Riccardo Zandonai, Francesca da Rimini (1914)

Zandonai wrote a bunch of operas, but for whatever reason, this is the only one that's entered the repertoire. It's about a medieval noblewoman, well-known from Dante, who had an affair and was killed by her husband (and doesn't that sound like the Platonic ideal of opera plots). Apparently it really, really struck a chord with composers, as wikipedia lists no fewer than eleven operas and two symphonic poems about her, all called Francesca da Rimini except one French one (by Ambroise Thomas) called Françoise de Rimini. Damn, dudes. That is truly excessive. By comparison, wikipedia only lists seven operas based on Romeo and Juliet.

I sort of just described the plot above. In a little more detail: Francesca is supposed to marry a noble named Giovanni. But he's considered unattractive and it's feared that she won't do it. So they trick her by sending his hot brother Paolo instead, and letting her think it's Giovanni. I do not understand how this works at all: surely if she has enough agency that she would be able to reject Giovanni in any case, she's also going to be able to say "screw you, you tricked me, I'm not marrying you." Well, apparently not, because in the second act, they're married. But not before she and Paolo had fallen in love. Whoops! So they start having an affair, but unfortunately, Giovanni and Paolo's other brother Malatestino is also in lust with Francesca, and when she rejets him he tells Giovanni she's having an affair, and when he catches them in the act, he kills them both. And now, I'm guessing, relations between the two surviving brothers will be somewhat strained.

You can definitely see why this is popular: a classic operatic plot married to some truly impeccable late Romantic music. I liked it a lot, and I liked this handsomely traditional Met production, featuring Eva-Maria Westbroek in the title role. She's always great, but I also have to give a lot of credit to Mark Delavan as Giovanni: he's a savage character and not a good guy (though not as bad as Malatestino either), but Delavan also endows him with undeniable humanity and moments of human warmth.

If I have any criticism, it's that, while the score is indeed great, I just feel like in general, the actual vocal part of the score doesn't reach quite as high as I'd hope. Don't get me wrong; there are good moments, but...somehow I feel that keeps it just outside the top operatic echelons. Or! It's also possible that that's an implicit criticism of the cast, and I just don't know it. Or maybe I'm just being weird and idiosyncratic! Wouldn't be the first time. You'll definitely enjoy this, probably.