Donizetti: Don Gregorio on DVD
Conductor Stefano Montanari - 2007(LC)
Orchestra - Bergamo Musica Festival Gaetano Donizetti
Chorus - Bergamo Musica Festival Gaetano Donizetti
Marchese Don Giulio Antiquati - Giorgio Valerio
Marchese Enrico - Giorgio Trucco
Madama Gilda Tallemanni - Elizaveta Martirosyan
Marchese Pippetto - Livio Scarpellini
Gregorio Cordebono - Paolo Bordogna
Leonarda - Alessandra Fratelli
Simone - Luca Ludovici
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DVD (Video) - Dynamic 33579 (2008)
Recorded at performances at the Bergamo Musica Festival (2-4 November 2007).
I'm watching this obscure Donizetti, which has deserved only *one* recording - this one, on DVD (there is no audio recording either). This is an oddball. First of all, Donizetti re-wrote this for the Neapolitan stage (it was originally called
L'ajo nell'imbarazzo, and was a real opera buffa, with recitatives. Then four years later Donizetti got an offer to stage it in Naples, but with a caveat - he had to make it basically an operetta (or more precisely, a melodramma giocoso), replacing the recitatives with spoken dialogue with no orchestral accompaniment whatsoever, and also, he had to translate the standard Italian libretto into the Neapolitan dialect so that the public would get it.
Watching a Donizetti opera with long periods of silence from the orchestra is somewhat strange, and breaks down the continuity of the music. Hey, when a composer aims from the beginning for an operetta or singspiel or opéra comique with spoken dialogue, that's one thing - this is taken into consideration in terms of linking the parts and building up dramatic tension or comic effect. But when you get a full blown opera and break it down, keeping just the arias and ensembles, and submitting the orchestra to long silences, I'm not sure if I like the result. One gets the feeling that something is missing... and it is: the recitatives!
Then, there is the matter of the production. Of course, the "smart" Regie had to come up with the obligatory (these days) update - here, to the 1920's. This is becoming so prevalent - apparently there is a new rule in the operatic direction textbook establishing that an opera must be updated to ANY point in time except, God forbid, to the period picked by the composer and the librettist - that in the VERY rare occasions when the director doesn't do this, we get a comment like the one above, referring to the appropriately non-updated staging of L'Elisir d'Amore (the one with Netrebko and Villazón which I've commented upon some posts earlier) as "antiquated."
I respect the opinion of the member who issued this adjective; he/she is certainly entitled to his/her opinion - I'm just bringing attention to the fact that the world of opera seems to have gone berserk - why is it "antiquated" to stage an opera in the intended period picked by the authors of the work?
Anyway, pardon the digression, let's go back to the Regie - not content with merely updating the opera, well, he had to also inject his own big ego into this production, by making of Don Gregorio on occasion a drag queen with feathers! The point of this is totally lost on me.
Scenarios are bland, monotonous, gray.
Technical quality: very good. Widescreen, multiple subtitles, linear PCM or Dolby 5.1, good sharp image, good sound balance. It comes in two DVDs in spite of the fact that this opera is not too long, so, they didn't try to do it on the cheap and did include the uncompressed sound.
Singing - obscure cast of mostly local Italian singers at the Bergamo festival, and the males do a fair job, without any fireworks, but without any major failures either. The two females are a lot weaker. It is hard to enjoy belcanto when the canto is not bello. Elizaveta Martirosyan (Armenian?) is a disaster. She doesn't look so good either, although she's got nice legs. She is also the weakest link in terms of acting. One keeps longing for a more talented singer who could have brought lots of charm to this role.
The title role is well sung and well acted by Paolo Bordogna.
The best moments of this work are those when Donizetti is allowed to show us his music (that is, NOT those moments when the orchestra is silent while the singers engage in unfunny slapstick with feathers). But like I said, the whole thing lacks unity.
I'm afraid that this is the first work by Donizetti that I don't like.
One wonders what are the priorities of the music industry - why exactly this revival of an obscure opera should be released on a relatively well produced DVD (technically speaking), expensive to boot ($45) - who exactly will be buying this? - while spectacular, brilliant works like the Met production of
La Damnation de Faust directed by Lepage can't find their way to DVD? Sure, different companies, Dynamic specializes in more obscure works, but still, if *this* can sell, why can't
La Damnation de Faust?
Not recommended.