Montemezzi: L'Amore Dei Tre Re
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Composer: Italo MontemezziConductor: Nello Santi
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
Performer: Anna Moffo
Performer: Placido Domingo
Performer: Cesare Siepi
Performer: Pablo Elvira
Edition: Music CD
Format: Import
CD Release Date: 1998-08-25
Music Label: RCA Red Seal / BMG Classics
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- Act 1: Grazie Flaminio - Cesare Siepi/Rybald Davies
- Act 1: Dorma, Dorma - Cesare Siepi/Rybald Davies
- Act 1: Italia, Italia E Tutto Il Mio Ricordo! - Cesare Siepi
- Act 1: Tu Taci... E Mi Guardi Forse Con Odio - Cesare Siepi/Rybald Davies
- Act 1: E Ancora Notte Fonda - Pacido Domingo/Anna Moffo
- Act 1: Dammi Le Labbra A Tanta Ti Doro - Pacido Domingo/Anna Moffo
- Act 1: Fiora! Fiora! - Cesare Siepi/Anna Moffo
- Act 1: Ho Per Te Come Il Terrore D'Un Bimbo - Cesare Siepi/Anna Moffo/Ryland Davies
- Act 1: Padre! - Pablo Elvira/Cesare Siepi
- Act 1: Oh, Padre Mio - Pablo Elvira/Cesare Siepi/Anna Moffo
- Act 1: Fiora, Fiora! - Pablo Elvira/Cesare Siepi
- Act 2: Dimmi, Fiora Perche Ti Veggo - Pablo Elvira/Anna Moffo
- Act 2: Suonata E L'Ora Della Partenza - Pablo Elvira/Anna Moffo
- Act 2: Oh! Fiora, Fiora! - Placido Domingo/Anna Moffo/Allison MacGregor
- Act 2: Addio Fiora; Ho Voluto Rivederti - Placido Domingo/Anna Moffo
- Act 2: Avito! Resta . . . Non Domandare - Anna Moffo/Pacido Domingo
- Act 2: Come Tremi, Diletto! - Anna Moffo/Placido Domingo
- Act 2: Ah, Ah, Ah - Eccoti, Fiora - Michael Sanderson/Placido Domingo
- Act 2: Fiora! Fiora! - Cesare Siepi/Anna Moffo/Ryland Davies
- Act 2: Quello Ch'Io Baciavo - Anna Moffo/Cesare Siepi
- Act 2: Silenzio! Notte Fonda! - Cesare Siepi/Pablo Elvira
- Act 2: Impura Ell' Era Si Come La Notte - Cesare Siepi/Pablo Elvira
- Act 3: Intro - Morte In Gelido Stupore - Chor/Elaine Tomkinson/Alan Byers
- Act 3: Alzate, Tutti, Gli Occhi In Volto A Lei - Elizabeth Bainbridge/Chor
- Act 3: Fiora, Fiora . . . E Silenzio - Placido Domingo
- Act 3: Eccot Al Fine - Pablo Elvira/Placido Domingo/Cesare Siepi
Music reviews of Montemezzi: L'Amore Dei Tre Re
Music Review: Passionate, lyrical - and inexplicably neglected
Rating: 5 Stars
A return to this thirty-three year old recording has reminded me what a wonderful home-listening experience it is; the surging, Straussian lyricism of this restless, episodic score creates an intensely dramatic impact and makes one wonder afresh why this opera has fallen into abeyance.
Written in 1914, it is undoubtedly derivative in that it clearly combines musical and narrative elements from other operas such as "Tristan" and "Pelléas et Mélisande", verismo antecedents, Strauss and Verdi, but it is a heady mix and really works. The plot could scarcely be more melodramatic - the death-by-kissing-poisoned-lips routine being strongly reminiscent of "Adriana Lecouvreur" - but this is off-set by a deep psychological empathy and acuity in the lyrics and music which are proleptic of another disturbing masterpiece composed around the same time, but not performed until 1918: Bartok's "Bluebeard's Castle" . True, Sem Benelli's libretto is at times loftily pretentious and ultra-poetic (he was also the librettist for another neglected oddity, "La Cena delle Beffe", by Giordano - see my review) but I wholly disagree with the reviewer who describes the cuckolded Manfredo as "bemused and weakly"; embodied by Pablo Elvira's virile baritone he emerges as the most sympathetic by far of the four main characters; a warrior of great sensibility who has given his love to a woman already beloved of another and who exacerbates his situation by leaving her alone and prey to temptation while he goes off to fight. There is a poignant and bitter irony in the ecstatic outpouring of his love to the indifferent Flora in Act 2.
Too much has been made of Anna Moffo's evident vocal decline here. The incipient husky wispiness in the middle of the voice serves, to my mind, to make her Fiora sound even more alluring and seductive. She is as expressive with the text, is as fine a vocal actress as ever, and she is by no means bereft of top notes, even if the middle is fading. This was understandably her last commercial recording - she is clearly no longer in the vocal estate to tackle more conventional rôles - but Fiora was an excellent choice to go out on. This was also Siepi's last recording, although he continued to perform beautifully for many more years, and his rich, rolling, chocolatey tones are perfect for the troubled, nostalgic, ultimately homicidal old king, Archibaldo. Domingo is in heroic voice: golden, lyrical and involved; I have already praised Elvira's performance. Smaller parts, chorus and orchestral playing are superb; Santi's gung-ho dedication is thrilling and he manages to paper over the weaker, more bombastic sections of the score by varied pacing and loving attention to bringing out orchestral colours and details. If you need convincing, try the Introduction to Act 3.
The dramatic construction is tight and economical. Montemezzi's skilful word-setting covers the hyper-romanticism of Benelli's expressionist libretto and fleshes out the characters in Verdian manner. The way the atmosphere of dark threat and secrecy alternates with extended passages depicting sensual rapture reminds me most of all of Zandonai's "Francesca da Rimini" - another neglected winner. The mercurial, passionate score builds to a terrifying, violent climax; some have found the ending just too abrupt but it works for me. While just about every succesful feature of this work resonates with allusions to other successful operas, it ends up by being unique and "sui generis" - and certainly one of my favourite minor masterpieces.
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