The Italian verismo
composer Giordano, like his contemporaries
Leoncavallo and Mascagni, is remembered
for one early operatic work, in his
case ‘Andrea Chenier’. This has had
several distinguished recordings in
the catalogue over the years and featuring
some of the greatest singers. Fedora
was premiered in 1898. After marriage
into a wealthy family Giordano’s creativity
declined and after his tenth opera,
‘Il Re’ (1929), he composed nothing
further for the stage.
Fedora is mostly
remembered for the hero’s solo ‘Amor
ti vieta’; (CD 1 tr. 10) in Act 2, the
tune pervading the opera. Like Puccini’s
‘Tosca’, and while pre-dating the latter
by two years, it is also based on a
play by Sardou. The plot is somewhat
melodramatic. It starts with a murder
in St. Petersburg before the scene moves
to Paris and then Switzerland. More
deaths follow, including that of Fedora
who dies in the arms of the man she
loves but has initially pursued seeking
vengeance. Given that the work is relatively
little known, it is regrettable that
Sony devote only six lines to an explanation
of the plot. A track related synopsis
is really essential in the circumstances.
There are two and one half blank pages
in the eight sided leaflet, including
cover and promotional advert of the
twelve operas in the release … a deplorably
missed opportunity.
As to the performance,
Eva Marton, as the eponymous Countess,
gives a strongly dramatic interpretation
with her big voice not always steady
(CD 1 tr. 4) a fault accentuated by
the forward placing of the voices. The
famous tenor aria (CD 1 tr. 10) shows
Carreras’s essentially lyric voice as
being a size too small for these verismo
parts. He squeezes up to notes, and
at full stretch the voice spreads with
an unpleasant beat becoming all too
obvious (CD2 trs. 2, 3, 5). The duet
which follows ‘Amor ti vieta’, part
with piano accompaniment (CD 1 tr. 11)
is more lyrical, the vocal failings
of the protagonists become less obvious
and their singing enjoyable. Slavic
wobble and lack of Italianate tone litter
the minor parts, whilst the orchestra
are set rather far back to have the
full impact desirable in a verismo opera.
In view of the fact
that the competition comes from a warmly
recorded 1969 issue from Decca, with
a vibrant Magda Olivero as Fedora, but
crude portrayal of Loris by Del Monaco,
those knowing the plot in detail might
be tempted by this issue despite its
limitations.
Robert J Farr
Fedora, Eva Marton (sop); Loris, José
Carreras (ten); de Siriex, a diplomat in Paris,
János Martin (bar); Olga, Veronika Kincses
(mezzo) 