Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)
Il diluvio universale (1830)
Noè, (Noah) – Naheul di Pierro
Cadmo, chief of the Satraps, husband of Sela – Enea Scala
Sela, wife of Cadmo – Giuliana Gianfaldoni
Ada, Sela’s confidante – Maria Elena Papi
Coro dell’Academia Teatro alla Scala
Orchestra of the Donizetti Opera/Riccardo Frizza
rec. live 17 November 2023, Teatro Donizetti Bergamo, Italy
Dynamic Blu-ray 58029 [139]
Donizetti’s tragic opera Il diluvio universale (The Great Flood) was his 34th work for the stage, which had its premiere in 1830. In due course, Anna Bolena would have its premiere later that same year. It is clear when hearing this opera that Donizetti was already in his maturity as a composer and was only waiting for a libretto which would really fire his imagination in the way that Anna Bolena would.
This production is the first to reach home video via the Donizetti Festival at Bergamo. I wish I could report that the staging is of a festival standard, but alas it is not. Director and designer MASBEDO’s concept involves placing the singers in modern evening dress and parading them in front of a giant screen, which constantly presents extremely distracting images. This doesn’t allow one to focus on the singers and their performances. The television director seems entranced with the large scale images, mostly of water in motion, much to the detriment of the performance as a whole. It also has the sad effect of negating any impact the flood has once it arrives after having been bombarded for two and half hours with oversized water videos. That really sabotages the ending of the opera. It is also undermined by the director’s idea of how the cast should respond to the deluge, which is to have them mime what looks like a group of people having a collective seizure. Surely the Donizetti Festival could have provided some much needed Tegretol for this beleaguered cast.
More’s the pity really because there are some fine performers in this cast of singers that deserved to have a better production surrounding their efforts than what MASBEDO has conceived for them. Chief among the high achievers is soprano Giuliana Gianfaldoni as Sela. This singer shows real promise as a budding dramatic soprano. Currently she has enough power, presence and agility to pull off this difficult part with real gusto. Her singing often reminded me of the great but highly underrated Italian soprano from the 1950s, Caterina Mancini. The character of Sela is the real focus of this story and Gianfaldoni clearly relishes every opportunity.
Noè is sung by the powerful and imposing voice of Nahuel di Pierro, although on this occasion his topmost range becomes a little soft grained in comparison to the rest of his voice. Noè is not the main focus of this story, although he hangs about the stage frequently, and in an odd example of Donizetti borrowing from himself; one is surprised to hear Noè suddenly break out into what later became Marie’s regimental song from La Fille du régiment.
The young singer Maria Elena Pepi as Ada shows that she is a singer to watch for in future if her gorgeous, evenly produced voice on this occasion is anything to judge by. Nicolo Donini also makes his mark in the smaller role of Jafet, one of Noè’s sons.
I would like to be able to give a better report of tenor Enea Scala’s assumption of the lead male role of Cadmo. He is a handsome performer and an involving actor, but unfortunately his strenuous, throaty vocal timbre is mostly a trial to listen to.
Musical matters are in the experienced hands of Riccardo Frizza who directs a passionate, fiery performance of this rarely heard music. The Bergamo chorus acquit themselves quite admirably as well. The picture and sound of the Blu-ray are all one could wish for. There is an informative interview with Frizza in the booklet which, alas, also contains an interview with producer MASBEDO which only adds to the confusion regarding this staging.
Previously, this opera was released in an audio only version recorded by Opera Rara in 2005 (review). This remains the preferable way to encounter this opera. In spite of some truly fine singing, and Frizza’s superb direction, I would suggest taking a pass on this bizarre production, which is unlikely to encourage revivals of this opera.
Mike Parr
Buying this recording via a link below generates revenue for MWI, which helps the site remain free
Other cast members:
Jafet, son of Noè – Nicolo Donini
Sem, son of Noè – Davide Zaccherini
Cam, son of Noè – Eduardo Martinez
Tesbite – Sabrina Gardez
Astene-Erica Artina
Abra- Sophie Burns
Arloo-Wangmao Wang
Production, Sets, Costumes: MASBEDO
Lighting: Fiammetta Baldiserri
Video details:
Picture format: 1080i/16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo/DTS-HD MA 5.1
Region code: All Regions
Sung in Italian; Subtitles: Italian,English, German, Korean, Japanese
