"Francesca da Rimini" by Mercadante at the Tyrolean Festival: the ruin of a marriage

Created: 12/30/2022 3:51 p.m

By: Markus Thiel

Last meeting in the old abbey: Francesca (Anna Nekhames) and her lover Paolo (Karolina Makula) in the stage design by Johannes Leiacker.

Photo: xiomara bender © Xiomara Bender

Another opera that slumbered in the archives.

But an encounter with Mercadante's "Francesca da Rimini" is definitely worthwhile.

Unlike in Erl, however, you should cut corners and risk more hands-on direction.

Almost one and a half hours of opera have gone to the Tyrolean countryside, and the guy starts to cry.

"There is no fate more cruel than mine," Lanciotto wails, carried by a far-reaching melody.

Well, his intended Francesca is unfaithful to him.

But the fact that the marriage was engineered with lies and for political reasons, that no one asked about the needs of women in this man-war world, that it is always about conventions and traditional role models, never about truth and authenticity, this does not blind us only Lanciotto likes to.

In this respect, Francesca, plaything and object in men's worlds, has sisters in spirit.

Their names are Lucia di Lammermoor, Norma or Beatrice di Tenda.

Typical heroines of bel canto who (have to) break with their existence in this world and flee to suicide, or at least to madness.

Hardly anything had been heard from Francesca da Rimini.

At most as the title heroine in the musical tragedy of the same name by Riccardo Zandonai (1883-1944).

For a variety of reasons, the opera by his colleague Saverio Mercadante (1795-1870) was not even premiered during the composer's lifetime.

This was made up for in 2016 in Martina Franca, Italy.

Bernd Loebe, dual artistic director at the Erl Festival and at the Frankfurt Opera, also grabbed it.

After three performances on the Inn, the production moves on to the Main.

Mercadante and lyricist Felice Romani unroll Francesca's tragedy as a clearly told love triangle.

A woman between two men, between the "official" Lanciotto and Paolo, the lover, unfortunately Lanciotto's brother.

After two acts, imprisonment and a temporary flight to the monastery, everything ends in catastrophe, in Francesca's and Paolo's double suicide à la Romeo and Juliet.

Effect-conscious vocal food based on the bel canto scheme

Mercadante offers effective vocal food for this.

After a short introduction, a choral scene bursts out before Lanciotto is allowed to expand into an extended, three-part tenor aria.

Almost all numbers are committed to the formulaic nature of bel canto, aria structures that one could criticize as stereotypical, but were common at the time.

What is new, despite all the Donizetti kinship, is the courage to use instrumental mixtures – especially in the case of introspective, reflective moments.

The harp, for example, spreads an unreal, otherworldly atmosphere, later a solo horn joins Paolo's lament.

In the vehemence of Mercadante's music one can hear the early dawn of Verdi, but as a melody inventor the Neapolitan does not quite reach Bellini's greatness.

The big duets and ensembles are full of drama.

Towards the end, when everything is actually clear and the black hole is approaching, the play is increasingly stagnating: Actually, the plot can easily be completed in less than three and a half hours of performance (including the break).

Director Hans Walter Richter and above all choreographer Gabriel Wanka fill these gaps with duplications: the main characters meet their dance doubles.

They hint at the utopia that the three bearers of the tragedy are denied.

And sometimes a solo aria also becomes a dialogue with one's own self.

Thanks to the impressive stage designs by Johannes Leiacker, Richter can spread cool morbidezza.

Everything takes place at an angle of two walls.

The back one opens and reveals dream rooms, several times on an abbey ruin à la Caspar David Friedrich.

Romanticism with its flight from the world is obvious, and Raphaela Rose's costumes also point to the time when the opera was written, to the 19th century.

The mirrored floor and the sophisticated lighting ensure a threatening game of silhouettes.

A lot has been solved in a clever way.

The problem: Richter doesn't exploit the piece's psycho potential.

Visually, his staging promises a lot, but only fulfills this in passages.

Karolina Makula succeeds in the most haunting vocal study

Mercadante demands a lot from the vocal staff, namely fluency plus (which brings us back to early Verdi) dramatic potential.

Against this background, Anna Nekhames does a very good job as Francesca.

And yet her shimmering silver shimmering soprano seems a bit too small.

Theo Lebow improves with his soft, resilient tenor over the course of the evening.

Karolina Makula succeeds in the most impressive vocal study in the trouser role of Paolo: an attractive mezzo voice with natural resonance and agility, easily responsive and effortlessly carried to the limit.

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Giuliano Carella, who conducted the premiere of "Don Pasquale" the day before (we reported), is interested in the colors and mixes in Mercadante's score with the Tyrolean Festival Orchestra.

Others may press on it effectively, but Carella cultivates a careful, knowledgeable handling of this music.

The encounter with the forgotten piece is definitely worthwhile.

And a salvation for the repertoire?

With a few courageous strokes and the same kind of scenic access, that would definitely be possible.

Further performances

on January 3rd and 7th;

Information and advance booking at www.tiroler-festspiele.at.