Opera Reviews
29 March 2024
Untitled Document

A rare performance of La Wally proves musically satisfying



by Silvia Luraghi
Catalani: La Wally
Teatro Municipale di Piacenza
19 February 2017

A new production of Alfredo Catalani’s last opera, La Wally has premiered in Piacenza’s Teatro Municipale, and will soon be shown in Modena and Reggio Emilia, which co-produced it along with Piacenza and Jesi.

Today, this opera is virtually only known for its famous soprano aria “Ebben? Ne andrò lontana”, which most opera lovers know from Renata Tedaldi’s recordings (while the general public may remember Wilhelmenia Fernandez’s rendition in Jean-Jacques Beineix's 1981 movie Diva). However, when it was composed in 1892, only a year before the composer’s death, it enjoyed a notable success, and the appraisal of Arturo Toscanini, who, besides binging it in the American stages, also named his daughter after the protagonist of the opera.

Gustav Mahler, who conducted Catalani’s score in 1894, found this the best Italian opera he had ever conducted. In fact, the orchestral score has a number of highlights, in the preludes that open the first, third, and fourth acts, and, besides the renowned aria, there are other vocal parts that also deserve being heard, such as the  whole last act, with another beautiful aria for the leading soprano and the following duet with the tenor.  

The libretto, by Luigi Illica, is perhaps not the most attractive feature of the opera: the capricious Wally leaves her father’s home because she doesn’t want to marry Gellner, the man that he has chosen for her, only to return after her father’s death, and inherit his estate. In a tavern, she mistreats the waitress Afra with such arrogance that Hagenbach proposes a challenge, and manages to conquer her kiss, although she boasts not to be interested in men. When she understands that she’s being mocked, Wally resorts to Gellner, and asks him to kill Hagenbach. Gellner pushes his rival into a ravine, but Wally in the meantime regrets her reaction, and rescues him. When Afra embraces him, Wally again decides to leave everything behind, and retire to the icy peaks of the surrounding mountains. Hagenbach then realizes that he too is in love with her, and finds her. When he finally manages to find a path among the snow and bring her back, an icefall kills him, and leaves the unhappy Wally with the only choice to kill herself by jumping into the ravine.

The production, directed by Nicola Berloffa, set the action on the background of the snow covered peaks, designed by set designer Fabio Cherstich. The Tyrolean setting of the action was made especially evident in the second act, with the tavern’s customers wearing typical local costumes (by Valeria Donata Bettella).

In the title role, Spanish soprano Saioa Hernandez was appropriately temperamental, relying on a well-trained voice with a ringing top. Tenor Zoran Todorovich shaped Hagenbach as a stand-up guy, though not especially refined, while baritone Claudio Sgura in the role of his rival Gellner showed a very convincing fraseggio, and bringing psychological intensity to his role. The cast was completed by bass Giovanni Battista Parodi, who sang with elegance in the role of Wally’s father Stromminger, Serena Gamberoni as Wally’s affectionate friend Walter, and Carlotta Vichi, a touching Afra. 

Francesco Ivan Ciampa conducted the Regional Orchestra of Emilia Romagna with great attention both to the orchestra and to the singers, and the chorus of the Teatro Municipale di Piacenza instructed by Corrado Casati contributed to the success of the performance.

Text © Silvia Luraghi
Photo © Alessia Santambrogio
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