Marino Faliero was Donizetti’s 46th opera, the one that directly preceded Lucia. It premiered in Paris in 1835 with the same cast that had taken the city by storm seven weeks earlier in Bellini’s I Puritani; it was a success in Paris and then all over Italy. It traveled throughout Europe and arrived in New York in 1843 but disappeared after the mid-19th century. It was heard in England in 1967 and in Szeged in 1999. (There is a terrible recording from the Szeged performances that is not currently available.) This RAI recording is from 1976 and is quite good–the music may not be first-rate Donizetti, but it’s definitely worth hearing.
The main problem with the opera, aside from the rum-tum-tum-ness of some of the music and the clumsy libretto, is the lack of a strong heroine: This is one of the rare cases in Donizetti in which the female lead is deprived of either an entrance or final aria. The plot revolves around a 14th-century Venetian Doge (Faliero, bass), and his wife (Elena, soprano), the latter being in love with the Doge’s nephew (Fernando, tenor). With Israele Bertucci, a man-of-the-people Captain (baritone), the Doge rebels against the all-powerful patrician council and is found guilty. Right before his execution his wife confesses her infidelity; he rages against her, and then forgives her.
In this recording the Doge is sung by the estimable Cesare Siepi, certainly one of the great singers of the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. He’s in fine, resonant voice and sings with the nobility the role requires. The cruelly difficult tenor role (it was composed for the legendary Rubini) is taken by Giuliano Ciannella, who, with a voice too heavy for the part, copes as well as he can. He makes brave stabs at the high-Cs and -Ds, but “stabs” is in fact an accurate description.
Baritone Licino Montefusco sings well as Israele and his voice blends well with Siepi’s. Elena is the under-recorded and under-appreciated Marisa Galvany (a favorite at the New York City Opera in the ’70s, where she sang frequently opposite Beverly Sills in Maria Stuarda), and besides Siepi she is the true bel cantist in the cast. The leadership of Elio Boncompagni is lively and the chorus and orchestra, while not particularly involved, are good enough. Despite its flaws, this will make a good addition to the libraries of Donizetti completists.
