Gian Carlo MENOTTI (1911 - 2007)
The Consul (1950)
Patricia Neway (soprano) - Magda Sorel; Marie Powers (contralto) - The Mother;
Gloria Lane (mezzo) - The Secretary; Cornell MacNeil (baritone) - John Sorel;
Leon Lishner (bass) - The Secret Police Agent; Andrew McKinley (tenor) - Nika
Magadoff; George Jongyans (bass-baritone) - Mr Kofner; Maria Marlo (soprano)
- The Foreign Woman; Lydia Summers (contralto) - Vera Boronel; Maria Andreassi
(soprano) - Anna Gomez; Francis Monachino (baritone) - Assan; Mabel Mercer
(soprano) - The Voice on the Record; Orchestra/Lehman Engel
rec. New York City, April 1950
Amelia al ballo (1937)
Margherita Carosio (soprano) - Amelia; Rolando Panerai (baritone) - The Husband;
Giacinto Prandelli (tenor) - The Lover; Maria Amadini (contralto) - The Friend;
Enrico Campi (bass) - The Chief of Police; Silvana Zanolli (mezzo) - First
Chambermaid; Elena Mazzoni (mezzo) - Second Chambermaid; Chorus and Orchestra
of La Scala Milan/Nino Sanzogno
rec. Teatro alla Scala, Milan, March 1954
NAXOS 8.112023-24 [69:01 + 75:18]
Next year (2011) is the centenary of Gian Carlo Menotti’s birth and
he will certainly be duly celebrated. This double-bill opera set is the first
in a series devoted to his music. During his life time he was not always hailed,
at least not by critics, who found him out of phase with existing musical
tastes. Menotti basically belonged to the late-romantic school and could be
seen as a follower of Puccini in the Italian opera tradition. He became rather
popular with the general public and was twice awarded the Pulitzer Prize,
for The Consul in 1950 and The Saint of Blecker Street in 1955.
His Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors (1951) was the first
opera written directly for the TV medium and it was - and has remained - hugely
successful and beloved.
The Consul, after a try-out in Philadelphia, ran for 269 performances
on Broadway and the response from audiences and critics alike encouraged American
Decca to record it with the original cast. Amazingly enough it has never been
reissued on CD. The more grateful we have to be that Naxos are now giving
it a new lease of life.
Considering its age - it was recorded 60 years ago! - it is an impressive
recording with shattering dynamics and it’s very vivid and easy to approach.
The action is brought forward in melodious parlando, punctuated by a very
active orchestra, sung and spoken lines are sometimes mixed and there are
sweeping melodies galore, but also rather harsh harmonies. This stands in
sharp contrast to what was normally played on Broadway at the time. But I
believe that even those not normally used to opera must have felt the dramatic
coherence and the expressivity of the music. It’s the cold war that
forms the backdrop, which also may be a reason that it attracted attention.
Communism was the red rag to many and Joseph McCarthy had already started
his witch-hunt. With all this in mind it is easy to imagine the impact this
opera made. Even today it has a realism that is frightening.
Lehman Engel was one of the leading Broadway conductors at the time and his
recorded legacy covers many of the most famous musicals in as complete versions
as was then possible. Especially famous is his recording of Gershwin’s
Porgy and Bess (1951), which for more than 25 years was the only one
available - even though it wasn’t absolutely complete. His conducting
here is both exacting and punchy and though inevitably the orchestral sound
is compressed in the mono recording it is an exciting reading.
He has a fine cast, who were well inside their roles. The try-out in Philadelphia
opened on 1 March 1950, the Broadway premiere was a month later; the recording
was made in April, probably during a number of sessions in daytime with performances
in the evening. Menotti’s wish was to have Maria Callas, then relatively
unknown, as Magda Sorel but the producer said no. With hindsight it would
have been very interesting indeed if Menotti’s proposal hadn’t
been rejected but Patricia Neway is a splendid Magda and probably better suited
to the idiom. She was already an experienced singer and actress but this was
her breakthrough. She went on to sing the role at the premieres in London
and Paris and other European cities. It is interesting to note also that she
was Mother Superior in the original Broadway production of The Sound of
Music, a role for which she received a Tony Award.
All the other soloists are good and in particular it is nice to hear the young
Cornell MacNeil as John Sorel. His voice was then a light baritone, far from
the imposing power-pack he was later to become. He was also vouchsafed a very
long career. I heard him as Amonasro at the Arena di Verona in 1986, when
he was in his mid-sixties and his magnificent voice projected superbly to
even the most distant seat (where I was).
Menotti wrote a couple of operas while still a child but his first mature
opera was Amelia al ballo, which was premiered in 1937 in Philadelphia
and the following year was brought to The Metropolitan Opera. This work is
quite different from The Consul. It is an opera buffa with the well
known love triangle wife-husband-lover. It is charmingly written in pseudo-19th
century style but spiced with some 20th century seasoning. As in
the true buffa tradition the music rarely settles but whirls on irresistibly
as a long scherzo movement. Verdi’s Falstaff had no doubt been
a source of inspiration. But when it settles Menotti gives the leading singers
some lovely lyrical music to show their expertise in cantabile singing. The
Husband has a beautiful romanza (CD 2 tr. 15) and Amelia’s romanza (CD
2 tr. 21) is pure Puccini. The Lover also gets his share in the romanza trio
(CD 2 tr. 26).
Nino Sanzogno leads a spirited performance with the La Scala forces on their
toes and the leading trio of soloists are excellent. Carosio is brilliant,
fluent and lively and sings with beautiful tone. Panerai is completely at
ease here, far more than in I puritani, which he recorded with Callas
less than a year earlier, and Prandelli, though the possessor of a brilliant
tenor, keeps within the confines of the role. As Chief of Police Enrico Campi
is sonorous and expressive and has a fine cantabile solo (CD 2 tr. 31), interspersed
by Amelia’s coloratura. A wholly enchanting opera!
It is good to have both recordings back in the catalogue and they should be
attractive to a lot of opera lovers.
Göran Forsling
Good to have both recordings back in the catalogue and they should be attractive
to a lot of opera lovers.