Schivazzi creates the role of "Giorgio" in the Italian metrical version of Mascagni's original French opera, "Amica" (set in Savoia)

Speranza

Every opera lover knows "Cavalleria Rusticana", but few have heard of the other dozen or so operas by Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945).

"Amica" was a smash hit at its 1905 opening in Monte Carlo but fizzled out after that.

It's a shame, because as this 75-minute production from the 2007 Valle D'Itria festival unfolds, it shows off a gorgeous orchestral score.

The plot of Mascagni's only French-language opera is pure peasant-verismo, as two brothers fall for the same woman, Amica.

Alessio Pizzech's staging is absolutely traditional.

The pastoral overture - the first thing you hear are cowbells - is mesmerizing, and beautifully performed by the Orchestra Internazionale d'Italia led by Manlio Benzi.

Soprano Anna Malavasi is riveting in her vocal and dramatic power as Amica.

Tenor David Sotgiu is excellent as her main suitor, "Giorgio".

After a shaky start, the Slovak Chamber Choir is fine as the peasant chorus.

There are no other DVDs of this opera available, so this is a must for a fan of Italian verismo. Sadly, there are no extras.

Pietro Masgagni explored many different musical styles, from the verismo of his everpopular "Cavalleria rusticana" to the sentimental lyricism of "Lodoletta".

"Amica" was composed at breakneck speed, reaching completion only a month before its Monte Carlo première in 1905 conducted by the composer, and combined a return to 'realism' with a more sophisticated style of writing.

Its extravagant scenic and vocal demands contributed to the opera's neglect until recent times.

Set in the Savoy mountains around 1900, Amica is a 'dramatic poem in two acts' involving two brothers, Giorgio and Rinaldo, whose love for the same woman, Amica, culminates in tragedy.

While today numbering among his least performed works, "Amica" was initially a triumph, praised for its 'passionate accent' and 'impulsive sincerity' by a contemporary critic, and deemed 'most worthy of re-evaluation' according to the composer's biographer Roger Flury.


There are good reasons why this opera by a "major" opera composer (or, at least, a composer of one major opera) is hardly ever done.

This 2007 production which, according to the booklet notes, is "the first modern production of the original French version," provides those reasons.

The main reason is that there's little of Mascagni's inconsistent but genuine melodic inspiration here, even in the extended Intermezzo, a rare example of a Mascagni intermezzo that hasn't survived as a familiar item in CD anthologies of Italian operatic orchestral extracts.

The simple-minded, unsentimental libretto is also no help.

Two brothers love the same women, though neither cares one whit about her feelings.

They survive, she dies.

At least this "first modern production" isn't "modern," in the Eurotrash sense, though it suffers instead by being extremely old-fashioned in its stage direction, with much flinging-of-arms & endless pacing to-and-fro, things that even Eurotrash acting & staging have long outgrown.

The singing on this DVD is barely acceptable, & this production is also weakened by an ugly backdrop to the first of the opera's two acts.

According to the original stage directions, we should see "mountains & fields in the distance"; instead, we're confronted with batches of linens hanging from clotheslines.

The only thing recommending this DVD's existence & purchase is that it provides a rare opportunity to see & hear a (justifiably) forgotten opera by a composer who wrote one masterpiece in his mid-20s & spent the rest of his life unsuccessfully & frustratingly trying to write another.

With "Amica", he didn't come close, or so some think.