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RECORDINGS
Video
ROSSINI: ERMIONE
 Ganassi, Pizzolato; Kunde, Siragusa; Prague Chamber Choir, Orchestra of Teatro Comunale di Bologna, R. Abbado. Production: D. Abbado. Dynamic 33609 (2 discs), 143 mins., subtitled
Recent revivals of Rossini's Ermione have been so successful one has to wonder what went on at the premiere in 1819 to cause the withdrawal of the opera after only a few performances. Two of the numbers were rushed to publication in the ensuing weeks, so it couldn't have been a total fiasco, but the deafening silence of the newspapers of the day has led music historians to conclude that the press was just being charitable to a humiliated composer.
Rossini's highly original setting included the startling intrusion of an offstage chorus into the overture and the merging of set pieces into sprawling formal structures. If such innovations were beyond the grasp of the first Neapolitan audience, their realization at the 2008 Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro — where Ermione had its first modern staged revival in 1987 — was powerfully effective.
Tottola's libretto (derived from Euripides by way of Racine's Andromaque) concerns the dreadful legacy of the Trojan War, as the survivors, descendants of the famous classical heroes, play political and emotional games with each other, with devastating results.
Conductor Roberto Abbado and stage director Daniele Abbado (who are cousins) allow the opera's passion, dramatic force and tragic tone to guide them in a strong presentation, giving the singers ample scope to forge impressive musical characterizations. Graziano Gregori's set — a steeply raked stage above a row of partially submerged cells, with cables enabling sections of the floor to be raised or lowered — contributes mightily to the drama. A versatile opening in the back wall enables several clever effects (a wedding procession passes by on a turntable) and provides the opera's final horrifying moment, as the body of the murdered Pirro swings into view.
Under Roberto Abbado, the Orchestra of Teatro Comunale di Bologna seems at times to be playing at full throttle (most thrillingly), yet the singers are never covered. Throughout the work, the conductor exhibits firm control of the many subtle tempo changes, shaping complex ensembles skillfully. In the work's three major duets, Rossini often requires characters in direct conflict to use the same melodic material (as when Pirro triumphantly urges Andromaca to the altar, while she literally cries "over my dead body"), and these moments were especially gripping, all enhanced by Tiziano Mancini's excellent camera work.
For a major international festival, the secondary roles could have been more strongly cast; Nicola Ulivieri's Fenicio sounds short on top, and Ferdinand von Bothmer (in the third of four tenor roles) sings unevenly and not always pleasantly.
The four major roles, however, are superbly served by top-notch Rossini singers, including Marianna Pizzolato, who embodies Andromaca's suffering with nobility and a warm, creamy tone capable of fine detail. Tenor Gregory Kunde plays Pirro with depth and dimension, handling the dramatic recitative with an impressive dark, weighty sound capable of lovely tenderness. He suffers the most from Carla Teti's ill-conceived costumes and excessive eye-makeup that suggests a raccoon.
With his shaved head and light safari outfit, tenor Antonino Siragusa's Oreste resembles Dr. Evil, but his bright, lean tone contrasts nicely with Kunde's. Although nasality and occasional loss of vibrato mar the sheen of his voice, Siragusa sails through the virtuoso "Ah, come nascondere" with ease.
Rossini supposedly toned down the virtuosity of the title role to accommodate the failing vocal powers of Isabella Colbran, at that time the composer's mistress. But with its emotional extremes, as well as vocal leaps, ranginess, weighty declamation and a demanding final scene, Ermione is hardly a role to coast through. (Just ask Montserrat Caballé, who attempted it in 1987.) With her blazing top notes and fierce vocal technique, Sonia Ganassi melds powerful singing, riveting acting, great physicality and earthy good looks in a performance that grows in intensity and superb control throughout the evening.
JUDITH MALAFRONTE
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