Edgar, Opera Holland Park’s current Puccini excavation, is a revelation – Seen and Heard Worldwide

United Kingdom Puccini, Edgar (1905 model, semi-staged, orchestral discount Toby Burke): Soloists, Kids from Pimlico Musical Basis and Tiffin Faculty, Opera Holland Park Refrain, Metropolis of London Sinfonia / Naomi Woo (conductor). Opera Holland Park, London, 2.7.2024. (CC)

Manufacturing:
Director – Ruth Knight
Lighting designer – Mark Jonathan
Battle and Intimacy director – Haruka Kuroda
Costume designer / Supervisor – Myfanwy Holland
Refrain grasp – Dominic Ellis-Peckham

Forged:
Edgar – Peter Auty
Fidelia – Anne Sophie Duprels
Tigrana – Gweneth Ann Rand
Frank – Julien Van Mellaerts
Gulaltiero – James Cleverton
Younger Edgar – Edward Courquin
Younger Fidelia – Anhelina Rubanets
Younger Tigrana – Hermione Zeleke

Opera Holland Park’s excavations have offered revelation after revelation: one thinks of their UK premiere of Mascagni’s Isabeau in 2018 (assessment right here) as only one instance. Extra related on this Puccini yr (he died November 29, 1924), now we have a uncommon outing for the 1905 rating of Edgar (following on from OHP’s Le Villi, reviewed by Mark Berry in 2022: assessment right here). What a privilege it’s to see this (virtually) staged Edgar, then.

The premiere of Edgar passed off at La Scala on April 21, 1889. In 1892, Puccini reduce the rating from 4 acts to 3; the premiere of the 1905 model passed off in Buenos Aires as a part of a season within the composer’s honour. No-one goes to faux that is persistently top-rank Puccini, however I for one come out extra on its aspect than booklet annotator Michele Girardi in his essay A Very Helpful Lesson, who’s brutally ‘sincere’ concerning the opera’s points, each in plot and ‘disconnect’ between textual content and music. When within the second, although, below Naomi Woo’s assured baton – her beat so clear, her data of the rating by no means unsure – it was potential to turn out to be totally enraptured with the music. The vary of references one might level to is giant. from Ponchielli to Wagnerian chromaticisms, however this verismo is cradled inside a core of Puccini.

The ‘semi-staged’ aspect is that singers are costumed and totally act out the drama, however there’s a lack of stage furnishings and ornament. It labored fantastically, so full credit score to director Ruth Knight, who appeared to maneuver it extra in direction of Victorian instances than the Center Ages. However the sometimes-grizzly interactions of feelings stay fixed no matter period, after all. Mark Jonathan’s lighting was clearly fastidiously thought of, and all the time efficient.

The story of Edgar is taken from the play-in-verse La Coupe et les Lèvres by Alfred de Musset; the librettist is Ferdinando Fontana. The setting is acknowledged as Flanders in 1302. Edgar, in a again story, has been residing with the debauched Tigrana (who was introduced up by the opposite main girl’s father). There appears to be clues within the names: the wild animal, Carmen-referencing Tigrana is complemented by the virginal good woman Fidelia. The nexus is Edgar, who on arrival claims he loves Fidelia and her honesty. Frank loves Tigrana, however Edgar runs off together with her after a crowd harass her; Frank is wounded in a duel with Edgar within the course of. Within the second act, Edgar regrets his actions; the arrival of Frank and his platoon permits for suspiciously immediate forgiveness and Edgar joins the Military. Within the last act, Edgar has died (‘died’) and is introduced again in a coffin (positioned stage entrance and centre right here, with an embossed cross). In a curious twist, Tigrana seems to wish for Edgar and the curate propositions her, asking her to run away with him. Riled crowd desecrate the coffin, however it’s empty: the ’curate’ is the truth is Edgar, who now declares Fidelia his real love. However Puccini’s ‘draMMA lirico’ ends in tragedy and never a little bit blood …

As all the time with Puccini, then, a lot emotion. The piece wants a robust hand on the helm, and barely have I heard such self-discipline from the Metropolis of London Sinfonia than right here, below Naomi Woo’s course. This was her OHP debut (she is Canadian and is an ‘creative associate’ of Montréal’s Orchestre Métropolitaine). Zeroing in on minute element few conductors might have essayed Puccini’s formal construction, equivalent to it’s, higher. The orchestral discount is beautifully managed, permitting climaxes to register, however voices are hardly ever if ever overpowered. The choral contributions had been beautifully co-ordinated and delivered (we hear Puccini’s penchant for church music – extra famously outed in Tosca – right here too).

The three kids act out, silently, scenes presumably from childhood, together with the exclusion of Tigrana, emphasising her standing as ‘outsider’. The Opera Holland Park Refrain is in advantageous type all through (Puccini provides them loads to do). The soloists had been relatively extra variable, nonetheless. On the credit score aspect, Peter Auty is in advantageous voice and as dramatically convincing because the plot permits. He relishes Puccini’s lengthy traces and has a positive sense of favor. His Tigrana, Gweneth Ann Rand, final seen as Innkeeper’s Spouse / Hen in Crafty Little Vixen at English Nationwide Opera in 2022 appeared much less safe, generally swooping between notes. There was an analogous polarity between Julien Van Mellaerts’s Frank – finely etched, assured (Van Mellaerts has impressed earlier than, as Frédéric in COG’s Lakmé  and in OHP’s Opera in Music with Anush Hovhanisyan in 2021), in opposition to an unexpectedly edgily-toned Anne Sophie Duprels as Fidelia, definitely much less convincing than because the titular function in Zazà (Leoncavallo) again in 2017. James Cleverton was a robust Gualtiero.

As regards this explicit run of Edgar, there ought to be greater than three performances, certainly … it appeared bought out, and one assumes the remaining performances might be, too. Fairly proper: with out listening to this, how can we ‘know’ Puccini? That is the highway to greatness, in any case. And if you wish to get to know the piece through recordings, the 1977 CBS Bergonzi/Scotto (as Fidelia) is unquestionably essentially the most well-known, and below Queler’s baton, the rating glows. There may be additionally the Domingo DG account carried out by Alberto Veronese (though I discover the CBS extra convincing general). Some, too, might want to hunt down Julia Varady’s Fidelia (Naïve, Orchestre de Radio France below Yoel Levi), however José Cura’s Edgar on a uncommon DVD of the 1889 model would possibly sadly stay elusive for the musicologically curious.

That is Opera Holland Park providing, if not fairly a once-in-a-lifetime expertise, definitely a uncommon alternative. At instances when opera homes battle to outlive, that is courageous, and the danger pays off. There may be hope.

Colin Clarke