Lovely discovery

[muckefuck]

Just now, as we were relaxing in the living room, I grabbed the clicker and switched the cable radio from the (soporific) Light Classical channel to the (usually equally light) Opera channel. For a while there, we seriously thought there was something wrong with the display. It told us that we were listening to a work by "Piccini" whereas the music was astonishingly Mozartian. monshu knows the boy-genius' oeuvre fairly well (he has an especial soft spot for some of the early opere serie that never get performed) and he was unable to place it, so I was forced to consult Nuphy by holding the phone up to one of the speakers.

Turns out the composer's name was misspelled, but not the way we thought. Nuphy opined that it did sound very much like one of Mozart's "youthful indiscretions", but he couldn't place it either, so I told him, "It says the composer is 'Piccini"." "Oh, Piccinni is real," he assured me; he's also the right period, having been one of the most popular Italian composers of the mid-to-late 18th century--the king of opera in Rome until 1773 and, therafter, a serious rival to Gluck in Paris.

Who knew?

Doubtless many people, just not me. Nuphy didn't know details either; I got those from the online Grove's, which--unfortunately--lacked synopses, leaving us just to speculate what the plot of L'americano (a.k.a. L'americano incivilito or ingentilito) could be. The one and only review I could find online in half an hour of searching mentions no more than that the central conflict is between a noble couple and a low-born one. Typical servant-gets-the-better-of-the-master comedy à la Figaro? Who can say? Someone who's more willing than I to shell out $40 for the CD, that's for damn sure.

I found it extremely pleasant and bubbly, though Nuphy cautioned that two or three hours of that could be tedious. The review echos that, pointing out that there are almost no duets or ensembles among the four-member cast, rather aria after aria (my primary complaint with Baroque opera, which seems fatally static after you've heard what a good belcantista can do with multiple voices). And it's true that the chunk we listened only broke the string of solos with the grande finale. Still, I'd much happier hear the whole piece next time I'm at Lyric than another goddamn warhorse, but I suppose that goes completely without saying at this point.

Comments

[welcomerain.livejournal.com]

I was finishing up Fraser's biography of Marie Antoinette last night, so I could have told you all about Gluck and Piccinni!

[lhn.livejournal.com]

The one and only review I could find online in half an hour of searching mentions no more than that the central conflict is between a noble couple and a low-born one.

My own search initially led me only to it's having "recounted the adventures of a California Indian in Italy" and that it was reviewed in the September/October 1997 American Record Guide.

However, that in turn led me to learn that my employer has electronic access to the ARG (who knew?), and so:

PICCINNI: L'Americano

Simon Edwards (Villotto), Patrizia Ciofi (Silvia), Domenico Colaianni (Cavaliere Lisandro), Giovanna Donadini (Donna Aurora); Valle d'Itria Festival/Eric Hull

Dynamic 177 (Qualiton) [2CD] 151 minutes

What first strikes the ear about this recording is its sound. This isn't a hollow-sounding recording derived from a performance at an obscure Italian theater, sung by obscure Italian singers and accompanied by an orchestra just a cut above amateur. Everything about this recording is first rate. Well, almost everything. I have some reservations about the music itself. Still, the sound is clear and crisp, picking up all sorts of fine details--along with a few footsteps and coughs. The singers may still be unknown (three of them Italian), but they are mighty fine. Most remarkable of all, the orchestra actually plays in tune. Eric Hull leads a spirited performance. He also prepared this performing edition.

Niccolo Piccinni (born in Bari 1728, died in Passy 1800) was one of the major operatic composers of his time. His contemporaries credit him with anywhere from 130 to 300 operas, of which 119 are still extant. All of Piccinni's operas are now quite forgotten, save for an occasional production of La Cecchina. He is perhaps most remembered for his rivalry with Gluck during Piccinni's Paris period (1777-91). L'Americano was first produced in Rome's Teatro Valle, February 22, 1772, with an all-male cast! Angelo Longi's libretto is a send-up of the debate on the superiority or inferiority of the indigenous American--not necessarily an American Indian. Voltaire's Le Huron is the chief source of the plot, though Voltaire's biting criticism of society's slavery to a corrupt French court is replaced by criticism of Italian slavery to French style and fashion.

The small cast is divided between a pair of lovers that do agree with each other (Silvia and Villotto) and a pair that don't (Cavaliere Lisandro and Donna Aurora). It all ends up happily, with enough comedy along the way to entertain the audience. The music is zesty but formula-derived and rather plain, with nothing in the way of clever invention. It's all pleasant enough, and the recording makes as strong a case as possible for it. Ciofi and Donadini are sprightly and bright, Colaianni on the dry side, but tenor Simon Edwards is a real find, with his easy-flowing lyric tenor, attractive timbre, and fresh appeal. Let's hear more of him! The recording was made at the first performances of L'Americano since Piccinni's day at the Festival della Valle d'Itria in Martina Franca, July 1996. Informative multi-language notes and an Italian-English libretto are included.