Following his intention to bring back to La Scala the lesser performed repertoire of Italian verismo, general manager Alexander Pereira planned a long run of Riccardo Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini.

The opera, which premiered in Milan in 1916, remained a regular feature until 1959, when Gianandrea Gavazzeni conducted a production with no less than Magda Olivero in the title role and Mario Del Monaco as her partner that can still be heard in a live recording. After this, the work disappeared from the Milanese seasons, and after almost sixty years the local audience is being offered the opportunity to see Zandonai’s work performed on stage again.

Such a long awaited comeback of a title that is virtually unknown for most opera goers called for a very careful choice concerning the production details. The libretto by Tito Ricordi relies on Gabriele D’Annunzio’s drama, which depicts the Medieval setting of the action with gloomy colors, with violent passions dominating over the greedy characters, and in which men are mostly concerned with war and intrigue. Against this background, women are a sort of foreign body: they are also guided by passions, but depend completely on men, and can only try to cope with their helplessness.

Set designer Leslie Travers captured the difference between sexes by staging the opening scene, with the maids playing, later joined by Francesca and her sister, in a light setting dominated by a reclining, gigantic female statue. When the men break into this environment, the statue is pierced by long black spears. In the second act, the men are at war. A rotating structure serves as the base for Paolo and his brothers, who come from the battlefield. Back to the female ambience again in the third act, a biplane reminds of Gabriele D’Annunzio and his war rhetoric (the poet fought in the Italian Air Force in the First World War), as do fascist uniforms that appear among costumes, by costume designer Marie-Jeanne Lecca, partly a reminder of the First World War, partly of the Middle Ages.

Conductor Fabio Luisi prepared the orchestra and the singers with great care for the occasion. His reading of the complex score highlighted equally its dramatic and lyrical moments, paying attention to each single instrument, as well as to the singers, who could always count on his support.

As is generally the case for verismo operas, Francesca da Rimini calls for singers who can produce a huge volume of sound with a flawless technique. On the whole, the vocal cast was up to the challenge.

Soprano Maria José Siri, by now a veteran of the Milanese stage, lent her voice to Francesca: she was vocally compelling, even though she could delve deeper into the character (which is perhaps understandable at a debut in such a demanding opera). Less adequate was tenor Marcelo Puente as Paolo il Bello, a very complex role that he could hardly master technically. Baritone Gabriele Viviani was a very good Giovanni, Paolo’s crippled brother: the only critique goes to the make-up artist, who could have done more to make him look repulsive as he should. I found especially compelling Luciano Ganci in the role of the villain Malatestino, Paolo’s and Giovanni’s other brother, who tackled the difficult role with great commitment.

At the second performance, the house was not sold out, but the audience looked attentive. In the end, everyone enjoyed a deserved success.