When Verdi Slept Music and Vision May 31

When Verdi Slept
'La Battaglia di Legnano',
reviewed by GIUSEPPE PENNISI

La Battaglia di Legnano is the only outright patriotic opera in Giuseppe Verdi's catalogue. It was commissioned by the Teatro Argentina after the 1848 riots; at that time in Rome, following the uprising, Pope Pius IX attempted to create a semi-constitutional monarchy with a Parliamentary Assembly and a Prime Minister to run the State. The attempt did not last long; after the murder of a reformist Prime Minister and new upheavals, the Pope escaped to a French fortress and garrison in Gaeta. A Roman Republic was established with a lot of revolutionary fervour; it lasted merely five months and was overtaken by French troops. La Battaglia di Legnano was premiered with tremendous success on 27 January 1849, just before the Pope's escape to Gaeta and the proclamation of the Roman Republic; for several nights, its entire fourth act was enthusiastically encored. The opera was meant to be patriotic right from the decision to commission it.
Initially, the author of the libretto Salvatore Cammarano thought to base it upon Bulwer Lytton's novel Cola di Rienzi, which a few years earlier had been the inspiration for Wagner's grand-opéra. But the novel did not a have a love story, and thus no important role for a soprano. Therefore, Cammarano turned to Joseph Merry du Locle's play La Battaille de Toulouse, a plot of Napoleonic heroism and love. There's no doubt that looking into some other country's history is a peculiar way to build a truly patriotic opera! Toulouse became Legnano, near Milan, where in 1173 there had been a battle between the 'City States' or 'Communes' forces (with the Pope's flag) against the Holy Roman Emperor Frederic. Historians tend to downgrade the importance of the battle. But the confrontation between the 'Communes' and the Empire became a myth at the time of the Italian national unification movement; even now it is credited to have had a significant importance in the future development of Italy's Northern regions.
The opera's success was intense but short-lived. The late Paul Hume said the public accolades were 'based more on national aspiration than on sound musical judgment'. Many Italian musicologists would agree. Franco Abbiati, the best known twentieth century Italian music expert, wrote that 'the historical context was poorly moulded with a peculiarly unwilling adultery'. Massimo Mila, one of the major Verdi scholars, added that 'love cabalettas are approximately mixed with emphatic choral parts'. Most likely, Verdi slept while composing.
However, La Battaglia di Legnano could not be that bad: Verdi was Verdi, even when asleep and while fulfilling a mere commission. Important music directors such as Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Lamberto Gardelli and Gabriele Ferro have considered the opera to be a masterpiece. Julian Budden credited La Battaglia di Legnano with importing French style and carefully mixing it with that of Italian melodrama.
It was meant to be a 'grand opéra' but the size (and the finances) of the Teatro Argentina had to moderate the initial ambitions. After the fall of the Roman Republic, it disappeared from Italian theatres, for evident political reasons but also for its intrinsic weakness, both dramatically and musically. It is seldom offered abroad, even though the Budapest Opera House had for years a production with quite transparent anti-Russian undertones. It was revived at La Scala in 1961 (the centenary of Italian unification) and at the Rome Teatro dell'Opera in 1983 and on 24 May 2011 -- this review is based on that performance. The Rome production will go to Barcelona as a part of a collaboration agreement. Two additional productions of this patriotic opera are scheduled soon, in the Fall at La Scala and at the tiny Busseto Theatre during the Verdi Festival. Look out for the reviews!
La Battaglia di Legnano gets this new lease on life because 2011 is the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy. Will this poorly known and rather misbegotten opera be given a chance for a new season of success? I am sceptical, in spite of the major effort made by this Teatro dell'Opera production.
First of all, the musical and the choral direction by two highly experienced professionals (Pinchas Steinberg and Roberto Gabbiani) gave a cohesion rarely heard in the only other performance I witnessed (Rome, 1983) and even in Gardelli's studio recording. The quality of the musical direction was clear since the compact, two movement (Adagio, Allegro / March) overture. The chorus sounded rather uneven at the start of the first act, but thereafter was increasingly taken by youthfulness and patriotic élan. Steinberg kept a very good balance between the pit, the voices of the soloists and the chorus. A balance especially delicate because in La Battaglia di Legnano Verdi's writing is not as polished as in previous works such as Macbeth or Il Corsaro. As Gianandrea Gavazzeni did (there is a mono 1961 recording of La Scala performances), Steinberg places more emphasis on the wholeness of the picture than on the details. Also because the details (so important in Gardelli's 1977 recording) are of little importance in an opera where there is no psychological development.
Secondly, the vocal cast was particularly good. The young and handsome Yonghoon Lee (Arrigo), a lyric tenor 'spinto' (eg of the Verdi's family of Manrico in Il Trovatore) appeared to be extraordinary (in the literal meaning of 'out-of-the-ordinary') right from his first act 'cavatina' or entrance aria where he received accolades. He has a clear timbre, plenty of volume, excellent phrasing and a tender legato. He grew as the performance went on with his duets with Tatiana Serjan (Lida) and Luca Salsi (Rolando). Tatiana Serjan is an experienced and well-known dramatic soprano with a 'coloratura' flair; she is one of the best Lady Macbeths in the market; she did quite well in her two major arias where she had open stage applause. Luca Salsi is a versatile baritone equally at ease with Rossini (see Music & Vision on 21 April) and with Verdi. Both of them received open stage applause. Two basses, Dmitry Beloselskiy and Gianfranco Montresor, completed the core group of the cast well.
The stage direction (Ruggero Cappuccio), sets and costumes (Carlo Salvi) could be considered controversial but the audience took them quite well. The action was moved from 1173 to some undetermined place in the twentieth century. Also it was entirely indoors, in a museum being refurbished. Thus, no castles, churches or battlefields, but statues and paintings of battles and love being restored. According to Ruggero Cappuccio, it was meant to symbolize that battles are now essentially cultural. I do not know whether the audience caught the meaning. However, they did not seem bothered; on the contrary they rather enjoyed it.
There were nearly fifteen minutes of applause at curtain calls. A real ovation for Yonghoon Lee. It was a special celebration evening. Thus, the success is not a sure path for La Battaglia di Legnano to find a place in Verdi's frequently performed repertory.
Copyright © 31 May 2011 Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy

GIUSEPPE VERDI
TEATRO DELL'OPERA
ROME
ITALY
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