Gaetano DONIZETTI (1797-1848)
Parisina - Tragic melodrama in three acts (1833)
Azzo, Duke of Ferrara - Dario Solari (baritone); Parisina, his wife - Carmen
Giannattasio (soprano); Ugo, who is discovered to be her stepson - José Bros
(tenor); Ernesto, Azzo’s minister - Nicola Ulivieri (bass); Imelda, Parisina’s
lady in waiting - Ann Taylor (mezzo)
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, London Philharmonic Orchestra/David Parry
rec. Henry Wood Hall, London, December 2008
OPERA RARA. ORC40 [3 CDs: 77.27 + 62.04 + 33.47]
The year 1833 was even more hectic than usual for Donizetti. 2 January saw
the premiere of Il furioso in Rome. After this the composer hurried
to Florence with the intention of starting work on Parisina the first
of two operas he had promised the impresario Lanari. The year would also see
the premieres of his Torquato Tasso in Rome and Lucrezia Borgia at
La Scala. But Donizetti’s best intentions with regard to starting work
on Parisina were thwarted by his librettist, Felice Romani. He had taken
on too much work and consequently was unable to deliver the promised verses
by the required date. The same was the situation facing the physically fragile
Bellini as he awaited the libretto for Beatrice di Tenda in Venice.
The outcome broke their personal friendship and professional relationship,
the composer referring to the librettist as The God of Sloth. That was
a bit harsh. Romani’s problem was over-commitment. Like the composers
of the day it was necessary to work at pace and take on any offered contracts
to keep body and soul in reasonably good shape. Whilst Parisina was
premiered in Florence on 17 March 1833, Beatrice was premiered in Venice
the previous day!
Donizetti’s Parisina is based on Byron’s poem of same name,
the story having some similarities with Verdi’s Don Carlos. It
concerns the thwarted love of the young Parisina and the youthful Ugo. Despite
that ardent love she becomes the second wife of Azzo, Duke of Ferrara, as the
reward for the latter’s rescuing her father’s territories from
the Ghibellines. Despite this match the two maintain their love. Azzo, whose
first marriage was deeply unhappy, is suspicious of Parisina and watches her
closely as she glows with pleasure at Ugo’s success in the tournament
celebrating the marriage. Azzo tells his minister Ernesto, who brought up Ugo,
to banish him from the castle. The order is not fulfilled and Azzo later finds
Ugo in the presence of Parisina.
Ever more suspicious of Parisina, Azzo watches her as she sleeps and hears
her murmuring Ugo’s name. In fury he tells what he has heard and forces
her to confess. She pleads for death, which he spurns. Meanwhile Ugo returns
to the palace in the hope of seeing Parisina and is rebuked by Ernesto before
armed guards arrest him. Parisina and Ugo are brought before Azzo in chains.
Parisina pleads that they are in love only in thought not deed. As they are
led away Ernesto tells Azzo that if he has Ugo executed he would be committing
the horrendous crime of killing his own son, revealing he is the child of Azzo’s
repudiated first wife.
In the short final act Parisina learns, from the chorus lament for the dead,
that Ugo has been executed. In a dramatic double aria and cabaletta she dies
in paroxysms of grief.
Parisina was the first opera Donizetti wrote for the impresario Lanari’s
touring company at his Florentine headquarters. The singers for the primo were
to be an important influence on his writing. The eponymous role was to involve
a soprano reputed to be a tragic singing actress without an extended top to
her vocal range. The tenor scheduled for Ugo was in some ways the opposite
and reputed to be the first tenor to sing high C from the chest. Rossini likened
the sound to that of the squawk of a capon about to have its throat cut!
In view of the original soprano’s skills I was somewhat surprised at
Opera Rara’s original choice of Patricia Ciofi in the title role. In
the event she withdrew and was replaced by the warmer vibrant tones of Carmen
Giannattasio; the role seems to me to fit her like a glove. Certainly hers
is the outstanding performance among the quartet of leading soloists in this
issue. She has the capacity to convey pathos, love, fear and desperation in
her vocal expression. These skills are evident in the first act as Parisina,
whilst glad for her father worries about her own destiny (CD1 tr.11). This
can also be heard in the following duet with Ugo (trs 13-14) and above all
in the short act three tragic conclusion when, after hearing of Ugo’s
fate at the hands of his father, she dies (CD3 trs.3-6). Yes, some consonants
could be better, but her performance in this recording is of good standard
and even if not matching Caballé on the pirate recording, is a significant
achievement.
As Ugo, José Bros’s rather white tone does not bring the part
to life in the same manner as his partner. He has to strain somewhat with the
highest notes as the drama unfolds in his duet with his guardian Ernesto (CD2
tr.11). Nevertheless his plangent voice is welcome at other points. The role
of Azzo, the baddy of the story, falls to the young Uruguayan baritone Dario
Solari. His recent Germont in La Traviata for Welsh National Opera did
not impress me. He failed to spark any electricity in Germont’s act two
confrontation with Violetta and likewise in the second scene when he enters
Flora’s party and berates his son for demeaning Violetta by throwing
his gambling table winnings at her. I suggested, in my review,
that this was may be lack of tonal weight and that perhaps, as yet, Donizetti
was more likely to be his metier. His singing is certainly smooth, well tuned
and easy on the ear, but he fails to lift the dramatic temperature and sound
the real villain. In act two this is exactly what is required as Azzo first
listens to Parisina breathing his name in her sleep and then forces her to
admit her love for Ugo (CD2 trs.4-6). His singing needs more tonal bite. In
the bass role of Ernesto, who has quite a lot to sing but no aria, Nicola Ulivieri
is more successful in his vocal expression whilst also maintaining tonal beauty.
In what little she gets to sing Ann Taylor as Parisina’s companion deserves
note.
Musically, Parisina has little of the easy-on-the-ear melodic invention
of Lucia di Lamermoor, composed two years later. It has, however, more
dramatic cohesion and thrust than found in Lucrezia Borgia (see review)
or Rosmondo d’Inghilterra (see review)
that came between those works. It is more akin to Maria Stuarda (see review)
from that period. More than anything, I am taken with the similarities between Parisina and Caterina
Cornaro, the last of Donizetti’s works staged in his lifetime. There
are similarities in dramatic emphasis over sung ornamentation, the involvement,
dramatically and musically of the chorus, allied to the maturity of style in
the orchestral writing. In this performance both are well realised in the contribution
of the Geoffrey Mitchell Choir and owe much to David Parry’s passionate
conducting (see a review of
a concert performance of Parisina by these forces). With Opera Rara
already having recorded Linda di Chamonix and
with two-thirds of Caterina Cornaro being composed immediately after,
it may be no vain hope that Cornaro is in their minds for a future project.
Certainly, devoted Donizettians, who are increasingly well served by recordings
of Italian Festival performances, such as those mentioned above, as well as
Opera Rara, would welcome a studio recording uninterrupted by applause and
in good sound.
Parisina was a success at its premiere and quickly spread through Italy
and Europe. It was the first Donizetti opera performed in America. It survived
in Italy until the 1890s the title role attracting the great divas of each
generation. It was performed in London and Paris in 1838 with the great so-called Puritani quartet of
Giulia Grisi in the title role, the tenor Rubini whose stratospheric range
accounts for the infamous high F in the last act of Bellini's I Puritani, along
with the formidable Tamburini and Lablache. The cast in this issue might not
match that quartet, but no other has done so since. The whole is, however,
a very welcome addition to the Donizetti discography.
The issue comes in Opera Rara’s incomparable presentation including a
complete libretto and English translation together with an introductory article,
performance history and synopsis by the eminent Donizetti scholar, Jeremy Commons.
It lacks only artist profiles for perfection.
Robert J Farr