[In memory of soprano Virginia Zeani (October 21, 1925-March 20, 2023) we offer this re-post from our archives.]
This historical reissue is, by my count, the fifth performance of this opera currently available. The new Opera Rara recording is of Donizetti’s original version; the others, including this one, are of his revision (see my review here for more information on the edition and work itself). It’s a tightly plotted, fat-free, shortish work, and while no masterpiece, it offers some of the composer’s most compelling ensembles—and at least one aria, Maria’s last, is glorious.
This set is noteworthy—and reviewable and necessary—for the singing of Romanian soprano Virginia Zeani, a remarkable artist whose career, both on stage and on recordings, was overshadowed by her exact contemporaries, Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi, Joan Sutherland, and probably a few others. Listeners to this somewhat blaring but sonically acceptable live, 1962 performance from Naples who do not know her art are in for a treat: Her timbre is unique—dusky at the bottom and middle and brilliant at the top, with just a tinge of sadness in the tone itself—and the manner in which she phrases, articulates, and emphasizes is invariably interesting and musical.
This opera is somewhat nerve-racking for the soprano—she is in a constant state of danger and confusion—and Zeani expresses that anxiety remarkable well, perhaps better than all the competition, including Renata Scotto. Her coloratura, though there’s not much of it required here, is excellent and her interpolated high-Ds are spotless and well-integrated. The others in the cast are tenor Enzo Tei, not bad but boring and quite properly forgotten today; baritone Mario Zanasi, who had a fine career in Italy (and is marvelous in the 1958 Traviata from Covent Garden with Callas) and is excellent here; and mezzo Anna Maria Rota. Fernando Previtali conducts well. But the show is Zeani’s, and she should be heard.
