This was Bellini’s first opera, composed when he was a student. In its original three-act form it was never performed; a revised, two-act version, the one we get here, apparently was, either in 1826 or 1828-29. To call it embryonic is an understatement: the Bellini we love–he of the long, exquisite melodies, the “Sweet Sicilian” (as Wagner called him)–is barely discernible. There’s a comic character here (Bonifacio)–the only one in any Bellini opera–and the composer’s discomfort with such a personage is visceral. The secco recitatives are dull and endless, and elsewhere the melodies change rhythms so frequently that they are hard to catch. The one standout is Nelly’s beautiful aria in Act 1; Bellini later used it for Giulietta’s “Ah, quante volte!” in Capuleti. (There are also quotes to be used in Il Pirata; it’s interesting to hear them in their first forms.)
The libretto is set in Ireland in the 17th century and concerns the friendship between Lord Adelson (baritone), at whose castle the action takes place, and his Italian painter friend, Salvini (tenor). The latter falls in love with the former’s fiancée, Nelly (soprano), while the former is away, and through the machinations of Struley (bass), an Adelson family enemy, is led to believe that Adelson is planning to marry someone else. Adelson returns, and sensing his friend’s passion, thinks Salvini is in love with his pupil, Fanny (mezzo). He encourages him to marry her; Salvini thinks he means Nelly.
To make a long story short, after the hypersensitive Salvini believes he has killed Nelly and he goes half mad, the wicked plot, with Struley at its helm, is exposed, Adelson forgives Salvini who decides to take Fanny back to Rome with him and marry her, and Salvini and Nelly plan their nuptials. Fanny’s strict governess, Madama Rivers, makes an appearance or two, and she’s sort of a non-entertaining Marquise of Berkenfield (cf: La fille du régiment). And Bonifacio, Salvini’s servant, invariably sounds stupid and gets in the way.
This performance is taken live from performances in September l992, in Catania, Sicily. Having lived with this opera for years (via this recording, long available and unavailable on different labels) I realize that the music, though not passing for great, is better than the libretto. You’ll be hard pressed to focus on a set-piece or to make dramatic sense out of any scene. It isn’t a complete bust, however, and should be heard by anyone who has fallen under the spell of Norma or Puritani (and who hasn’t?), and this performance is probably about as good as we can expect, although it’s short on star turns.
Bradley Williams copes with Salvini’s incredibly high tenor music (up to an E-natural, I believe) and sings with as much involvement as possible, if without a truly ingratiating tone. Alicia Nafè is a nice Nelly, sounding as confused as she should, and articulating her music with aplomb. Adelson is even more poorly drawn than the others, but Fabio Previati exhibits a good enough voice and temperament to make us pay heed. The others are professional, with Roberto Coviello a standout as Struley. Andrea Licata takes the score seriously and the orchestra and chorus rise to the occasion. There is some stage noise and the recording tends to be a bit bright. The libretto is in Italian only; the included essay isn’t bad. A must for Bellini-heads (there are only 10 operas, after all) and a curiosity for others.
