Mascagni - L'Amico Fritz
Alagna; Gheorghiu; Berlin Deutsche Oper Chorus & Orchestra / Veronesi
DG 477 8358 (2CD)

Release date October 2009

Pietro Mascagni, a composer now inescapably associated with one work, remarked later in life that ‘it was a pity I wrote Cavalleria first, I was crowned before I was king’. He was thinking perhaps of his next work, L’Amico Fritz, first performed in Rome the following year (1891) and achieving similar success, with seven numbers encored. As the CD booklet observes, instead of ‘the full-throttled passions of Cavalleria’ we are given a delicate idyll – but the pastoral is mixed with passion. It went on to become, after Cav, Mascagni’s best-known and most successful opera (there are 15 others), loved by Italian audiences and enthusiastically performed by great singers, including Gigli and Schipa and more recently Pavarotti and Freni (early in their careers). In this new set we hear Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu (not so early in their careers) in a performance recorded at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin in 2008. The work consists of three half-hour acts and the plot has a familiar theme: rich Alsatian landowner (and confirmed bachelor) Fritz is challenged by Rabbi (and determined matchmaker) David to a wager that ‘we shall soon see you at the altar’, and the predictable outcome is fulfilled when despite himself he falls in love with Suzel, the daughter of his tenant (who plays a part in the story but never appears) and rescues her from a loveless arranged marriage. In the third act they fall into each other’s arms, a moment well worth waiting for. Suzel has the best music and Gheorghiu makes the most of it, although perhaps she doesn’t sound quite vulnerable enough (as Freni did). Alagna sings with characteristic ardour but his tone could do with a little more sweetness at times. They are delicious together in the famous ‘cherry’ duet. The other roles are well done, the orchestra under Alberto Veronesi plays with commitment, and the live recording has all the frisson of a real occasion. We are unlikely to see it often (or ever) staged, and if any opera suits home listening this is it. Give it a try.

Reviewed by Robert Allen