Montemezzi's L'amore dei tre re at Opera Holland Park, London

[Alan Howe]

Wow, wow and thrice wow (to misquote Frankie Howerd)! Opera Holland Park's current production of Montemezzi's 1913 is world-class.
With an unvarying, minimalistic set featuring the grey exterior of a cold, forbidding castle with stairs climbing to a dizzying height, concentration could be focused on the interaction of the four main characters: King Archibaldo, his son Manfredo, Manfredo's wife, Fiora, and Avito, Fiora's lover. And what interaction! The blind old king was sung by mighty Russian bass Mikhail Svetlov with an obsessive, wide-eyed intensity that was positively terrifying, while Tasmanian baritone Simon Thorpe gave us a sympathetic portrait of the helpless soldier-son, singing his demanding part with rough-hewn power.
And then there were the doomed lovers. Mexican tenor Joel Montero sang Avito with heft to spare. Vocally, nothing seemed to faze him. This was the very essence of the passionate lover in pursuit of an impossible dream. But the star of the evening was undoubtedly Welsh soprano Natalya Romaniw (her Ukrainian grandfather settled in Wales during World War 2). Her gleaming, full-lyric soprano is even from top to bottom of her range: on this form she should be in demand all over the world.
There were also excellent performances of the minor roles, particularly from Welsh tenor Aled Hall as Flaminio, and the Opera Holland Park Chorus were their usual sturdy selves, contributing a most moving opening to Act 3 as citizens mourning the murdered Fiora.
Peter Robinson conducted the City of London Sinfonia with a wonderful understanding of Montemezzi's idiom: his skilful variation of tempo and dynamic was especially praiseworthy in this wondrously subtle score and he did not hold back in the opera's many overwhelming climaxes.
What a shame this production couldn't be recorded for posterity. It would be a milestone in the performance history of this unjustly neglected masterpiece. Hats off to Michael Volpe and his team!

[adriano]

Of course, the stage director could not have better ideas than to set this into an Italian Fascist scenery.

[Alan Howe]

It didn't matter as one hardly noticed. One's concentration was entirely on the drama played out between the four main characters. And that was as true to the original as one could possibly imagine. The fact that the opera was played without any interval was also an enormous plus. The sense of growing menace was palpable.

[eschiss1]

Missing a noun there btw; opera title in full, L'amore dei tre re (love of the three kings).
If I recall the circumstances of Montemezzi's death, the director may have felt they had a few reasons.

[Alan Howe]

Many thanks, Eric. Duly corrected.

[adriano]

At the Zurich Opera we had, many yers ago, a wonderful prodution L' amore dei tre re", staged very economically, but tensely, by David Pountney. Nello Santi conducted - as he did on that 1977 RCA recording of this opera, featuring Anna Moffo in very bad shape, unfortunately...

[Alan Howe]

Natalja Romaniw is already world-class. Her top notes cut through the orchestral texture like a laser-beam.