Search - Alessandro Nini, Fabrizio Maria Carminati, Marchigiana Philharmonic Orchestra :: Alessandro Nini: La Marescialla d'Ancre

Startlingly good

John Cragg | Delta(greater Vancouver), B.C Canada | 04/03/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I had never heard of Alessandro Nini until I got this set. What attracted me to it was the soprano, Chiari Taigi, with whose singing I was most impressed in Rossi's Il Domino Nero. In this opera, again she sings with great expresssiveness, subtlety and beauty.



What was a complete surprise to me was the opera itself. Composed in 1839, for the even then rather minor opera house at Pudua, this is a stunning example of late bel canto writing, moving into the more dramatic era. The only real competitors at the time would be Donezetti, who was fading, and Mercadante. This opera is well up to their standards (and I am a great admirer of Mercadante) with varied and satisfying melodic themes and quite sophisticated instrumental uses and harmonics. The premiere of La Marescialla d'Ancre occurred several months before Verdi's first opera, Oberto, premiered (at La Scala). Nini's work has many strands that anticipate Verdi and the direction in which he would take Opera. If this opera lacks the raw (crude?) power of Verdi, it also lacks the huge flaws that mar all of early Verdi and which continued to show up even in later works. In particular, this is a much better opera than Oberto. In short, this is an opera which well deserves to be revived and provides a great deal of satisfaction.



The (pretty well unknown) forces assembled for this production are adequate. As mentioned, Chiara Taiga is outstanding. The other soloists are very good. The orchestra and chorus are well conducted by Fabrizio Carminati, though in one or two short spots they seem to lose their way. As a bonus, the booklet contains a fairly brief but unusually informative essay as well as the libretto in Italian and English.



Nini wrote very few operas, and from the booklet one gathers that only a couple are of really high quality. This is one of them, and I find it a very well worth set to have and to hear."