Verismo

As touched upon in the last post, verismo is the name given to a movement in Italian opera and literature which sought a truth or realism in the art form. Out went the historical settings, the kings and queens, the courts, the etiquette: the verismo artists wanted to depict life in all its unattractive glory with characters and situations that you might find in any small Italian town at the turn of the twentieth century. In truth, perhaps the most famous verismo opera is not Italian at all, but French. Bizet's Carmen tells an earthy story about a decade before the Italian movement started. In opera terms (and record company marketing), the term verismo  has also expanded to mean, roughly, 'those composers writing at the turn of the century, whatever the subject matter.' It may well be that Giordano is a true verismo composer: it's just that Andrea Chenier's setting (revolutionary France) does not really fit with the verismo principles.


The verismo composers, then, are usually as follows and, apart from Puccini, most of them are known for only one work (including Bizet):

Francesco Cilea (1866-1950): by far his best known work is Adriana Lecouvreur (1902) although that is set in 18th century France and tells the story of the real-life tragic actress Adrienne Lecouvreur. The final scene, in which the heroine dies from inhaling some poisoned violets, is quite unrealistic. It is most usually revived for a singer, usually of a certain age, who wishes to sing the part of Adriana. The recent revival at Covent Garden, with Angela Gheorghiu and Jonas Kaufmann, was the first production there in almost 100 years. Despite the more ridiculous elements of the plot, is a wonderfully tuneful work.


Here is the heroine's aria, Io son l'umile ancella, in which she declares herself a servant to her art. Its main theme recurs frequently throughout the opera:

This is shortly followed by the entrance of Count Maurizio who has his brief aria, La dolcissima effige, in which he praises Adriana's beauty:

Finally, in the last act, Adriana sings Poveri fiori / Poor flowers comparing the wilting flowers with Maurizio's dying love for her:

I have a fondness for this production as I was there the night it was filmed. You can watch the whole thing on youtube (with French subtitles) while we await the dvd release in April: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Hwx5eX5-OI A version with Joan Sutherland with English subtitles is available in 5 chunks, starting here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXeVj-TD9Fw

Cilea's "other" opera is L'Arlesiana (1897), one of those operas that is known mainly for an aria than for the opera itself. Its celebrated tenor aria is E la solita storia del pastore (Frederico's lament). Here is Giuseppe di Stefano's version, from 1947:

Amilcare Ponchielli (1834-1886): his most famous work is La Gioconda (1876) set in 17th century Venice. In some ways, he is the father of the verismo school, as his works were influential on Puccini, Giordano, Mascagni etc. La Gioconda's libretto was written by Arrigo Boito under a pseudonym, himself a composer but best known as the librettist of Verdi's final two operas: Otello and Falstaff. La Gioconda has celebrated arias for tenor and soprano, but is perhaps best known for the ballet sequence that entertains dinner guests in act three, the so-called Dance of the Hours, which contains one of the most famous and parodied of all ballet tunes:

Enzo, the hero, awaits his beloved singing Cielo e mar! / Heaven and ocean! Mario del Monaco sings:

 

In the last act, the heroine contemplates suicide in her aria, Suicidio! Maria Callas: 

  

 

As noted, Arrigo Boito (1842-1918) was a composer too although his second opera based on the Roman emperor, Nerone, was unfinished at the time of his death. His one surviving completed opera is Mefistofele (1868) based on the familiar story of Faust, Margherita, Helen of Troy and Satan himself, Mefistofele. It's revived from time to time, usually if a bass is interested in singing the title role (in recent times, Samuel Ramey and Ferruccio Furlanetto seem to have been the impetus for revivals). The most noted arias though are probably for tenor and soprano even if their parts as a whole are less rewarding.

Here is Samuel Ramey, never afraid to take his shirt off, mocking and destroying the world:

For Faust, Dai campi, dai prati with Giuseppe di Stefano:

and Giunto sul passo estremo, with Luciano Pavarotti

and for Margherita, languishing in her prison cell, L'altra notte:

Ricardo Zandonai's (1883-1944) opera Francesca da Rimini (1914) has been revived recently and is due at the New York Met next year. Tenor, Roberto Alagna, seems to be the driving force behind some of these revivals. From his opera, Romeo e Giulietta, here is the moment when Romeo discovers Juliet's dead body. As Jonas has said that this is for him a desert island aria, it seems only fair we should hear him sing it.

(You can also see him sing it in concert but the sound is not quite in sync here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNXCGPCNpNo )

Alfredo Catalani (1854-1893) is remembered for his opera, La Wally (1892), named after the heroine who perishes in an avalanche (the difficulties in staging an avalanche have also meant that the opera is infrequently staged). It does though contain one of the most loved of all soprano arias (although Catalani actually composed it as an independent piece originally), Ebben, ne andro lontana in which the heroine refuses to marry her father's choice of husband, saying Very well, I shall go far away and live in the mountains (soprano, Renee Fleming):

By far, the two most celebrated verismo composers are Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857-1919) and Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945). Although both composers wrote several works, their reputations are based on one work each, both operas lasting about 75 minutes and they have often been performed together in a celebrated double bill: Cav & Pag (or, to give them their full titles, Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci).

Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci / Clowns (1892) is a play within a play (within a play), allegedly based on a true story. The opera begins with a prologue sung by the baritone, telling us that although we are going to see a performance, the tears of the actors are real. The curtain opens in a village as a group of travelling players arrive. Nedda is married to Canio but lusted after by Tonio; she is also secretly in love with Silvio and when Nedda and Silvio arrange to meet, Tonio overhears their conversation. He stirs up Canio's jealousy and leaves him to lament that although his heart is breaking, Canio must put on his costume (Vesti la giubba) and play the clown in that night's performance. The events of the play echo the real life events, but at the end of the play, real life takes over and Canio stabs his wife before the horrified crowd. He turns to the audience and says, La commedia e finita: The play is over.

Tito Gobbi sings the Prologue in this 1946 film:

 
Vesti la giubba, one of the tenor arias. Pavarotti again:

di Stefano: 

One of the most iconic tenors in the role, Enrico Caruso. His 1907 recording was the first recording to sell over a million copies.

Not only a composer, Leoncavallo wrote several opera libretti and even had a hand in the libretto for Puccini's third opera Manon Lescaut.He was understandably miffed when Puccini's fourth opera, La Boheme conquered the world, as Leoncavallo himself had written a La Boheme opera which has since faded into relative obscurity. He did write a popular song, Mattinata / Morning, which has been sung and recorded by many tenors.

There are several complete performances of Pagliacci on youtube. Here, with subtitles, is Zeffirelli's film version with Placido Domingo and Teresa Sratas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84VQa2FAvOs .Another film, without subtitles, preserves Jon Vickers's performance as Canio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvByyna2uOA . No subtitles here either, but Pavarotti as Canio in chunks from the Met: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHp8vP6FnxQ

In 1890, Pietro Mascagni, aged 27, won the Sonzogno one act opera competition with his opera Cavalleria Rusticana (Rustic Chivalry) based on a short story and play by Giovanni Verga. (You can read the story here: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/37979/37979-h/37979-h.htm#Page_101 ) The plot is set in Sicily on Easter Day and tells of the bitter love of Santuzza for Turiddu, revenge and murder. There are a number of original features: significant action takes place offstage and the opening music is interrupted by a serenade from Turiddu, sung behind the curtain in Sicilian dialect; the famous intermezzo orchestral piece is played to an empty stage as the villagers are in church; the tenor is a fairly nasty piece of work, rather than a romantic lover figure. It's a hugely melodic piece, with broad tunes that really "sing" and are well sustained. And it packs a lot of tune and drama into its 75 minutes playing time.

Here, audio only, is the duet at the heart of the opera as Santuzza pleads with Turiddu not to abandon her. It's a broad sweeping tune, repeated over and over, but none the worse for that: Mascagni's got a tune and makes the most of it. (Renata Scotto and Placido Domingo in their studio recording)

The Easter Hymn is heard from inside the church, another instance of an offstage effect. Santuzza, here sung by Julia Varaday, joins in from the village square.

The melody that begins the Easter Hymn is heard later in the famous intermezzo (literally "in the middle": a piece of music that comes in the middle of a play, two acts etc):

From the end of the opera, two moments for the tenor. First of all, a drinking song with chorus, and then his farewell to his mamma before rushing off to his death in a knife fight at the end of the opera:

And here is Jonas in concert:

Again, there are a couple of films available to watch on youtube. Here is Zeffirelli's (subtitled) companion film to Pagliacci above: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md5e5vyxRuQ The companion film to Vickers's Canio, again conducted by Herbert von Karajan but with different performers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX7OuxqCKN4


Mascagni did write other operas: Iris (which has a similar Japanese story to Puccini's Madam Butterfly) and L'amico Fritz / Friend Fritz are still performed today, though more regularly in Italy than internationally. Here is the so-called Cherry Duet from L'amico Fritz:

To refer back to where we started, the majority of these composers are best known for one opera, sometimes only one aria, and the lack of really memorable melody or how best to use the tunes is what keeps these on the periphery of the repertoire. We'll finish with a lovely aria that when I first heard it (on a recital disc from soprano Maria Chiara), I had to keep repeating it. There's a tune in here dying to break free but it's a long time coming and doesn't hang around. Renata Tebaldi sings Flammen, perdonami / Flammen, forgive me from Mascagni's Lodoletta:

You can listen to the playlist here: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2C218E85CE22134F