Search - Puccini, Domingo, Scotto :: Le Villi

Puccini's first more enjoyable than Verdi or Wagner debuts.

darragh o'donoghue | 11/12/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Puccini's first opera 'Le Villi', even in the revised version recorded here, bears all the marks of having been rushed in a few months for a competition deadline (he lost), and being based on a sloppy, almost comically inept libretto. As 'Suor Angelica' would later prove, the supernatural never suited Puccini's prosaic temperament (although, effectively, the ghost of the dead heroine here inspires ghostly remembrances of the earlier part of the score); the eerie atmosphere the Villi (restless spirits of women who died before marriage, revenging themselves by dancing their faithless men to death) should evoke is botched by abrupt plotting; and the climax, in which the anti-hero Roberto is chased in a ballet by furious spirits, after a 'Tannhauser'-like reunion scene, verges on the ridiculous.What saves this opera is its intimations of future greatness; the epic, orchestrally rich melodies synonymous with Puccini; the communal, dancing jubilation that opens the work, anticipating the heady second act of 'La Boheme'; the gloomy funeral dirge looking to the famous 'Intermezzo' of 'Manon Lescaut'; the plot about a woman abandoned by a fickle man, and an extraordinary, extended love duet hinting at 'Madama Butterfly'. further, the bulk of Act 2 is taken up with an amazing, long, broken series of anguished arias by Roberto, lamenting his moral weakness, the loss of his betrothed and communal warmth, and the intolerable weight of remorse figured ironically in the wispy sprites tormenting him.With this cast - Renata Scotto, a superbly harried Placido Domingo, a sardonic Tito Gobbi as Narrator - could make a radio jingle sound emotionally overwhelming; with Loren Maazel creating great gusts with his orchestra, this flawed but promising little work is a must-have."