Mirella FreniFedora: Teatro Alla Scala (Gavazzeni) [DVD] [2006]

The intensity of emotion is well displayed by the combined charm and skills of Mirella and Placido, with the cast supporting so well! The scenery and ambiance (except the "swiss scene" which is deliberately? amateurish in musical display - is it not an ocarina that plays while a squeze box is shown absentmindedly fingered?) are very credibly set in Russia and France, and display the colour of vengeance and police manipulation - with the contrast of political intrigue to human emotion struggling for a result. A warning to consider carefully situations and avoid precipitate actions by those in positions of power which undermine so dramatically the humanity of the characters performing the tragedy. Very intense and well performed!

This is the only recording of Fedora that I own. It is so good that I would not try another version, I think I would be disappointed. Why? it is all due to Freni, she is in magnificent form and gets better until the emotional climax in act 3, which I find spellbinding.The opening set is a salon in the palace of Count Vladimir, his betrothed Fedora (Freni) learns of wounding by Count Loris, but by the end of the act he dies. Fedora wants vengeance. There are many other characters in this act, all of whom are extremely strong.In act 2 we are in Fedoras Paris house, the room is quite delightful. Olga, Fedoras friend sung by Scarabelli features strongly and has a voice equal to Freni. Corbelli as De Siriex is as good in character as he is in voice, one always expects a good performsnce from him. Domingo as Loris is introduced in this act and of course comes up to standard. Once again the supporting voices are very good.In the intermezzo Freni in anguish is acted with great emotions.Act 3 finds Fedora in her Bernese Oberland villa, and on the terrace. The views over the lake are brilliant, there are excellent backdrops throughout.All is bliss between Loris and Fedora, with Olga terminally bored. Things start to go dramatically wrong however, but I wont spoil the ending.The sound quality is excellent with two output options. The picture quality quite good. I would also like to mention the leading ladies dresses, they are beautiful, and this is a feature that I would not normally notice.There is a useful booklet, it of course has a cast list. There are Aria titles and timings, also an article which gives background to the opera and an act by act synopsis.By the way if you are not familiar with Giordano, he is rather romantic and melodic in style, think a bit Massanet with a touch of Puccini.

There is another DVD of 'Fedora' starring Mirella Freni and Plácido Domingo and I think it was made within a year or two -- in the mid-1990s -- of this one; that one was at the Met and was conducted by Claudio Abbado. This one is a live performance at La Scala Milan and is conducted by the 82-year-old Gianandrea Gavazzeni, an acknowledged master in this repertoire. I've not seen the Met DVD and cannot make a direct comparison of the two versions. But I can say that I watched this one with great interest and found myself drawn into the highly melodramatic goings-on of Fedora and her lover Loris Ipanov, which requires a fair suspension of disbelief. Freni plays the haunted Fedora with passion and verisimilitude. It is unfortunate that there is no great soprano aria in the opera, or at least nothing to compare with Loris's 'Amor ti vieta' in Act II. Domingo gets a huge ovation at the end of the aria, enough that the stage action simply can't go on for quite a long time. And for good reason -- it's a spectacular performance.Still, the show is Freni's. She is very much the passionate verismo heroine and she brings out every nuance of the part. Her voice is in fairly good estate; her high notes are intact, and thrilling, but the low voice has become just a bit thready.One novelty in this opera is the Chopinesque étude Giordano wrote for the 'nephew of Chopin' to play in Act II. It does indeed sound like Chopin and is played well by Arnold Bosman as 'Boleslao Lazinski'. But in the Met DVD Lazinski is played by Jean-Yves Thibaudet! (I wonder if he wore his trademark red socks?)The stage decor is beautiful and traditional. The designer, Luisa Spinatelli, clearly had great fun designing three completely different scenes. Act I takes place in a Russian salon, Act II in a Paris salon, and Act II at a mountain-side villa in Switzerland. In each case the scene begins with a back-projection of architectural scenes that tell us the setting (e.g., buildings along the banks of the Neva in St. Petersburg in Act I). Stage direction is also traditional; no Konzept issues here!Alessandro Corbelli is very good as De Siriex, Adelina Scarabelli a bit less so as Olga. The other minor characters are unexceptionable. Orchestral accompaniment is excellent. (I was particularly struck by the fine horn section, especially in the alpine scene.)'Fedora' is not a great opera musically, even though Giordano is a talented scene painter, but it is dramatically effective one that deserves reviving from time to time, particularly for a dramatically compelling singing actress of the quality of Mirella Freni.[At the time of the submission of this review, the headnote here at Amazon.uk indicates this production includes Russian tenor Sergei Larin in the baritone role of de Sirieux. This is in error. The main baritone part is sung by Alessandro Corbelli.]Scott Morrison

Of the two performances that were videoed with Freni and Domingo, I prefer this one to the Metropolitan production. Freni is better vocally in the La Scala performance and overall, Domingo looks and sounds better also. Just a small criticism of the recording however, I didn't care for the camera shot of Gavazenni during the remaining bars before the final curtain.If you like Puccini you'll love this opera.

Amazing singing from all the company and Domingo and Freni are in fine fettle.