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The horse ate her hat! Milano
Teatro alla Scala
09/04/2024 - & September 7, 10, 14, 18, 2024
Nino Rota: Il cappello di paglia di Firenze
Pierluigi D’Aloia/Andrea Tanzillo* (Fadinard), Huanghong Li/Xhieldo Hyseni* (Nonancourt), Dilan Saka/Marcela Rahal* (La Baronessa di Champigny), Laura Lolita Perešivana/Maria Martín Campos* (Elena), Vito Priante/Chao Liu* (Beaupertuis), Greta Doveri*/Désirée Giove (Anaide), Tianxuefei Sun (Achille di Rosalba, Una guardia), Wonjun Jo*/William Allione (Emilio), Paolo Antonio Nevi (Vézinet), Haiyang Guo (Felice), Fan Zhou (La modista), William Allione*/Wonjun Jo (Un caporallo delle guardie), Daniel Bossi (Minardi)
Coro del Teatro alla Scala, Salvo Sgrò (chorus master), Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Donato Renzetti (conductor)
Mario Acampa (stage director), Riccardo Sgaramella (sets), Chiara Amaltea Ciarelli (costumes), Gérard Audier, Andrea Giretti (lighting), Anna Olkhovaya (choreography)
(© Brescia et Amisano)
Best known today for his film scores, the late great Nino Rota (1911‑1979) also composed as many as ten operas, five ballets and several other works. His infinitely memorable film scores include such Fellini classics as La Strada (1954), 1955), 8½ (1963), Le notti di Cabiria (1957), La dolce vita (1960), Giulietta degli spiriti (1965), Fellini-Satyricon (1969), Roma (1972), Amarcord (1973) and Casanova (1976). Rota also wrote memorable scores for Visconti’s Senso (1954), Rocco e i suoi Fratelli (1960) and Il Gattopardo (The Leopard) (1963); René Clément’s Plein soleil (1960); Franco Zeffirelli’s The Taming of the Shrew (1967) and Romeo and Juliet (1968); and, most famously of all, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972) and its Oscar‑winning sequel, The Godfather Part II (1974).
Eugène Labiche (1811-1888) was a major playwright who wrote over fifty works, mostly in the vaudeville genre. Un chapeau de paille d’Italie (1851) is the basis of the work at hand, Nino Rota’s fifth opera, Il cappello di paglia di Firenze (1955).
Mostly unknown outside Italy, the opera is performed occasionally, often drawing famous singers. It has also been documented for posterity. A 1975 recording under Rota’s direction features Ugo Benelli, Daniela Mazzuccato and Viorica Cortez, while Elio Boncompagni’s 1976 live recording boasts such sterling talent as Magda Olivero, Mariela Devia and Edoardo Giménez. There’s also a wonderful 2007 recording helmed by Bruno Bartoletti, with Antonino Siragusa, Carlo Lepore and Pietro Spagnoli. And finally, Pier Luigi Pizzi’s dazzling 1998 La Scala production, featuring Juan Diego Flórez, is well worth watching (available on YouTube).
The style of this work is unique, as it’s not musical comedy, nor is it austerely modern. Stylistically, it’s closest to the best of verismo, especially Leoncavallo and even Puccini. There are clins d’œil to major comedic operas such as Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, Verdi’s Falstaff, Johann Strauss Jr.’s Die Fledermaus and even Shostakovitch’s The Nose. There’s even a storm, as in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia and La Cenerentola. Dramatically, the action is so tightly knit à la Rossini that if one doesn’t pay close attention, the thread is lost.
The story concerns a misadventure for protagonist Fadinard on his wedding day. Though it exists as a French surname, it’s an uncommon one. Chances are Labiche’s choice was deliberate, as fade signifies “bland” or “insipid.” Strolling through the Vincennes woods on the outskirts of Paris the day of his nuptials, Fadinard’s horse devours a straw hat suspended on a tree. Its owner, Anaide, in flagrante with her lover, the officer Emilio, is in a desperate state, as the hat was a gift from her jealous husband Beaupertuis. As Anaide and Emilio insist on an immediate replacement, Fadinard’s horse is spooked, galloping home. The anxious lovers follow. Fadinard’s father‑in‑law, the boorish Nonancourt, is suspicious.
On a quest for an identical hat, Fadinard enters la Baronessa di Champigny’s villa under false pretenses, as the milliner informs him the noblewoman had recently bought such a hat. Pretending to be the Baronessa’s guest of honour, virtuoso violinist Minardi, Fadinard is given a different hat, as the fine Florentine straw hat was the very one given to Anaide. After various adventures, it’s discovered that a wedding gift from his annoying uncle Vézinet is in fact identical. His tribulations over, he’s finally free to marry.
This annual production from the Accademia della Scala features its students and recent graduates. Given the opera’s many roles, it’s an ideal choice for a student endeavour. This popular Milanese event always sells out, despite a dearth of major opera stars. Happily, there wasn’t an empty seat in the house.
With the exception of the roles of Fadinard, La Baronessa di Champigny and Elena, the vocal virtuosity needed is minimal. Nearly all performed well, and, importantly, seemed to be having a ball. The exception was Spain’s Maria Martín Campos, who sang Elena, as she was miscast in a role that demands coloratura virtuosity. Her thin soprano leggero voice was shrill and her timbre unappealing. Brazilian mezzo Marcela Rahal, first prize winner of the prestigious 2024 Vinas Competition, offered an exuberantly appealing Baronessa di Champigny, thanks to her huge charisma and rich, velvety mezzo. Tenor Andrea Tanzillo impressed as much with his acting skills as his bel canto tenor voice. Without being overly excessive, he brilliantly conveyed the ingénu nature of Fadinard.
Director Mario Acampa transposed the action to an industrial neighbourhood in 1950s Paris, and Fadinard’s place of employment, a hat factory. Riccardo Sgaramella’s sets were rotating structures: the factory; a milliner’s shop; Fadinard’s home; Beaupertuis’s home; and the Baronessa’s villa.
However, Fadinard as a factory worker was not entirely believable. Only a gentleman would ride a hat‑eating horse into the woods. And the country gentry background of Elena and her father didn’t match that of a simple worker from Paris. However, other than depriving the public of prettier bourgeois sets and costumes, the modification was acceptable, and by no means did it spoil the evening.
Veteran conductor Donato Renzetti contributed to the evening’s success thanks to his admirably nuanced direction of the orchestra, often adopting a spirited pace that accentuated the animated score. Aware of the relative inexperience of his young cast, he supportively adjusted his pacing according to their needs. Thanks to Renzetti’s intelligent understanding of the work, the pleasing result was a sparkling elegance more akin to Mozart than light operetta.
Nino Rota once famously said: “When I’m playing piano, I tend to feel happy. But – the eternal dilemma – how can we be happy amid the unhappiness of others? I’d do everything I could to give everyone a moment of happiness. That’s what’s at the heart of my music.” Judging from the cheerful faces at intermission and afterward, nearly seventy years after its premiere, Rota’s enduring music continues to bring happiness to audiences young and old. May opera houses outside of Italy take heed!
Ossama el Naggar
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