Umberto Giordano (1867 –1948)
Fedora (1898)
La Principessa Fedora Romazov: Gilda Dalla Rizza (soprano)
Il Conte Loris Ipanoff: Antonio Melandri (tenor)
Il Conte Giovanni de Siriex, diplomatico francese: Emilio Ghirardini (baritone)
Gretch, ufficiale di Polizia: Corrado Zambelli (bass)
Dimitri, un ragazzo: Ebe Ticozzi (mezzo-soprano)
La Contessa Olga Sukarev: Luba Mirella (soprano)
Orchestra e Coro del Teatro alla Scala Milano/Lorenzo Molajoli
rec. 1931. Mono
Bonus: compilation of arias and duets from Fedora
Malibran-Music MR816 [2 CDs: 138]
Giordano’s opera Fedora is decidedly an also-ran alongside his one enduring success; one or two of his other works are periodically revived (see my reviews of Serbia and Il re) but Fedora is the next of his operas most likely to be encountered after Andrea Chénier. He is also credited with being the father of the verismo style, so we may expect to encounter more “realistic” elements – such as the first mention in opera of the bicycle – although in fact the eponymous anti-heroine and the other main characters are Russian aristocrats, as per Sardou’s play which was the basis for the libretto, so hardly emblematic of the struggles of the downtrodden poor.
Caruso premiered Fedora with Gemma Bellincioni and it has had a surprisingly good recording history; I know it from subsequent audio recordings with Magda Olivero, Mario Del Monaco and Tito Gobbi under Lamberto Gardelli on Decca in 1969, and Éva Marton and José Carreras conducted by Giuseppe Patanè on CBS in 1985, but I was previously unacquainted with this, the first full studio recording, nor was I very familiar with the singers here. Its timing of 91 minutes and my following with a libretto suggest that it is given uncut; indeed, it even includes Olga’s “Veuve Cliquot” aria which is cut from the Decca recording. The sound is a bit crackly but perfectly acceptable given the age of the recording.
The opera starts with a lovely, broad melody in a brief introduction too short to be an overture and plunges straight into the action. Dalla Rizza has a pure, piping soprano with a fast vibrato which takes some getting used to and she can turn shrill, but her opening arioso is a slow, voluptuous encomium to her fiancé Count Vladimir and her true pitch and full lower register are immediately in evidence, as is a bevy of fine voices filling out the very large supporting cast – mostly servants. The music is oddly staccato and fragmentary, in keeping with the jumpy, nervous nature of the action as the wounded Count is brought in but it is continually diverting and replete with fleeting melodic moments, the line frequently punctuated by the big falling motif we first hear in the introduction.
Act II contains the most entertaining sequence of numbers, opening with a swirling waltz and a rousing ensemble in music of a mood and content often reminiscent of Puccini’s La rondine but with much more Russian flavour, as per De Siriex’ celebrated little set piece “La donna russa”, neatly sung by light baritone Emilio Ghirardini and, as I remark above, lyric soprano Luba Mirella is given her sparkling little “champagne aria”. In the opera’s most famous piece, the very brief but highly memorable “Amor ti vieta”, Antonio Melandri reveals himself to be what I call “a proper tenor” who would be a star attraction today. The confrontation between Loris and Fedora and the revelation of the truth behind his killing of her fiancé, set against the background of the playing of Chopinesque music by a piano soloist, makes for good theatre. This is an opera with a plot constantly on the move and the music is aptly mercurial and protean; I wonder why it is not more often staged today.
Act III has a yet another distinctly regional ambience, this time Swiss and “Alpine bucolic” with a spacious, mountain air feeling to the opening. The musical inspiration here is not perhaps as sustained as it is in Act II but there is no shortage of drama to engage the audience, as the dénouement relies upon that old operatic standby, death by swallowing poison.
Molajoli was a recording fixture of the era and provides impeccable direction. The same applies to the orchestra, insofar as we can hear, given the relatively primitive sound.
A substantial bonus of 47 minutes is provided, offering an orchestral excerpt from Siberia and seventeen tracks of individual recordings of arias and duets from Fedora featuring an impressive roster of singers, including the original performers, Caruso and Bellincioni, Titta Ruffo, de Lucia, Bonci, Anselmi and more. Bellincioni’s voice proves to sound similar to that of her successor: large, vibrant and flickering, with a highly developed lower register. The young Caruso – still under thirty – caresses the famous aria passionately but Amadeo Bassi, Fernando de Lucia, Alessandro Bonci, Giuseppe Anselmi and Emile Scaramberg, singing it in French, are all hardly less impressive. The last track is a more modern recording showcasing tenor Galliano Masini in a melodramatic but highly effective narration of how he killed Fedora’s lover. Titta Ruffo delivers “La donna russa” with typical leonine authority but again, the comparatively forgotten Giacomo Rimini is nearly as good. The duet with Russ and Garbin is highly effective, powerfully sung by both. All the voices here are “Old School”, technically and aesthetically unimpeachable.
The insert provides track listings, a cast list and photographs, no more. I have provided the timing.
Ralph Moore
Availability: Malibran-Music
Other cast
Cirillo, cocchiere: Ernesto Dominici (baritone)
Désiré, camariere & Il Barone Rouvel: Piero Girardi (tenor)
Boroff, medico & Nicola, staffiere: Blando Giusti (baritone)
Loreck, chirurgo: Eugenio Dall’Argine (baritone)
Sergio, staffiere: Antonio Alfieri (bass)
Michele, portinaio: Z Chiranini (spoken role)
Un piccolo Savoiardo: Ida Mannarini (mezzo-soprano)
Piano solo notturno Act II: Bernardo de Plaisant
Pianista: Boleslao Lazinski (silent role)
Bonus tracks, CD 2:
Siberia (1903): Scena della Pasqua
09 Gemma Bellincioni: O grandi occhi lucenti (CR), G&T (Atto 1°)
10 Enrico Caruso: Amor ti vieta (CR), G&T (Atto 2°) (1902)
11 Titta Ruffo: La donna russa, Pathé (1904)
12 Amadeo Bassi: Amor ti vieta, Pathé (1904)
13 Nora de Rosa: Ed ecco il suo ritratto … O grandi occhi lucenti (Atto 1°), Cetra (1942)
14 Fernando de Lucia: Amor ti vieta (Atto 2°), G&T 52436, 2865 non transposé
15 Fernando de Lucia: Mia madre, la mia vecchia madre (Atto 2°), G&T 52077, 21531
16 Fernando de Lucia: Vedi, io piango (Atto 2°), G&T 52078, 21541
17 Bianca Lenzi: Dio di giustizia, Pathé 86235 AICC Milano 1912-13 (Atto 3°)
(grâce à l’amabilité de Monsieur Henri CHAMOUX http://www.phonobase.org/ )
18 Emma Carelli & Elvino Ventura: Tutto tramonta “Morte di Fedora”, Fonotipia
19 Alessandro Bonci: Amor ti vieta, Fonotipia 92103, XPh 2698 (1907)
20 Giannina Russ: O grandi occhi lucenti, Fonotipia
21 G. Russ & Edoardo Garbin: Tutto tramonto … tutto diligue “Morte di Fedora”, Fonotipia
22 Giuseppe Anselmi: Amor ti vieta, Fonotipia
23 Giacomo Rimini: Canzonetta russa (Atto 2°), Vocalion
24 Emile Scaramberg, Fédora: Le ciel te livre à mon amour + orch, Fonotipia (en français)
25 Galliano Masini: La fante mi svela … Vedi, io piango (Atto 2°), Cetra
