Speaking of old-school Italian opera, here's...this. I sort of had the feeling that this was the most well-known opera that I had never seen. I could be wrong. It's hard to judge these things. But there you go. Certainly the most well-known Verdi opera--by my count, I've seen sixteen of them, and none of the rest are at all prominent. Though I still want to see them, of course. This seems to be a transitional work; the next one was Stiffelio (which, okay, no one's favorite), but then straight to Rigoletto, Il trovatore, and La traviata.
From that name, you'd kind of think this would be set in an Anglophone country, but apparently it's just Italy, as usual. So Luisa and this dude named Carlo are in love, only, surprise, it turns out Carlo is actually Rodrigo, Count Walter's son. They're still in love, but the Count wants his son to marry a rich noblewoman instead. Also, there's a guy called Wurm (name a bit on-the-nose?) who also wants to marry Luisa. Count Walter tries to have Luisa arrested, but Rodrigo threatens to reveal his Terrible Secret is he does. The secret is that he became count when he and Wurm colluded to have the previous count killed. Now they collude again to solve their new problems: Luisa's father is arrested because mumble mumble, and Wurm extorts her into writing a letter declaring her love for him so he'll be released and not executed. That way, Rodrigo won't want Luisa, Wurm can have her, everyone wins. Well, that's the theory. The fact is that, although Luisa's father is released, which is good, in a fit of jealous rage Rodrigo drinks poison and tricks Luisa into drinking it too. When she knows she's going to die, she tells him the truth, so they'll be happy in Heaven, allegedly. In an admirable display of efficiency, Wurm comes on stage at the last second so Rodrigo can stab him real quick before dying. I don't know. Maybe Luisa's and Rodrigo's fathers can bond over having both lost their children in this zany mix-up.
So I was more or less enjoying this most of the way through, in a generic sort of way. Some perfectly acceptable arias and love duets and whatnot--the usual stuff. Which I like. But the big problem here--which you may have guessed--is, man, FUCK Rodrigo. Seriously, FUCK that guy. Wurm looks sympathetic in comparison. We're supposed to I guess just think of him as being hotheaded in a way that leads to tragedy, but I've gotta say, no, fuck that shit. Fellas: I know it sucks when you're into a woman and she rejects you. No fun at all. But that is EXTREMELY FAR AWAY from giving you license to involve her in your stupid murder-suicide pact. Fucking hell, man. You talk about libretti screwing up operas--that is definitely the case here. She should say to him, "no, we won't meet in Heaven, because you won't BE there, and if by some bureaucratic screw-up you are, I am walking briskly in the opposite direction as soon as I see you. You prick." Even beyond that, the whole thing is a bit thin--who is Luisa, anyway? What's the deal here? It is quite unclear.
This production is notable mostly for featuring Domingo as Luisa's pa, as part of his campaign to take on baritone roles. He's fine; whatever. In his introduction, presenter Anthony Roth Costanzo (who went on to play the title role in Akhnaten) declare that Domingo has "what appears to be a career that will go on forever." Hmm, yes. I'm from the future, and funny story about that...
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