Bellini's final opera I puritani has always been a bit of an ugly stepchild, mistreated and less-performed compared with the light and charming La sonnambula and the urgently dramatic Norma. However, musically it is as fine a work as either, its similarly long-breathed melodies and intoxicating enough to overshadow its rather weak and complicated libretto by Count Carlo Pepoli. And here, in a concert performance by Victorian Opera, it confirmed its musical values and was given an unusually cogent sense of drama by its two principal singers. Shorn of a stage presentation, this drama was created predominantly through the voices of the singers and an remarkably robust orchestral backdrop.
Jessica Pratt was, in one word, a marvel. This role requires every weapon in the bel canto soprano's armoury and she had it all, scarcely appearing to breathe during her slow arias. Her voice seems to get larger as it ascends, the notes in alt spectacularly full and resonant but also ravishingly glowing in tone (she capped off Act II with a huge unwritten high F). Coloratura, too, was nigh-on impeccably delivered and Pratt is certainly not afraid to add her own ornamentation, with the polonaise “Son vergin vezzosa” a dazzling array of interpolated staccati, scales and ravishing pianissimi. Lest this all make Pratt sound like some kind of automaton skilled in vocal effect, it must be noted that the identification with the character was total and this was portrayed consistently within her voice. Elvira must lose her mind three times in this work; what was astonishing was the variety that Pratt brought to these outbursts. Similarly, her dizzy glee was beguiling during the aforementioned polonaise as she contemplates marriage. With ravishingly hushed support from Nathan Lay and Paul Whelan, the central mad scene (“Qui la voce”) became the emotional highlight of the performance, the glorious melody infused with a tangible sense of longing. This was a performance truly in the line of the great bel canto sopranos of the past; the future for Pratt should be a bright one indeed.
With any tenor interpreting the role of Arturo, much attention will be on the famously stratospheric high F demanded at the work's conclusion and whether or not it was attempted. Celso Albelo certainly did, confidently and in full chest voice, to audible gasps from the audience. High notes abound in this role, all dispatched with aplomb, but this is a tenor voice to savour throughout the range. While Albelo clearly delights in those high notes, he brought a lot of sensitive nuance to other parts of the role, warmly shaping “A te, o cara” and refining his voice down to lovely effect in the third act “Son già lontani”. His and Pratt's voices blended superbly and they clearly have similar instinctual understanding of Bellini's melodic phrasing – their Act III duet was tremendously exciting as they matched each other note for note.