L’Amico Fritz, Mascagni’s 1891 romcom about a wealthy landowner who scorns the idea of marriage but finds himself slowly falling in love with the daughter of one of his tenant farmers, is back at Opera Holland Park (who have long championed the piece) in a new production by Julia Burbach, conducted – in a fine UK debut – by Beatrice Venezi.
It’s an unusual work in many respects, restrained in mood, and dependent not so much on high drama as understated gradations of emotion for its impact. Burbach captures its elusive nature in a staging that combines simplicity with great and genuine charm.
Sets and props are minimal. A few tables and chairs are enough at the start to establish the world of cafe society where Matteo Lippi’s Fritz hangs out with his friends, including the matchmaking rabbi David (Paul Carey Jones), while stepladders later designate the cherry orchard, where Fritz is entranced by the sight of Katie Bird’s Suzel picking fruit. Costumes suggest the 1960s Italy of Fellini’s movies rather than 19th-century Alsace (where the opera was originally set), and there are some lovely touches of magic realism in Burbach’s treatment of Beppe (Kezia Bienek), the itinerant violinist whose playing first brings Fritz and Suzel together, but who also dons wings as Cupid to ensure their relationship deepens as it progresses.
Musically, it’s beautifully done, and comparably restrained. Lippi sings with a handsome tone and passionate sensitivity. He and Bird sound lovely together in their duets, and are entirely convincing as a couple overwhelmed by feelings for each other that they can barely comprehend. Carey Jones makes a wittily knowing yet lyrical David, while Bienek is spirited and svelte as Beppe. The opera is given in a reduced orchestration by Tony Burke, but there’s plenty of Italian warmth and sensuousness in both Venezi’s conducting and the City of London Sinfonia’s playing. It’s a fine achievement and the perfect opera to hear on a hot summer’s night.