La donna del lago, after the poem The
Lady of the Lake by Sir Walter Scott, is the 29th
in the sequential list of Rossini’s operatic titles. Written
for the Teatro San Carlo, Naples, it was the first to be
based on any of Walter Scott’s romantic works. Although the
most famous in our time is Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor,
Scott’s popularity as a source of operatic libretti expanded
rapidly after Rossini’s example. By 1840, a mere 21 years after
La donna del lago, there were at least 25 Italian operas based on
Scott plus others by German, French and English composers (‘The
Bel Canto Operas’, Charles Osborne. Methuen, 1994). In my review of Rossini’s Armida (Review)
of 1817, I outline how Rossini was encouraged to produce a spectacular
work for the rebuilt San Carlo’s stage facilities and also venture
new musical forms. Of the six works Rossini composed between
Armida and La donna del lago, three were written for
the Naples theatre. It was here that
the composer could let his musical invention find expression
without recourse to the more static and traditional operatic
conventions that still pertained elsewhere; in no other Naples
opera seria does he do that more effectively than in La donna
del lago.
Although none of Scott’s works had been published
in Italian at the time, Rossini had read The Lady of the
Lake in French translation and been inspired by it. He returned
to Naples in the beginning of June
1819 and by early September had completed the composition. Circumstances
blighted the premiere of La donna del lago on 24 September when the opera had a lukewarm
reception that was considerably warmer at subsequent performances.
The work remained in the San Carlo repertory for a further twelve
years and within five years of its composition it was heard
all over Italy as well as in Dresden, Munich, Lisbon, Vienna,
Barcelona, St. Petersburg, Paris and London. The Act 2 rondo,
Tanti affeti, roused Naples audiences when sung by Isobel Colbran, Rossini’s
mistress and in 1822 his wife.
The vocal demands of Rossini’s opera seria for
Naples have always been a challenge.
He wrote to suit the artists on the theatre’s roster at the
time and as obtained by the renowned impresario Domenico Barbaja
who had first tempted him to Naples. Alongside the vocally
formidable Colbran, the roster included the tenors Giovanni
David and Andrea Nozzari, renowned for their ability with stratospheric
coloratura singing. Rossini’s writing for those three singers
has since proved problematic in a period when tenors of the
type required seemed to have dried up until the emergence in
the 1980s of a new generation from North and South America.
By 1860 the work was forgotten until its revival
in Florence in 1958. It was heard
at the Camden Festival, London, in 1969 and at Houston in 1983 in a production
that was also seen at Covent
Garden.
The Rossini Opera Festival at Pesaro presented it in 1981 and 1983. A live recording from the latter
Pesaro performances featuring
Katia Ricciarelli as Elena, Lucia Valentini Terrani as Malcolm
and Samuel Ramey as Douglas was issued by CBS on its
Masterworks Label (M2K 39311 nla). An audio recording from the
1992 sequence of La Scala performances conducted by Muti appeared
on the Philips label (PH 438 211-2 nla). A DVD version of this
Werner Herzog production is available from Opus Arte (Review).
The story of La donna del lago is set in 15th
century Scotland at a time of regular border
warfare and insurgency. Elena lives near the shores of Loch
Katrine with her father, Douglas, who has been exiled by the
King. Although her father has promised her to the rebel chief
Rodrigo di Dhu, she loves the young highlander Malcolm, a ‘trousers’
role. After rowing over the Loch Elena meets and offers shelter
to Uberto who had become separated from his hunting party. Uberto
is in fact the King against whom Douglas and Rodrigo are in
conflict. The incognito Uberto falls in love with Elena and
later gives her a ring promising that if ever in difficulty
or danger it will secure the help of the King. After the defeat
of the rebels and the death of Rodrigo Elena seeks out Uberto
and discovers his true identity. The King keeps his promise,
pardons Douglas and gives Malcolm Elena’s
hand in marriage. The opera concludes with much rejoicing.
La donna del lago opens without an overture,
the only one of the composer’s operatic works to do so. Instead,
Rossini seeks to conjure up the atmosphere of the Scottish Highlands
in sixteen bars of orchestral introduction. A light-hearted
chorus follows this as Elena appears in her boat on the Loch
and sings the lovely motif O mattutini albori (CD 1 tr.3).
This is followed by Elena’s meeting with Uberto (trs. 4-5) and
the first part of an extended duet interspersed by contributions
from the chorus and Serano and Albina as Elena takes the pensive
Uberto to shelter in her home (trs. 3-12). This scene is contained
on CD 1 and by the end I had forgotten the duties of reviewer
as I gloried in the singing of Carmen Giannattasio as Elena
and Kenneth Tarver as Uberto. Both voices are new to me. The
Neapolitan Giannattasio has an evenly produced soprano with
a lowish centre so that the vocal outcome is a creamy tone allied
to the capacity for subtle characterisation. Add to this good
diction and flexible coloratura technique and the role of Elena
seems ideally suited to her. The American Kenneth Tarver matches
Giannattasio for even vocal emission to which he adds comparable
beauty of tone. The thirty-nine minutes of the first CD flew
by, uninterrupted by intrusive applause. I had to remind myself
of my critical duties and, without any thought of hardship I
started again at the beginning. I approached CD 2 with some
trepidation, wondering if the singing of Patricia Bardon as
Malcolm, Elena’s lover, and Gregory Kunde in particular in the
Nozzari role of Rodrigo di Dhu, would be of similar standard.
I need not have worried. Patricia Bardon’s singing of Malcom’s
recitative and aria Mura felicei…Elena! Oh tu is firm
toned, even and expressive in her distinctive low mezzo (CD
2 trs. 1-3). The arrival of Rodrigo to whom Douglas has promised Elena (CD
2 tr. 10) ups the emotional temperature. Rodrigo is nothing
if not wholly confident of his prowess as a fighter and his
future as Elena’s husband, Gregory Kunde meets all the florid
and dramatic requirements of the role. He may not have the sheer
beauty of tone of his tenor counterpart Kenneth Tarver, but
his attack is unflinching with his characterisation matching
it and without any strained, curdled or sour notes as found
on other CD or DVD versions.
Rossini’s finest and most tuneful music comes in
the second act, (CD 3) starting with the long duet between the
disguised king and Elena (CD 3 trs. 1-5). Tarver sings particularly
well as Elena dismisses Serano and as Uberto reminds her of
her earlier hospitality to him (trs 1-2). The arrival of Rodrigo
allows for some vocally thrilling competition between the tenors
before he and Uberto go off to fight (trs 5-6). After Rodrigo
is killed Douglas, sung by Robert Gleadow
with a firm if lean bass, turns himself in to the king. After
Elena shows the ring Uberto gave her, and she realises his true
identity, all ends happily with the famous rondo Tanti affetti
(Tr16). I need hardly say that Carmen Giannattasio’s singing
of this well-known piece is of the highest standard. The smaller
roles are all well cast with Colin Lee, carded for one of the
prima tenor roles at Garsington later in the season, in good
voice as Serano and Francesca Sassu an appealing Albina.
Maurizio Benini’s
conducting contributes significantly to the all-round success
of this live recording .So to does the vibrant chorus although
they are rather savagely caught by the microphones in some scenes
when it is necessary to sit near the volume control. As with
the recent recording of Donizetti’s Dom Sébastien
(Review)
my enjoyment benefited from the absence of intrusive applause
although it does leave the acoustic rather dead at the end of
the performance.
The presentation
is in the usual Opera Rara luxury box complete with a performance
history and casts, a libretto with full English translation
and a synopsis in French, German and Italian. Jeremy Commons’
extensive essay is a little more diffuse than usual and did
leave me a little confused as to the absolute origin of the
edition performed. He refers to the performance being in the
critical edition prepared by Colin Slim. If his Colin Slim is
the H Colin Slim responsible for the critical edition performed
at Pesaro in 1983, and recorded by CBS, then I should highlight
the disparity in timings between the 138 minutes of that performance
and the 169 here. This is accounted for by the addition of some
extra material such as Douglas presenting himself to the king
(CD3 tr.10), and elsewhere and also by conductor Pollini’s speeds.
He famously eschewed any ornaments except in the concluding
rondo Tanti affetti, which he permitted only after being presented
with three versions in Rossini’s hand! (Philip Gossett. ‘Divas
and Scholars’, Chicago, 2006). Other matters of detail include
the incorrect labelling of Giovanni David’s lithograph picture
on page 10. He created the role of the king not Douglas. The
banda score was edited and prepared by Andrew Moore.
Robert J Farr
