VERDI: Attila.(Review)

VERDI: Attila

[] Fabbricini, Berti; Alaimo, Vassallo, Floris; Rinaldo Orchestra della Sardegna, Corale "L. Canepa," Stefanelli. Italian libretto only. Kicco Classic KC061 (2) (Qualiton, dist.)

Verdi's somewhat neglected Attila may not possess the allure of La Traviata or Rigoletto, lacking the verismo-like intimacy of characterization that defines these slightly later works; in subject and style, it is more akin to Nabucco: aggressive, almost unrelentingly energetic, heavy on the decibels. Yet it has much in it that is beautiful and exciting, and it certainly deserves to be seen more often in the theater. The Metropolitan Opera, which did not mount Nabucco until 1960-61, has yet to put on Attila, despite the yearly presence on their roster of Samuel Ramey, an internationally celebrated Attila.

As with most of the Verdi canon, this opera demands singers of vocal strength and stamina. The four leading roles are strenuous; the soprano part in particular asks for virtually everything a Verdi voice can do. In this live release from Kicco Classic, we find that current rarity, an all Italian cast and conductor performing Verdi. Although it is not by any means a "dream cast," the virtues of the performance far outweigh its shortcomings, and the excitement generated in the theater would be hard to come by in a studio.

Following the disastrous Alzira in Verdi's canon, and preceding the first version of Macbeth, Attila had its premiere on March 17, 1846, in Venice, where it was very well received. Both tenor Carlo Guasco and soprano Sophia Loewe had been in the first Ernani, and Verdi was interested in Loewe for Lady Macbeth. (She became pregnant and had to decline the honor of creating that role.) Although contemporary reports, including Verdi's, complain of flat singing, Loewe must have been a powerhouse to inspire vocal writing this demanding. The libretto, by the theatrically astute but somewhat unreliable Solera (the final act was completed by Piave), is based on the play Attila, Konig der Hunnen, by Zacharias Werener (1768-1823), a popular German playwright whose original version was Teutonic both in its length and its attitude toward the inferior Italians. But Solera boiled down the twenty-four principals to six and used patriotic Italian fervor in the story to create a popular success at a time when the Austrian occupation of Italy was becoming increasingly strained. In fact, it is more than a little surprising that Attila made it past the censors.

The score, although distinctly early Verdi, shows advances in both orchestral and vocal writing. Odabella's cavatina "Oh, nel fuggente nuovolo," for instance, is accompanied delicately by flute, English horn, harp and cellos. In the midst of the bombast of much of the work, it is an oasis of refinement. Character motivation is spotty, delineation in short supply, but the title role provides a potentially complex vehide for a singing actor. Like ...