In
Luisa Miller (1849) Verdi steers away from the historical
dramas with noblemen and rulers and turns to the middle classes.
Schiller’s
Kabale und Liebe, which was the basis for Salvatore
Cammarano’s libretto, may have been from another age too. It was
written before the French revolution, a time when the bourgeoisie
didn’t have any political rights, as Stefan Johansson points out in
his deep probing booklet notes. By the mid-19
th century things
had radically changed and the audiences who frequented the opera houses were
able to identify with the story.
Luisa Miller paved the way for
La traviata just a few
years later, where we also meet a middle class society. Between those two
operas there was the unsuccessful
Stiffelio, with the protestant
priest contemplating divorce due to his wife’s supposed infidelity.
That situation was indigestible for Italian audiences in 1850, for obvious
reasons, but
Luisa Miller should have been a winner, considering not
least the wonderful music. True, there is only one real hit, Rodolfo’s
Quando le sere al placido - but this is one of his very best arias.
The score practically overflows with catchy music, something which I
discovered in the late 1960s when I bought the now legendary RCA recording
at an LP sale. Not knowing the opera at all at the time, I was quite stunned
by the riches on offer. Not only does Luisa have a splendid aria, so has her
father. The latter is worthy to stand beside corresponding arias in many of
his other operas. The basses are well treated too. Even Federica has some
highlights, though she is a secondary character. No, the tragedy with
Luisa Miller was that within a few years it was overshadowed by the
trio of
Rigoletto,
Il trovatore and
La traviata. After
WW2 it has, however, been revived on many occasions. The bicentenary tempted
several houses to look beyond the standard canon and they found
Luisa
a delectable alternative.
The Malmö Opera, in southernmost Sweden, with reputedly the
biggest stage in northern Europe, regularly explores the byways and this
Luisa Miller from 2012 is a worthy addition to the DVD catalogue of
the opera.
The production is clean, attractive, without hidden symbols - unless
we count the first meeting with the innocent Luisa lying gracefully in a
green pasture dotted with flowers. It’s all like a picture-book, but
we soon see two gigantic hands holding this idyll, ready to crumble it to
pieces and for ever change Luisa’s life. The devil wins, as so often,
but not without losses. Count Walter, not one of opera’s blackest
characters, loses his son, Federica loses a hypothetical husband. Neither of
them is Satan personified, in that category the palm goes to Wurm, here
portrayed by Lars Arvidson so repulsively, so in line with his name (Wurm =
worm, snake) - the one who forever ruined Paradise.
He sings well too and the same goes for the whole cast: The
orchestra play well, the recorded sound is great but it is for the singing
that this production is worth investing in. The Russian soprano Olesya
Golovneva first made her mark at the Vienna State Opera as the Queen of the
Night. Now she is gradually is moving on to more dramatic parts- Violetta in
La traviata is her signature role. Here in Malmö she makes her
debut as Luisa and she sings radiantly. Her last act aria is heavenly. The
Canadian tenor Luc Robert, who was a good Faust in Tallinn in September 2012
is an eminently satisfying Rodolfo here. The lack of lyricism I felt there
he delivers aplenty here, in particular in his nuanced reading of
Quando
le sere. Vladislav Sulimsky, a member of the Mariinsky ensemble since
2004, is a moving Miller and his arias are high-spots in this opera. The
duet with Luisa in the last act is also loaded with emotion. The third East
European singer in the cast, Taras Shtonda from the Ukraine, had been heard
the previous year in
Les contes d’Hoffmann in Malmö, the
same year that I saw him as Gremin in
Eugene Onegin in Oslo. He is
here a mighty Count Walter. It’s a pity Federica’s role
isn’t bigger when the strengths of Ivonne Fuchs are at hand but she
makes the most of her opportunities.
Those who want to know
Luisa Miller should try to acquire the
old RCA recording mentioned above with Moffo, Bergonzi, Verrett, MacNeil,
Tozzi and Flagello. Unfortunately this is at present only available in a
jumbo-box with Verdi operas but sooner or later it must be issued
separately. While waiting for that - please Sony, take note - this DVD is a
sure way of falling in love with one of Verdi’s most delectable
scores.
Göran Forsling
