Maskarade, and: La cambiale di matrimonio, and: La pietra del paragone (review)

There is a popular sub-genre in the eighteenth-century comedy of manners which has proved irresistible to opera composers from that era onwards: the virtuous young lovers are tried repeatedly and emerge triumphant from the snares of spongers, hypocrites, elderly roués, and curmudgeonly fathers. The three operas under review here fit this bill admirably, and the gap of nearly a century between their composition (and another century between the most modern of them and our time) does nothing to dampen their relevance and high spirits.

La cambiale di matrimonio was Rossini's first professional opera, the first of several one-act farces written for Venice in 1810. While the "Rossini sound" is not quite developed yet, it is a highly polished comedy concerning a miserly merchant who attempts to use his daughter's hand as part of a business deal. This production was filmed at Pesaro's Rossini Opera Festival in 2006, and meets all of the high standards associated with that venue. The cast is made up of young singers, mostly not well known on the international scene, the exception being soprano Désirée Rancatore, but all are highly accomplished and the performance is a success on all levels. The DVD from Naxos offers no extras beyond English subtitles and the choice of stereo, or surround, sound, and there are occasional jumpy movements in the video image which probably derive from the PAL to NTSC transfer. These are mildly distracting but not enough to ruin an otherwise fine production of a rarely seen opera.

La pietra del paragone was written only two years later, Rossini's first commission from La Scala, but it shows the twenty-year old composer already at the height of his powers. All of the Rossini trademarks are on display, and it can stand beside his better known comedies and not suffer from the comparison. Its neglect over the years is due, I am told, to the lack of authoritative source materials, but the Fondazione Rossini has compiled at last a critical edition of the score, which is used here. This 2007 production was filmed at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, co-produced with the Teatro Regio di Parma. That this is not going to be your typical opera production is clear from the start: the two DVDs are packaged inside the cover of a hardbound book, which offers photographs and extensive commentary on the opera and production. The staging is the work of video artist Pierrick Sorin, and consists of a modern-dressed cast performing before video cameras on a "blue screen" set. Their images are then superimposed over ever-changing and often surreal backdrops (filmed from miniature models, also on stage), with the finished product projected on large screens over the heads of the singers. The DVD release adds another dimension to this by freely mixing views of all these aspects to create yet another version. The young and mostly unfamiliar cast enters into this with enthusiasm and gusto, and their performances are never less than satisfactory, but one suspects that a little more freedom of movement on a traditional set might have made their performances more effective. Contralto Sonia Prina as the heroine Clarice and bass-baritone Joan Martín-Royo as the corrupt tabloid journalist Macrobio are the most successful at overcoming these obstacles and offer the most persuasive performances. All in all, the production is highly entertaining, and any...