Jakob Beer is the featured composer on this week’s Sunday Opera (6/7 3:00 p.m.) and his forgotten 1824 work entitled “Il crociato in Egitto” (“The Crusader in Egypt”). Of course, the composer is Giacomo Meyerbeer who penned some 16 operas, and “Egitto” is his twelfth opera, the last of what is labeled his “Italian operas.”
Meyerbeer’s score includes wonderfully imaginative use of the orchestra and layered singing that was ahead of its time. The libretto by Gaetano Rossi looks at the story of a Crusader, Armando (Michael Maniaci), who is thought to have died in Egypt but, instead, has assumed the life of a Muslim and has fallen in love and secretly married Palmide (Patrizia Ciofi), the daughter of Sultan Aladino (Marco Vinco).
The opera is based primarily on the conflict faced by Armando who is torn between his love and his religion. When Armando’s fiancé, Felicia (Laura Polverelli) arrives with the Crusaders (during the 6th Crusade) along with Armando’s uncle, Adriano di Monfort (Fernando Potari), the changes in relationship between the Muslims and Christians and the pressure placed on Armando by his uncle are further exacerbated by the machinations of the wicked vizier Osmino (Iorio Zennaro) who hopes to use the conflict caused by the Crusaders to overthrow the Sultan.
Believe it or not, there is a happy ending and some marvelous operatic fireworks along the way.
The recording to which we’ll be listening comes from a 2007 production at the Teatro la Fenice in Venice, the same house where it premiered in 1824. The Orchestra and Chorus of la Fenice are conducted by Emmanuel Villaume.
We’ll have just enough time at the end of the two very long acts of the opera for one more piece by Meyerbeer, the overture and coronation march from “Le Prophete,” his thirteenth opera from 1849. Here, the pieces will be performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra conducted by Darrell Ang.
