Ferdinando Paër (1771-1839) is one of a group of composers – with Spontini, Cherubini and Mayr – who is usually referred to as “transition” composers in Italian opera, bridging the gap between Mozart and Rossini. Their work is not presented often in opera theatres around the world, so the Teatro Regio’s effort to resurrect this all-but-forgotten opera is welcome and commendable. This production relies on the work of Giuliano Castellani, whose critical edition is the foundation of this cultural event.
Agnese was composed in 1809 for the private theatre of Count Scotti, in Parma, and was performed by amateur singers. Immediately after this intimate première, the opera was presented in all the major Italian theatres, and it was a resounding success: In 1814, it filled La Scala for over 50 nights, surpassing Don Giovanni, which was presented in the same season. When Agnese arrived in Paris, where Paër was employed as Napoleon’s court composer, he made several modifications, cutting some numbers and adding others. Castellani’s edition presents all the music written by Paër, both in the Parma and the Paris versions. This choice was appropriate from a musicology point of view, but it risked breaking the dramatic unity of the work, slowing the pace. Fortunately, the musical direction was in the capable hands of Diego Fasolis, who rediscovered this work in a concert version in Lugano about ten years ago. His reading of the score was full of love, relying on a lucid, thoughtful vision of the orchestral texture. His energetic gestures helped to keep the pace brisk, driving the reduced Orchestra del Teatro Regio di Torino with a rich palette of dynamics. The orchestra was the best player on the field, every solo perfectly on point, and their performance was extremely enjoyable.
Agnese is an opera semi-seria, which depicts human madness. When Uberto’s daughter Agnese elopes with her beloved Ernesto, Uberto loses his mind and believes her dead. Most of the story takes place in a mental institution, where sympathetic doctors, security guards and administrators try to help Uberto regain his wits, to no avail. Agnese, betrayed and abandoned by Ernesto, goes back to her father to ask for forgiveness, unaware of his troubles. Ernesto is repentant of his philandering ways and follows Agnese to ask her for forgiveness. The opera ends with Uberto regaining his mental clarity when he hears Agnese sing an old song, and a general reconciliation occurs. The plot presents several fairy-tale elements: the protagonist’s flight through the forest, the characters being two-dimensional, the magical restoring of Uberto’s health. Leo Muscato’s production exploited these elements by setting the action inside gigantic, early 19th-century-style medicament boxes that opened to represent different rooms: Don Pasquale’s studio (the director of the mental institution), or Uberto’s hospital room. The depiction of mentally ill patients was a bit tone-deaf and dated, but it fit with the magical, unreal atmosphere.