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David Cutler, Fanfare magazine
Italo Montemezzi achieved great success with his opera L’amore dei tre re, which readers may have heard in the recording live from the Met, with the composer conducting and starring Ezio Pinza as the blind king, Grace Moore, Charles Kullman, and Richard Bonelli. Quite a cast! At its premiere in 1914, some critics hailed the work as the greatest drama since Verdi and one of lasting beauty. Some two years after the 1941 broadcast, the composer, in the United States to escape the fascist government’s various race laws (his wife was Jewish), completed the music for a one-act opera entitled L’incantesimo (The spell). He had brought the playwright Sem Benelli with him, as they had already collaborated on the successful L’amore dei tre re. According to the excellent notes, it was not performed in Italy, as Benelli himself was unacceptable to the regime. Its first performance was therefore a concert version with the NBC Symphony Orchestra on October 9, 1943 with Vivian della Chiesa, Alexander Sved, Virgilio Lazzari, and Mario Berini. It was staged firstly in 1952, shortly after the composer’s death, at the Arena in Verona. “Moderately modern” is how Montemezzi’s music is described in the notes. Grove says that his style leant towards the integration of a typical Italianate vocal line into a densely written orchestral texture. He continued the trend set by composers Catalani and Franchetti, with traces of Debussy and Richard Strauss. The plot takes place during the middle ages and is set around Folco’s wintry castle. Folco sends for his friend Rinaldo, who had loved Folco’s wife, Giselda. Rinaldo, despite the winter climes, arrives with a magician to help him explain the strange and mystical encounter that Folco had when hunting earlier. It does have a happy ending, with Giselda falling in love with Rinaldo all over again.
Our version was recorded in late 2018 in Milan, and two of the cast members are reasonably veteran and have appeared in this reviewer’s earlier piece on another modern Italian opera, La falena by Smareglia from issue 42:3. It opens with Folco, sung by Albanian Armando Likaj, who has a light fluttery baritone. He is quite effective at painting the scene in his explanation of what happened during his hunting trip; however the voice thins out up top and at “E muore!” and worryingly so. In the long duet, our two protagonists Gavezzeni and Veneziano emit some fairly wobbly sounds. Denia Mazzola Gavazzeni, in her mid-60s, has bags of commitment and passion even, but it is hardly a pleasant experience, notably at the hymn to Eros which is supposed to be a “persuasively beautiful scene” according to the notes. This is such a shame, as the rich orchestration with its Wagnerian overtones is very persuasive. The chorus joins in and we reach an ecstatic finale and, what has to be said, minimal applause.
The second disc is taken up with a performance of Debussy’s L’enfant prodigue. It is a scène-lyrique or cantata in just one act. It was first performed in 1884 in a version for voices and piano and composed in just three weeks. This exotic work was based on the biblical parable of the prodigal son. Years later, Debussy, who did not think much of his composition, added a complete orchestration after British conductor, Henry Wood, requested to have the work performed. It was first brought to the public in late 1908, and this is the version we hear on disc. The cast is the same for both works and as a result we have the same troubles. The singing is unsubtle and wobbly, with some not very good French. Gavazzeni undoubtedly had a voice of good quality, but few phrases are now sustained and some come off the note altogether. Veneziano is thankfully not quite so stretched here.
This two-disc set is a missed opportunity. The Montemezzi is very rare and should have had a better cast. The 1943 broadcast has steadier voices, but the sound naturally does not bring out the best in the orchestration. There is also a new Latvian performance available on YouTube from February 2019. Marco Fracassi does very well with the exotic sound of both works and it is sad his cast is not on the same level. There is a bonus of Cantique de Jean Racine, a short work for chorus and orchestra by Gabriel Fauré. Bongiovanni supply splendid notes as well as texts and translations.
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