Hidden treasures - Gaetano Donizetti - Elvida (1826) & Francesca (1831) - Selected highlights

Donizetti's success with "Zoraida di Granata" attracted the attention of the famous impresario, Barbaja, who offered the composer a contract. Donizetti had come to Naples in 1822, just as Rossini was on his way to Vienna and, subsequently, Paris, never to return to Italy, effectively leaving Naples as a foundation for younger composers to begin elaborating the idiom of belcanto in new directions. Donizetti was to stay in the city for nearly two decades, composing a staggering array of operas, including, most famously, "Lucia di Lammermoor", "Roberto Devereux" & "Poliuto". Two smaller, less well-known works were also created during his time in the city on which we will concentrate in this posting: "Elvida" & "Francesca di Foix". These operas actually share quite a bit of traits.

First of all, both pieces were essentially conceived as gala entertainments (albeit, if we were to compare them to "Il viaggio", on a smaller scale) and were even written for the same theater (San Carlo); moreover, after their initial runs, they were both quick to disappear into the sands of time:. "Elvida" (four performances) was composed as a part of celebrations of the birthday of Maria Isabella, wife of King Francesco I; "Francesca di Foix" was written for the name day of Ferdinando II (seven performances).

Secondly, as these two works are basically meant to glorify a particular royal individual, they are both very light in narrative (even lightish), as not to, perhaps, distract the premiere audience from the honoraries. "Elvida", as one critic puts it, is "another dose of Moors in Spain": a Spanish noblewoman, Elvida (soprano), is captured by a Moorish chieftain, Amur (bass). Elvida resists the attentions of the chieftains son, Zeidar (mezzo-soprano), and, in the end, is rescued by her fiance, Alfonso (tenor). The lovers, predictably, live happily ever after. The plot of "Francesca", labeled a "semi-seria" opera, however, revolves around jealousy rather than love: the Count (bass), determined to keep his beautiful wife, Francesca (soprano), well away from the temptations of the French court by explaining that she is unbearably ugly, finds himself entangled in a humorous plot of the King (baritone), the Duke (tenor) and Edmondo (contralto), a page and Francesca's cousin, to lure her incognito to court. The King announces that a tournament is to be held and the winning knight will be given Francesca's hand in marriage which leads the Count to finally admit that he lied. All is forgiven, and husband and wife live happily ever after. In essence, both works could be considered basic models for larger pieces: "Elvida" is a clear parallel of Mozart's "Die Entführung aus dem Serail", while "Francesca", with all its madcap fantasy, curiously seems to be a shortened French opera-comique (though composed by an Italian).

Finally, there is the music. The critics in the past have been ruthless to the operas: in particular, William Ashbrook, a noted interpreter of Donizettis career, deemed the score of "Francesca" largely inconsequential. These statements, however, are missing the main point of the works. Both pieces are meant to be sung by lavish casts: "Elvida" was written for soprano Meric-Lalande (the first Imogene in "Il pirata"), tenor Rubini and bass Lablache; "Francesca" - for baritone Tamburini. The presence of such starry singers seemingly demands music of comparable dexterity, and Donizetti does not disappoint in this respect: for example, Elvida's opening cabaletta is so florid that Donizetti actually used it twice as a closing rondo and once as a parody of a diva scene in later operas. This trait does seem to lead to a certain lack of inspiration on composer's part, leaving him with little more than the elaboration of suitable bass lines for the soloists' contentment; nothing in the works comes close to Donizetti's best work. However, the music does not actually need to be anything more than purely entertaining, and, considering its origins, it is a credit to Donizetti that he manages to go beyond his limited framework and provides us with something truly marvelously melodious, if not particularly deep. "Francesca", as a comic piece, actually benefits from Donizetti's lighter mood and incorporates some of the most attractive music: most notably, a delightful comic soprano-tenor duet and a gentle tenor romanza. "Elvida" is more problematic, as its text describes a tragedy, while the music suggests an anecdote, spoofing the stereotypes of serious music; the climatic two-part quartet, however, is a quite moving number of soft lines, while most of the other pieces are handsomely ornamented.

Both works have been successfully recorded by Opera Rara in 2004 under Antonello Allemandi with the same quartet of well-established singers:

Elvida/Francesca - Annick Massis,
Amur/Il re - Pietro Spagnoli,
Zeidar/Edmondo - Jennifer Larmore,
Il conte - Alfonso Antoniozzi,
Astolfo/Il duca - Bruce Ford.

Hope you'll enjoy :).