Emma d'Antiochia (review)

In existence since the early 1970s, the London-based Opera Rara group originally specialized in the performance and promotion of Gaetano Donizetti's operas. Research soon led it to examine other neglected operas of ottocento composers, and the group quickly began championing them, too. For Americans at least, knowledge of Opera Rara during its early years came mainly from reviews of its London concerts and from private American LP releases of those performances, especially on the UORC and MRF labels. At that time, of course, such recordings were sold only under the counter in a handful of big cities. Collectors fortunate enough to find the sets were able to hear first-class performances of such esoteric works as Donizetti's Maria Padilla and Meyerbeer's L'étoile du nord, as well as Mercadante's Orazi e Curiazi and Virginia (all with the dynamic, much underrated Janet Price, Opera Rara's reigning diva at the time).¹

Rather than fizzling out, as so many specialist organizations have, Opera Rara has gone from strength to strength. Over the decades it has expanded its activities to embrace commercial recording projects (mostly premieres), now releasing at least four new sets each year. We are clearly in their debt. Being able to hear such works as Donizetti's Rosmonda d'Inghilterra or Mercadante's Emma d'Antiochia—whether or not they are now considered masterpieces—cannot help but enrich our understanding of operatic composition at the time of their creation.

Patric Schmid, Opera Rara's artistic director, is solely responsible for vocal casting and has demonstrated a consistently remarkable instinct for matching singers with roles. Schmid also seeks out the finest coaches to prepare his singers. They include Gerald Martin Moore, the Scottish-born, English-based voice teacher and vocal coach recognized for his insight into voices and vocal style (he is especially known for composing individualized, period-appropriate ornamentation for sopranos). Also working with Schmid currently is the conductor David Parry, whose perception of the ottocento repertory is unquestionably astute.

Not only are Opera Rara's performances first-rate, but the recordings and their presentation rank among the finest in today's commercial market. Beautifully packaged with striking box covers and solid workmanship, Opera Rara's CD sets are meant to be savored and to last. The substantial CD booklets (often over 150 pages) contain the full libretto, generously graced by pictures (both black-and-white and color). More often than not, the in-depth, well-researched articles are by Jeremy Commons, a scholar who always manages to lead the reader through the often convoluted history of these rare works with seeming ease and to provide a balanced, objective view of their merits.

Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante, the composer of Emma d'Antiochia, was born in Altamura. Although his exact birth date is not known, he was baptized on 17 September 1795. After studying in Naples at the Conservatorio di San Sebastiano, Mercadante first concentrated on instrumental music. It wasn't until 1819 that he began to pen vocal works. By the time of his death in Naples on 17 December 1870, he was greatly respected, with over sixty operas, twenty-one masses, four ballets, and many instrumental works to his credit. A proponent of operatic reform (his letters reveal an obvious sincerity), he was known for his inventive orchestration, his clever building of ensembles, and his daring use of harmony. Even as early as Emma d'Antiochia (1834), he was seriously toying with the aria/cabaletta structure and experimenting with various ways of generating musical tension by a gradual (and often subtle) layering of voices from scene to scene, leading to massive final ensembles. Indeed, this ability seems to have been one of his major gifts.² The growth of Mercadante's compositional techniques is evident in such later works as Il giuramento (1837), Le due illustre rivale (1838), Il bravo (1839), and Orazi e Curiazi (1846). Although he shows imagination in the structure of Emma d'Antiochia, the work lacks the spark of daring originality that is so stunningly illuminated in later...