My first La Wally. And, I suspect, most of the large and enthusiastic audience's too. (The first professional production in London, I believe, though I see it was done in Manchester in 1919.)
What a pity it is that the libretto is so improbable and unmanageable. You'd never suspect from this one that Catalani's librettist was one of the greatest in operatic history, Luigi Illica, who wrote for Puccini Manon Lescaut, La boheme, Madama Butterfly and Tosca.
Each of those works cast an intense spell, pulling relentlessly at the heartstrings. But in La Wally, whilst I thought Catalani's music was consistently intense and dramatic, the dramatic situation never touched the heart.
Of course, Puccini was not only a great composer, but also a fine judge of what would work and what would not on the stage, bullying his librettists mercilessly. Maybe Catalani was just too nice to do that?
Toscanini, who knew both composers well and championed their operas, preferred Catalani and named his daughter Wally.
Anyone else seen it?
What a pity it is that the libretto is so improbable and unmanageable. You'd never suspect from this one that Catalani's librettist was one of the greatest in operatic history, Luigi Illica, who wrote for Puccini Manon Lescaut, La boheme, Madama Butterfly and Tosca.
Each of those works cast an intense spell, pulling relentlessly at the heartstrings. But in La Wally, whilst I thought Catalani's music was consistently intense and dramatic, the dramatic situation never touched the heart.
Of course, Puccini was not only a great composer, but also a fine judge of what would work and what would not on the stage, bullying his librettists mercilessly. Maybe Catalani was just too nice to do that?
Toscanini, who knew both composers well and championed their operas, preferred Catalani and named his daughter Wally.
Anyone else seen it?
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