Soirées musicales in Music and Vision 13 November

Soirées musicales
Mariella Devia and the Twilight of Bel Canto,
heard by GIUSEPPE PENNISI

The International audience is familiar with Mariella Devia, the much acclaimed bel canto soprano, especially known for her interpretation of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, staged all over the world and recorded on CD. Most likely many Music & Vision readers are not aware of the importance of the Accademia Filarmonica Roma (Rome Philarmonic Society) in the musical history of Italy. Madame Devia was invited to inaugurate, on 4 November 2010, the society's 2010-2011 season. The Accademia Filarmonica Romana is one of the oldest Italian musical institutions. It was founded in 1821, in a phase of cultural ferment in the Pope's frequently rather oppressive state, by a number of aristocrats and wealthy bourgeois; they had all received a good musical education and gave concerts at a good amateur level, for their own pleasure, in the large reception halls of their palaces. The society was officially chartered, and officially registered, by the Pope's State in 1824, and gradually acquired a high ranking role in the cultural life of Rome. After World War II, it became the central Italian musical institution to 'import' concerts, musical theater, ballet and also fully staged operas from the rest of Europe. In the same period, the Nuova Consonanza Association has been the focus for experimentation and new musical forms.
Even though, like most musical institutions in Europe, the Accademia Filarmonica Romana is plagued by financial stringencies, its 2010-2011 season has a program of eighty-five performances in four different places: the Teatro Olimpico on the banks of the Tiber (the Society is one of the owners of the building), in the cozy Sala Casella in the 'Flaminio Gardens' near Villa Borghese, in the historical and very central Teatro Argentina (where Rossini's Barbiere di Siviglia and Verdi's La Battaglia di Legnano had their premieres) as well as in a number of schools to bring music to the new generations -- the audience of the future. The season also includes two operas: For You by Ian McEwan and Michael Berkeley and Nesci, Maria by the Mancuso Brothers. The eighty-five events follow three main thematic lines: 'With Schubert on the pursuit of happiness', 'Rome, Baroque Capital' and 'Let's Bet on ...' (five top-notch comparatively young pianists).
The 4 November inaugural concert belongs to the first of these three thematic lines. The first part was centered on Schubert, and the second on Rossini's precious and delightful (albeit seldom performed) Soirées Musicales. Devia was accompanied by three soloists: Alessandro Carbonare on clarinet, Gugliemo Pellarin on horn and Rosetta Cucchi at the piano.

Mariella Devia. Photo © Corrado Maria Falsini
At the age of sixty-three, Devia presented a program never previously performed in Rome. In the first part, two Lieder by Franz Schubert, Der Hirt auf dem Felsen D965 and Auf dem Strom D943, both composed in 1828, the composer's last year in Vienna and the scene 'Vedi quanto t'adoro -- Ah non lasciarmi tratto' from Metastasio's Didone Abbandonata D510. Of Rossini's Soirées musicales, we listened to the eight ariettes composed in Paris between 1830 and 1835 on texts by Metastasio and Carlo Pepoli, and about subjects ranging from romanticism to popular songs.
What is the nexus between Schubert's Leider and Rossini's ariette? Both belong to a period when bel canto (featuring a soft expression, flexible, non-veristic and often florished just for the purpose of being and sounding 'beautiful') was fading away to be replaced in France by tragédie lyrique and grand-opèra and in Italy and Germany by various kinds of 'national' melodrama. It was the bel canto twilight when its extremely pure vocal emission was evolving towards new styles. Just some three years ago, Devia had her last debut in a very difficult bel canto role -- the title role in Donizetti's Anna Bolena. This time she was quite right in selecting a program which goes further than bel canto. In the concert, she demonstrated once more her beautiful timbre, splendid vocal line, sweet legato, gentle acute and mastering of coloratura as well as her control of the technique. Success, plus an encore.
Copyright © 15 November 2010 Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy

ROME
ITALY
FRANZ SCHUBERT
GIOACCHINO ROSSINI
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