Princess falls in love with her fiance's killer just after sending a letter to authorities reporting his guilt. Tragedies ensue.
Conductor: Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Stars: Mirella Freni, Adelina Scarabelli, Plácido Domingo, Alessandro Corbelli.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2381939/
Premiere 17 November 1898
Teatro Lirico, Milan
Time: 1881
Place: St. Petersburg, Paris and The Bernese Oberland in Switzerland
Filmed at Teatro alla Scala, Milan, cap. 2030.
When I watched the Met on Demand production (same 2 stars, almost 2 months ago), I found this story interesting (except the ending). Not so much today. At one point I started wondering if the background was a large painted canvas, or just a scrim with back projection. The backdrop is not particularly interesting, so that tells me my mind was wandering. I didn't really catch why she fell in love with him, other than he declared his love for her; no idea why he fell for her. (I ran it twice, and both times something brought my eye back to the screen as they were trading love declarations. Watched that section a 3rd time, and wonder if his love for her was evident earlier still; not gonna start it again.)
I do like having this in my collection for breadth. There are more than 5 Italian composers (Verdi, Puccini, Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini), after all. One fascinating scene has no singing, no dancing, only the Princess contemplating and writing the letter pointing to her fiance's killer; "fascinating" only for what it doesn't do, and that it lasts a longish time.
OperaLaScala, cond. Gavazzeni; 8-
