Programs · Episode

ZANDONAI: Francesca da Rimini

Program: At the Opera
Aired: Saturday, May 23, 2020 @ 6:00 pm
Hosted by Lisa Simeone

Riccardo Zandonai was once regarded as the natural successor to Puccini.  He reached the pinnacle of his career with this intense tale of deadly love, based on a story from Dante's Inferno.  At the Opera features two recordings of Zandonai’s violent and passionate drama.  From 2013, conductor Fabrice Bollon leads a performance recorded at the Freiburg Theater, in Germany, with soprano Christina Vasileva in the title role.  Also, Elena Filipova stars as Francesca, in a performance from the 1994 Bregenz Festival, in Austria.

Pictured: Riccardo Zandonai; Wikipedia.

MORE ABOUT THE OPERA

A while back, the vocal ensemble Mediaeval Baebes made something of a splash by creating contemporary tunes with an ancient appeal, using poetry dating back hundreds of years.  But while that may be an unusual approach to popular music, classical composers have been doing it for quite some time — and in one of their songs, the Baebes shared some material with Riccardo Zandonai, the composer of this week's opera.

The number in question is called "The Circle of the Lustful" — which may be the only clue you'll need to identify the source of the song's lyrics, and the opera's story.  The Circle of Lust is the second circle of hell as described in Dante Alighieri's Inferno, which is home to the story of Francesca da Rimini — a real life "medieval babe."

Francesca was a contemporary of Dante late in the 13th century.  As legend has it she was forced into a political marriage with a brutal, much older man, and along the way fell madly in love — with her brother-in-law.  Eventually, the husband caught the lovers in the midst of passion and murdered them both.  With a story like that one, immortalized by Dante, it's easy to see why Francesca's fate has inspired music ranging from Zandonai's opera, to a tone poem by Tchaikovsky, to a 21st-century pop song with ancient overtones.

Yet despite its famous story, Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini was a sort of flash in the pan.  While the tale has been told in more than a dozen operas, including one by Sergei Rachmaninoff, Zandonai's version is the only one that's heard much today. 

On At the Opera, host Lisa Simeone presents Zandonai's drama with extended selections from two recordings.  From 2013, conductor Fabrice Bollon leads a performance recorded in Freiburg, Germany, with soprano Christina Vasileva in the title role.  Also, in a live recording from the 1994 Bregenz Festival in Austria, Elena Filipova stars as Francesca, with conductor Fabio Luisi.

FEATURED RECORDINGS:

Fabrice Bollon, conductor
Freiburg Philharmonic, Freiburg Theater Opera Chorus
CAST:  Christina Vasileva (Francesca); Martin Mühle (Paolo); Juan Orozco (Gianciotto); Adriano Graziani (Malatestino)
(CPO 777960)

Fabio Luisi, conductor
Vienna Symphony; Vienna Volksoper Chorus
CAST:  Elena Filipova (Francesca); Frederic Kalt (Paolo); Philippe Rouillon (Gianciotto); Kenneth Riegel (Malatestino)
(Koch/Schwann 3-1368-2)

Playlist