In my
recent review of Opera Rara’s ‘Meyerbeer
in Italy’ (excerpts from the six operas
written by the composer during his Italian
years: 1817-1823) I give some biographical
details of his German background and
musical influences. He is most famous
as the father of ‘Grand Opera’. His
talents are most often associated with
the great scenes of spectacle and splendour
in the operas he wrote for Paris. However
it is with his Italian operas that Meyerbeer
honed his compositional skills and received
international recognition.
The movement of Austro-German
composers towards Italy in the second
decade of the nineteenth century was
undoubtedly influenced by the return
of the Italian provinces of Lombardy
ad Veneto to Austrian sovereignty in
the spring of 1814. This opened up favourable
opportunities in Milan. The operas of
Peter van Winter and Mozart appeared
at La Scala, with the former’s ‘Il Maometto’
being premiered in that theatre on the
28 January 1817 enjoying a success that
led to 45 performances. It was into
this musical climate that Meyerbeer
arrived in a country that was also in
the thrall of the operas of the Pesaro-born
Rossini. Rossini had by that year acquired
international recognition with a string
of successes including ‘Tancredi’ and
‘L’Italiana in Algeri’ of 1813, and
‘Il Barbiere di Siviglia’ (1816). Meyerbeer’s
first Italian opera, ‘Romilda’ was premiered
in Padua on 19 July 1817 and is very
much in what might be called Rossinian
style. By the time of his third opera
of the six, Rosburgo of 1819, he had
attained something that is very much
his own style. All three of Meyerbeer’s
first Italian operas were a success.
As a consequence he was commissioned
to write a work for the 1820 season
at La Scala, Milan, then as now, the
premier house in Italy. Significantly
he was also awarded the services of
Felice Romani, the pre-eminent librettist
of his day, who was under contract to
the theatre. The resultant ‘Margherita
D’Anjou’ brought Meyerbeer international
fame and the personal friendship of
Rossini.
The plot of ‘Margherita
D’Anjou’ is drawn from an 1810 French
play by Pixérécourt. It
tells the story of Margherita, Henry
VI’s French Queen who, in the libretto
is referred to as the widow of Henry
IV. With sympathisers led by the Duke
of Lavarenne, Senechal of Normandy,
she returns to England with her forces
to unseat Richard, Duke of Glocester
(exactly as spelt in the booklet and
insert) (Richard III). Battles in the
Scottish borders have no basis in historical
fact but provide a backdrop for the
love triangle of Lavarenne, Queen Margherita,
whose interest he has aroused, and his
devoted wife Isaura whom he has abandoned
for the Queen. Determined to find her
husband, Isaura disguised as a soldier
appears in Margherita’s camp in the
company of a ‘doctor’ Michele. All is
well in the end with husband and wife
reconciled but with the dramatic, often
martial situations, mixed with buffa
elements.
The opera is designated
a ‘Melodramma Semiseria’. By 1820, three
years after Rossini’s similarly designated
‘La Gazza Ladra’, the practice of mixing
‘buffa’ and ‘seria’ characteristics
within the same work was well established.
‘Margherita’ provided Meyerbeer with
the opportunity to compose distinctive,
potently-scored music, some imposingly
martial. Particularly fine is the introductory
‘Sinfonia Militare’ (CD 1 tr. 1), the
Isaura- Lavarenne scene and duet (CD
1. trs. 19-21), the first act finale
involving all the ‘primo’ soloists and
chorus (CD 2 trs. 5-9) and, above all,
the recitative and terzetto trio for
three basses including a ‘patter’ component
(CD 3 trs 5-6).
The balance between
orchestra and soloists, so often heavily
favourable to the latter in bel-canto
opera is somewhat less weighted in ‘Margherita’,
particularly when the significant contribution
of the chorus is added. David Parry’s
skill in welding this performance into
a cohesive whole is admirable as is
the contribution of the Geoffrey Mitchell
Choir. One must note too the contribution
of Patric Schmid (co-founder of Opera
Rara) and his team in deriving this
version which, when performed in a public
performance at the Royal Festival Hall,
London, was the first performance of
the work for 148 years! The printed
libretto includes the words of some
secco recitative whose music could not
be found. There is an extensive and
scholarly essay by Mark Everist on opera
in the ‘ottocento period’ and on the
versions of ‘Margherita’. It is given
in English and Italian.
The vocal demands of
the opera are considerable. Opera Rara
has built an international cast around
the ‘house’ regulars of Bruce Ford as
Laverenne and Alastair Miles as Carlo,
leading a highland regiment initially
against the Queen on behalf of Glocester.
In the high tenor role Ford is reliable
with phrasing and diction good. However
I found something of the mellifluousness
and flexibility of his younger self
missing. There are some signs of strain
as he lifts his voice to the higher
regions (CD 1 tr. 15-16). Alastair Miles
is sonorous, steady and characterful
and manages with aplomb a couple of
big leaps up and down the scale during
the conclusion to Act I. There is no
confusion with the lighter bass of Fabio
Previati as the factotum-cum-doctor.
His excellent diction and sheer musicality,
particularly in the buffa components
of his role are major plus points. Both
female singers have strengths and weaknesses.
As the eponymous Queen, Annick Massis
is light-voiced and flexible in her
runs. She rides the orchestra well at
the conclusion of Act I. However, in
her Act II scene and aria, with its
violin introduction and obbligato (CD
2 trs. 11-13), there is a touch of acidity
in her tone at the top of the voice.
A later revision of this passage is
given as an appendix (CD 3 trs. 14-16).
Ideally the part would benefit from
a slightly heavier voice with more inherent
colour, albeit one with the flexibility
that Massis has. Be that as it may,
my reservations are not so great as
to mar my enjoyment of her characterisation
and overall contribution. The same is
true of Daniela Barcellona as Isaura.
Her contribution in Act I is mainly
limited to the two duets of the opera,
with Michele (CD 1 trs. 8-10) and Laverenne
(CD 1 trs. 19-21) although she does
get the final scene with aria and rondo
(CD 3 trs. 11-13). Barcellona was the
only success in the 2003 Rossini Festival
production of Semiramide at Pesaro.
She is making a considerable impact
in Europe, being scheduled to sing Bellini’s
‘Romeo’ at the Salzburg Summer Festival
Season in 2004 followed by ‘Malcolm’
in Rossini’s ‘La Donna del Lago’ at
Saint Sebastian. She is a big-voiced
and full-toned mezzo with a good extension
at the contralto end without recourse
to excessive chest register. After her
Act I duets I was disappointed with
her. In the opera’s final scene and
aria (CD 3 trs. 11-13), in the introduction,
she has difficulty in holding the legato
line. In the aria itself (tr. 12) she
sounds rather ‘plummy’ and although
her rise up the scale at 3:50 is impressive
the next rise concluding at 4:22 is
distinctly less so.
The recording is set
in a clear airy acoustic with the voices
set slightly back from the orchestra
and with the magnificently vibrant chorus,
vital protagonists in the opera, superbly
caught by the microphones. Despite my
minor reservations this is an outstanding
addition to the recorded catalogue in
general and to that of Opera Rara in
particular. They are to be congratulated
on the research that brought the recording
and performance to fruition, thus allowing
us to hear Meyerbeer’s fourth ‘Italian
Opera’ - the one that brought him international
recognition. It is also a very worthy
companion to Opera Rara’s recording
of ‘Il Crociato in Egitto’, the composer’s
sixth and final opera of that period,
issued in 1992.
I would have preferred
artist profiles to the proliferation
of their photographs in the booklet.
I am, however, pleased to see a picture
of Sir Peter Moores CBE, whose Foundation
supports such worthy endeavours as this
recording, which may not otherwise have
been possible.
Robert J Farr
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir 