Wexford Opera Festival (live stream), 22/10/2021

Catalani : Edmea

Wexford Festival Chorus

Wexford Festival Orchestra

Francesco Cilluffo

While it is easy to recognise that, in musical history, Italy's output is dominated by opera, from the middle of the 185h Century right up to the early years of the 20th Century, it is also easy to forget that in the later part of the 19th Century, and early 20th, there were a good many other composers than just Verdi and Puccini.  We are familiar with single works here and there - Andrea Chénier, Mefistofele, Cavalleria rusticana, La Gioconda or Adriana Lecouvreur, for example - but all of these composers, and a host of others, produced other works too, most of which are largely neglected.  Catalani, who died early from tuberculosis in 1893, is best known for La Wally, once fervently defended by Toscanini (who named one of his daughters Wally), and later regaining some recognition through Jean-Jacques Beneix's film Diva.  La Wally was his last opera, however, and Edmea predates it by six years - Catalani was just 32.

The interesting thing about this repertory is exactly where it fits into the overall evolutions, in between the landmark works of Verdi and Puccini.  When you consider that Edmea immediately postdates Gioconda, and predates Falstaff, the picture painted is quite enlightening.  While Catalani keeps to the 19th Century structures - recognisable arias, duets, ensembles, dance numbers and, above all, a splendid pezzo concertanto at the heart of the opera - the harmonies behind it, and much of the orchestration, are definitely forward-looking.  Apparently Catalani was resentful of the rapid rise of Puccini's reputation, and accused him of plagiarism.  While that was surely something of an exaggeration, Puccini was something of a musical magpie, and absorbed influences from all around him, it's perfectly evident even in his most mature works.  Compared to some of the things to be heard in Edmea, Manon Lescaut (1892) almost sounds old-fashioned.  The downside, for Catalani, is that his purely melodic invention is not a match for Puccini's hence, in part, the relative neglect of his operas.

Edmea is an orphan taken in by the Count and late Countess of Leitmeritz as a ward, and brought up alongside their son Oberto.  Oberto and Edmea fall in love, but the Count disapproves, and taking advantage of an absence of Oberto, marries Edmea off, against her will, to his servant Ulmo, who is also in love with her.  Edmea throws herself into the river in despair, and Ulmo jumps after her to rescue her.  He succeeds, but she goes mad from the trauma, and Ulmo and she go on the road together, as brother and sister.  By chance, they end up at a party held by Baron Waldek, where Oberto, who had believed Edmea dead, recognises her voice and reaches out to her.  Recognising him in turn, she recovers her senses, and Ulmo, realising that she will never return his love, commits suicide in order to free her from her marriage.  

Director Julie Birbach appears to have treated this as a dream narrative.  The initial set is divided horizontally in two, and vertically by 4:1, but the lower half is the reflection of the upper half, with the fixtures and fittings reversed, so that tables and chairs hang from the 'ceiling'.  Edmea appears upstairs, with long, curly, brown hair and in a 1950s-ish blue, shirt-waist, A-line dress, while the female chorus appears below, in the same dress but in a dark green, and a chin-length red bob.  In the second act, the split set pulls back to leave open stage space, but Edmea appears in that same red bob, and a yellow tulle and satin cocktail dress in a similar A-line style, while everyone else is more or less in fancy dress for Waldek's party, largely black and white.  The last act takes place in the lower, inverted rooms of Act 1, but right at the end, while everyone else kneels in prayer by Ulmo's body, Edmea reappears in the upper room, back in her blue dress and brown hair, pacing back and forward just as we first saw her, exactly as if none of the intervening events had actually happened.   Updating the story creates a few issues regarding the feudal relationships mentioned in the libretto, but otherwise does not perturb unduly, and it's still a legible production for a rare opera.

Catalani : Edmea - Act 1
Wexford Opera Festival
(© Clive Barda, October 2021)

I watched this via a live stream, and I have to say that if this is going to be a repeated experiment - and I sincerely hope it is - then something needs to be done about the sound design.  The overall sound on this broadcast was so weak that I had to turn up the volume on my TV set to levels that, had I been watching regular television, would have had my upstairs neighbours thumping on the floor in protest.  Even at that, the sound balance clearly favoured the orchestra over the stage.  Fortunately the orchestra was well worth hearing in this amount of detail; the opera was given with a reduced orchestration, but they played with fervour and relish under the direction of Francesco Cilluffo.  Similarly, the compact chorus also delivered a full-throated, crisply energetic performance, belying their small numbers.  

The casting was also strong throughout.  Conor Prendiville was a sprightly, playful Fritz, while Ivan Shcherbatykh was a truly imposing Count, towering above the other singers.  At first I thought him a little underpowered, but I was still adjusting the sound levels at that point, and later his bass voice came through more clearly in the ensembles.  Luciano Ganci (Oberto) was something of a 'can belto' tenor, robustly confident if not exactly subtle.  Anne-Marie Duprels, something of a specialist of this kind of rarity was dramatically effective, despite a slight tendency to come in under the note in the middle or upper-middle register.  Her top was sound, however, and she was wholly invested in the role.  Best of the cast, though, was Leon Kim as the saintly Ulmo, his warm baritone rich with nuance, a real pleasure to hear.

Wexford Festival is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, a long history of unearthing forgotten and neglected repertory.  There has been a recent patch when it seemed as if they were playing it rather safer than usual, not exactly mainstream works, but not as recherché as had been customary, but it's looking as if they are recovering their balance once again, and very welcome too.  Long may they continue.

[Next : 23rd October]