I Lombardi Alla Prima Crociata

The Audience Liked It -- So Did I!!
In his excellent book, "Verdi With A Vengeance", William Berger noted this about I Lombardi: "Judging by the score alone, much of the work appears primitive to the point of absurdity, but in an emotionaly committed performance, I Lombardi can come alive". And that, gentle reader, is exactly what happened in January of 2009, when this performance took place. Not all at once, mind, but once Maestro Callegari started the Music, it was clear that one thing this performance would be was energetic.

The first scene was a bit uneven, due in large part to the use of a computer or camera to project the scenery on the back wall of the stage. When singers came between the projector and the backdrop in closeup, one could see the projection on the singer's face and costume. And then there was Michele Pertusi's makeup and beard; I flashed back to Charles Middleton as Ming the Merciless. It was pure amateurism, but only mildly distractiong. And only in the first scene with respect to the...

Early Verdi gem in an inspired performance
Since Mr Gleeson wrote such an elaborate appreciation of this DVD, and I thoroughly agree with it, so I try to be brief.
This video has been prepared along with 25 more, the complete operatic ouvre of Verdi, to celebrate his 200th year of birth, this year Oct 11th. All these DVD's are by Italians, on Italian stages with mostly Italian singers, conductors, stage directors. According to critics: "this is how Verdi should be played" and so far of what I've heard and seen I fully agree. The provincial opera house of the city of Parma was chosen simply because Verdi was born in Le Rancole, a little village in the province of Parma in Lombardy. Verdi was a peasant boy, from the lowest of origins, but an immense talent and became the main dominant figure of Italian opera in the latter half of the 19th century. In fact not only Italian opera, but I daresay all opera, except Richard Wagner, but that's another story.
Now.... I Lombardi. We mustn't forget that it was a young Verdi's...

Full-blooded Verdi
Verdi's skill as a composer was clearly established by the time he came to write I Lombardi alla Prima Crociata in 1843, but he was also increasingly finding himself confined by public expectations, particularly after the success of Nabucco the previous year. In its first act alone, I Lombardi more or less sums just how adept Verdi was at establishing a dramatic situation, combining personal drama with political or nationalist sentiments, and driving it forward with a forceful musical accompaniment, but it also shows its constraints. As the opera develops, the quality of material that has largely been manufactured to fit conventional situations starts to wear thin, but there's nonetheless still a lot of great Verdi to enjoy here.

Act I of I Lombardi alla Prima Crociata sets the tone well, if the tone you are striving for is Gothic melodrama overload. With fervent prayers (Verdi controversially setting the 'Hail Mary' to music), dark curses ("Dreadful monster of Hell!") and...

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