Elisir di Tenore...

After reviewing some rare and lesser known operas, I was ready to scream “Que de bijoux!” when I saw “L’Elisir d’Amore” with Carlo Bergonzi and Roberta Peters when I opened the famous padded envelop sent by La Cieca (brought to my résidence by a hunky postman whom I wished rang more than twice.) What can I say? Thank you Cieca, sulla tua testa vigile la mia benedizion…

The CD of the historic performance who took place on March 5th, 1966 is one of the recent issues of The Metropolitan Opera series, handsomely published by Sony. Besides introducing a young Countess (yours faithfully) who were born not so long ago, to legendary personalities, the series also aim to show us how “things were used to be”, and yes, things were truly different then. Bergonzi shows us alone…

I won’t get much into the story; Boy with self-esteem, intimacy and eventually acne problems loves the overly self-esteemed and slutty girl ignoring him. She keeps bitching during most of the opera. She temporarily falls for a man in uniform and moustache (who doesn’t? Especially if he looks like a Tom of Finland sketch, …and after all, within two minutes of meeting him, she agrees to marry him, a true Kardashian), then realizes the true power of love (viva l’amore!) and buys back the boy from the army he recently joined for money to buy the elixir of love (well, in my opinion he loves men in uniform too, why not leave him alone!) and after a few misunderstanding they all live happily after. It premiered in 1832 and became one of the most popular operas ever since. It’s truly a feel-good opera.

By composing a seamless and beautiful music to Felice Romani’s libretto, Donizetti did not just intend to put together another opera to his endless catalogue. One can only understand this by listening to the legendary Scotto-Bergonzi 1967 Firenze performance, where they show the whole world what Donzietti actually meant. This performance from the Met’s archive des not disappoint, thanks to Bergonzi. 1960s were some of Bergonzi’s best years. He has already established himself as the world’s leading Verdi tenor, nevertheless did magic in belcanto and verismo as well. The unique technique and clear diction are again radiant in this performance. One doesn’t have to know Italian to understand what he sings. The moment he opens his mouth in “Quanto e bella” one understands how useless is to compare today’s tenors to each other. The artist takes is time in the showstopper “Una furtiva lagrima” and makes it a lesson in class and lyricism. The trademark solid technique, always supported by breath is unequalled. Bergonzi was never ever referred to as a stage animal, nor did have the volume or looks of his rivals at the time Del Monaco and Corelli, however is the most Italian of them all, and his acting comes with the voice, and the voice alone. Not a single word is let go by, nor anyone hears a desperate rush to “that” upcoming high note. Consistency is the key!

I’ve never been a big fan of Roberta Peters. She was a sweetheart of the Met audiences for decades. The voice is nice but “quelconque à mon avis” and her exaggeratedly and notoriously open vowels and lack of true pianissimo and Italianità are irritating. “Benedette queste carte” already gives alarming signs of what’s ahead. “Chiedi all’aura lusinghiere” is graciously saved by our Nemorino. She is barely audible in the ensembles. One wished one never heard her rendition of “Prendi per me…” full of unnecessary and unsuccessful fioriture, ending in cat scream. The part of Adina can be a tour de force for the right soprano and personality such as Scotto. Nevertheless, it’s unfortunately mostly used as a comfort zone “role de repos” for most sopranos like Peters, or more recently Cabell, Netrebko, Damrau and the list goes on.

Frank Guarrera, Belcore of the evening makes a premature entrance to his aria (quite a few measures) and considerably off pitch throughout the whole evening. His complete barking in “Tran, tran…” ruins the whole trio. The part is actually a showpiece for any lyric baritone. Alas, it goes wasted.

Fernando Corena, the famous basso of the époque does his work religiously as Dulcamara. He is not at his very best as he sounds tired and sings almost the whole part parlando, barely managing his breath and trying to save the evening with acting (as assumed by the audiences’ reaction.) He partially redeems himself in the “Venti scudi…” duet. A scary picture of his is printed in the CD insert. Loretta di Franco’s Giannina is fine and well controlled.

Met’s chorus, best in the world now and then (IMHO), does a fabulous job, while on the pit Thomas Schippers, our maestro du soir, apparently wishing to be somewhere else, gives a decent but soulless and emotionless conducting, with a great lack of energy (à la Armiliato pour Bolena.) Elisir demands steady, consistently dymanic, fast tempi.

The recording is of fine quality. The CD comes with a track list and synopsis in English only. There should be a law requiring all librettos to be included in each complete opera recording. Moreover, one wishes to see an introduction to the series and about the Met’s legacy. A very brief text posted in the back cover is far from serious. That’s a marketing and brand awareness opportunity missed there. While Met has been busy introducing CDs and DVDs one after another, they should as well adopt a more detail oriented approach to present these unique recordings. The cover features a picture of Peters and Bergonzi, the latter with a very bad eye make-up, not to mention his “regard”. He looks more like yours faithfully watching the legendary duo Vinnie d’Angelo and Arpad Miklos “accommodating” the painter boy in “Tough Stuff.” And I’m going to leave it there!

Overall , a great experience of this crowd pleaser, especially for Bergonzi fans. A Donizetti masterpiece with legendary voices. And a happy ending. Viva l’amore! It all comes to this. As Morrie Schwartz used to say: “Love wins, love always wins…”