Franco Leoni (1864-1949)
L’Oracolo (1905)
Joan Sutherland – Ah-Joe (soprano)
Tito Gobbi – Cim-Fen (baritone)
Richard Van Allan – Uin-Sci (bass)
Clifford Grant – Hu-Tsin (bass)
Ryland Davies – Uin-San-Lui (tenor)
Huguette Tourangeau – Hua-Qui (mezzo)
Ian Caley – L’Indovino (tenor)
John Alldis Choir, Finchley Children’s Music Group, National Philharmonic Orchestra / Richard Bonynge
rec. 1975, Kingsway Hall, London, UK
Decca 4443962 [65]
Franco Leoni’s L’Oracolo could well have been the inspiration for the phrase “shabby little shocker”; certainly that phrase describes the work to a “T”. Premiered at Covent Garden in 1905 it quite probably might have died a quick death had not the baritone Antonio Scotti (for whom the role of the Opium Den Proprietor, Cim-Fen was written) taken it into his repertoire long-term and coaxed opera companies to present it on double-bills with other One Act works like Pagliacci, as it was at its Metropolitan Opera premiere in 1915. In later seasons the Met would combine it with such operas such as La Bohème, Le Coq D’Or, L’Amico Fritz; and, in one supremely bizarre pairing in Brooklyn, it was the curtain raiser for Hänsel und Gretel. Is it worth my pointing out that I would give anything to have attended that Brooklyn performance? It had a pretty starry line-up in which Scotti was teamed up with Lucrezia Bori, and the Hänsel featured Elisabeth Schumann as Gretel. In any case Scotti clocked-up a total of 55 performances of Cim-Fen in New York alone.
On hearing this recording Leoni’s music seems no better or worse than much of what was coming out of the pens of contemporary composers from the Italian verismo genre. Mascagni’s forgettable Amica had its premiere in the same year, as did Strauss’s Salome, Massenet’s Chérubin, and De Falla’s La Vida Breve; all of them are works of a higher musical-dramatic pedigree than this one. The real problem with L’Oracolo is that despite a rather good libretto, Leoni’s music is only good at the scenic description, whereas the music for the people in the story rarely seems to travel anywhere on an emotional level. A large section of the opera is taken up with a colourful musical description of the parade of events for a Chinese New Year in San Francisco. One begins to wonder why Scotti was so attached to the work; his role is almost eclipsed onstage by the role of Uin-Sci, who has even more stage time, and he memorably gets to dispatch the corrupt Cim-Fen.
The atmospheric scene-setting aspects of the score are well-delineated by Bonynge and his orchestra. The chorus is especially fine in conveying their excitement at the New Year’s festivities. The sound of this recording is both spacious and sumptuous; something that Decca was famous for in those days but seems to be on the wane in many of their recent releases.
Despite the presence of star names, the cast isn’t wholly successful. Tito Gobbi is the most satisfying of all. His Cim-Fen benefits from the baritone’s strong, bold tone with that uniquely nasty sounding tone that he possessed. He was 60 when he made this recording and no apologies need to be made for the passing years in his case. Joan Sutherland warbles prettily as Ah-Joe but she is not really believable as the young girl. Sometimes her tone becomes droopy-sounding, and in any case the role is meant to be sung by a young lyric soprano. In their day one might have chosen Freni, de los Ángeles, or Lucia Popp to sing the role. I rather liked Ryland Davies’ forthright, clear tone as the doomed hero Uin-San-Lui.
In the larger and more impressive role of Uin-Sci, Richard Van Allan is somewhat hollow-sounding, but he makes a reasonably impressive character of the wronged doctor. Clifford Grant’s solid, velvety bass is even better as the merchant Hu-Sin. Huguette Tourangeau’s distinct timbre brings life to the smaller role of the distressed nanny, Hua-Qui. There is another recording of this opera which is available on Oehms Classics, with the Frankfurt Opera forces under Stefan Solyom . While I have not heard it, it may give a better impression of the opera than the Decca does, although the sonics are likely better on the Decca version. Even if the opera itself is a bit of a disappointment, this recording is worth spending some time getting to know.
Mike Parr
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