AVA's "La Fiamma' (2nd review)

The Academy of Vocal Arts presented three performances of Ottorino Respighi's 1934 opera, La fiamma, that were a treat.

One audience member was dissatisfied that the productions lacked costumes or sets. She'd like to see a complete staging. Little chance of that. This opera is rarely performed and has some problems, so let's be grateful for what we got. I saw a different cast than the one Robert Zaller reviewed, and I differ with my colleague's opinion that this opera deserves to be added to the standard repertoire.

Respighi is known, of course, for the rich tapestry of colors he brought to orchestra compositions like The Pines of Rome and The Fountains of Rome. The main attraction of La fiamma is hearing how Respighi married that talent to a dramatic stage piece with human voices.

Exciting music, ludicrous plot

In its combining of orchestral and vocal colors, La fiamma is exciting. Full-throated outbursts alternate with subtler moments, sometimes aided by choral humming. But when it comes to presenting a believable drama, La fiamma misses. Its wild plot makes Verdi's Il Trovatore seem, in comparison, like a dialectic dissertation.

La fiamma's leading lady, Silvana, is the daughter of a woman thought to be a witch. Silvana is married to a war-like Seventh-Century ruler, the exarch Basilio, whose household is run by his domineering mother, who despises her daughter-in-law. The husband's handsome son by a previous marriage, Donello, returns home after a long absence and a romance ensues between the young man and his stepmother. It ends in (surprise!) tragedy. Frankly, it's hard to follow.

The case against witchcraft

The libretto burdens us with over-the-top lamentations about witchcraft and the wrath of God. But no matter: The music is what we came for. La fiamma's vocal style is post-verismo, with declamation riding the crest of orchestral phrases.

There's a minimal amount of lyrical melody. The closest opera I can compare it to is Montemezzi's L'Amore de Tre Re, which itself is scarcely performed any more. The orchestral writing is what makes La fiamma worthwhile, and it's interesting to hear how Respighi combined exotic Middle Eastern colors (reflecting the opera's setting) with the Roman style that made him famous.

Byzantium, by the way, was called "the new Rome" during the Middle Ages, when the Holy Roman Empire was split into western and eastern halves and the latter's main city was Byzantium, which was re-built and re-christened Constantinople in honor of Emperor Constantine.

Was Respighi a Fascist?

During the intermission I overheard one patron remark that the opera was nothing but "Fascist tripe." I'd like to correct him and say that the libretto is not Fascist but, rather, religiostic tripe. We could do without its preaching against witchcraft and evil and "the unholy ones" and its glorification of militaristic Christianity.

More seriously, that patron alluded to criticism of the composer for staying in Italy and creating new compositions during Mussolini's Fascist rule. In Respighi's defense, the composer never dedicated any of his works to Mussolini (unlike his fellow-countrymen Pizzetti, Casella and Malipiero), nor did he accept any commissions from the dictator. He actually defended Toscanini when that openly anti-Fascist conductor was attacked by Mussolini's supporters. The final scene of Respighi's opera, Lucrezia, written in 1935, conveys an anti-Fascist message— "Death to the tyrants, freedom to Rome"— that sounds sincere.

Toscanini shunned composers who collaborated with evil, but he played many Respighi compositions during the 1930s and, after Respighi's death, during World War II.

An exotic and erotic couple

Christofer Macatsoris led a superb performance by the 56-piece on-stage AVA Opera Orchestra. The attacks were crisp, the melodic sweep voluptuous and the climaxes powerful. The leading soprano on the night I attended was Michelle Johnson, a first-year AVA student from Texas. She coped well with the difficult score and maintained an appropriately sultry tone. Her climaxes were exciting and never forced. This young woman bears watching.

Tenor Raffaele Sepe, a potential matinee idol from Naples, took the Donello role. He's handsome in a classic Italian way, with a large and clarion voice that's superb in the middle range and displays the potential for further development at the top. Among the night's highlights was the Act Two duet for the two of them, full of exotic and erotic harmony.

Other singers were quite good, as is expected with AVA, which gives free tuition to those who pass its tough auditions and regularly produces Metropolitan Opera stars. Standouts included baritone Christopher Bolduc and sopranos Jessica Julin, Corinne Winters and Carla Dirlikov.


To read another review by Robert Zaller, click here.