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Tag: Wolf-Ferrari

Korngold Wolf-Ferrari Opera on WPRB

Wake up to your conflicted emotions with Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s “Violanta,” and then sneak a cigarette with Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari’s “Il segreto di Susanna” (“Susanna’s Secet”). I’ll be filling in for Sandy Steiglitz today for “Sunday Morning Opera,” from 7 to 10 ET, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com.

February 28, 2016
Opera on Vinyl Korngold and Wolf-Ferrari

Tomorrow morning I will have the honor of keeping the chair warm for Sandy Steiglitz, who will be taking the week off from her long-running show, “Sunday Morning Opera,” at WPRB. That’s a large bill to fill, so I’ll be bringing along not one, but two operas.

Erich Wolfgang Korngold wrote “Violanta” at the age of 17. Already his second opera, composed in 1914, the work demonstrates the composer’s early mastery of large orchestral forces, rich, heroic vocal writing, and compelling stagecraft. It’s small wonder that 20 years later Korngold would revolutionize the Hollywood film score. He would be recognized for his efforts with two Academy Awards, for his work on “Anthony Adverse” (1936) and “The Adventures of Robin Hood” (1938). A good choice, then, for Academy Awards Sunday!

The story of “Violanta,” set in 15th century Venice against the backdrop of Carnival, involves seduction, suicide, thirst for revenge, dawning compassion, and sacrifice. The music is intoxicating, and the recording, led by Marek Janowski – with Eva Marton in the title role, Siegfried Jerusalem as a sympathetic lothario, and Walter Berry as an insecure husband – is fabulous. Bruno Walter conducted the world premiere in Munich, so the choice of the Munich Radio Orchestra is an idiomatic one.

We’ll follow up the opulent tragedy of “Violanta” with Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari’s fun and frothy comedy of marital misunderstanding, “Il segreto di Susanna” (“Susanna’s Secret”), composed in 1909. A man suspects his wife is having an affair when he smells cigarette smoke on her clothes. He attempts to get to the bottom of her “secret,” with amusing results. Renato Scotto is Susanna, Renata Bruson her husand, Count Gil, and John Pritchard conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra.

In the process, we’ll inadvertently be observing the birthdays of Scotto (Feb. 24), Pritchard (Feb. 5) and Janowski (Feb. 18), along with those of Leontyne Price (Feb. 10), and Lotte Lehmann (Feb. 27).

My choices are somewhat limited due to the requirements of WPRB’s All Vinyl Week. Still, I think I’ve managed to come up with some good material. I hope you’ll join me as I kick back with some caffeine and some good music, on “Sunday Morning Opera,” tomorrow from 7 to 10 ET, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com.

PHOTO: Massive spoiler alert!

February 27, 2016
Wolf-Ferrari A Venetian Winter Composer

Whenever anyone mentions Italy, I imagine most envision sundrenched landscapes strewn with vineyards. But Venice was always a city apart. When I visited Venice it was in the middle of winter. Venice in winter is like something out of “Don’t Look Now.” One would do well to keep an eye out for anyone in a red plastic raincoat.

You won’t find much winter in the music of Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (born in Venice on this date in 1876), although there is plenty that I would consider to be autumnal. Wolf-Ferrari’s gift for lyricism made him a natural for opera. While his operas of the first decade of the 20th century were mostly uproarious works after the farces of Goldoni, a vein of melancholy began to make itself evident in the works composed after World War I. The outbreak of war was particularly traumatic for Wolf-Ferrari, whose mother was Italian and whose father was German. He did about all he could do under the circumstances and struck out for Switzerland. Eventually he found his way home again. He died in Venice in 1948.

Good music for a rainy afternoon: the Idillio-Concertino for Oboe and Small Orchestra (1932):

Happy birthday, Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari!

PHOTO: Donald Sutherland sees red

January 12, 2015

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