. He steps forward in the person of Spaniard Marc
Salsa; new to me. There are times, as in the act two trio of the two
men and Pamyra (CD2 Tr.7), when distinguishing between the two tenors
is not easy. It is preferable, however, to having a more distinct but
less flexible voice in the role. It bodes well as interest in these
operas increases in the present day in even the major operatic centres
after nearly a century of neglect.
As Pamyra, the daughter who unknowingly falls in love with the enemy,
Majella Cullagh has form in
bel canto roles, singing in many
recordings from Opera Rara including Rossini’s
Elisabetta
and
Bianca e Falliero (see
review).
Her strong characterisation allied to vocal flexibility is well in evidence
in this performance. Her voice has slightly more edge than in some of
her earlier recordings, of Donizetti as well as Rossini, but remains
a formidable instrument. She handles the demanding coloratura with aplomb
(CD1.Tr.7).
Lorenzo Regazzo as Mahomet II impressed me less than the other principals.
He has sonority but also some unsteadiness. Otherwise his characterisation
and diction are more than adequate. The chorus are well up to Rossini’s
extended demands whilst on the rostrum, Jean-Luc Tingaud is fully at
home in the idiom.
This recording presents a new edition for
Rossini in Wildbad
by Florian Bauer. It is based on a revision, by Jean-Luc Tingaud, of
the original edition and on the parts for the first performance on 9
October 1826.
Le Siège de Corinthe has not fared well in the recording
studio. A 1969 recording of a later Italian translation featuring Beverly
Sills and Shirley Verrett (EMI CMS 64335-2) hardly flatters the work.
A film of a stage production, particularly if it included a spectacular
visual finale as brought the house down in Paris in 1826 and as well
sung as this recording, would be very welcome. In the meantime this
audio recording does at least do Rossini’s creation full justice.
It also allows enthusiasts to appreciate his first venture into the
French style of composition which was to last all too briefly. A mere
four operas followed before he laid down his pen in terms of operatic
composition with
Guillaume Tell in 1829, at the young age of
thirty-nine; this despite living nearly as long afterwards.
Robert J Farr 
