United Kingdom Bellini, La straniera (concert performance): Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Chelsea Opera Group / Stephen Barlow (conductor). Cadogan Hall, London, 1.6.2025. (CC)
Cast:
Alaide (La straniera) – Helena Dix
Valdeburgo – Dan D’Souza
Isoletta – Geogia Mae Bishop
The Lord of Montolino – Kevin Hollands
Osburgo – Will Diggle
Arturo – Thomas Elwin
Prior to the Knights Hospitaller – Thomas D. Hopkinson
A very rare outing here for Bellini’s two-act opera La straniera (The Foreigner). Opera afficionados will probably know this from Renata Scotto’s recording from 1970 with Ettore Gracis at the helm (worth putting up with the scrappy orchestra for Scotto), or perhaps David Parry’s Chandos version (with Patricia Cioffi). Good to hear it live, though, with a cast dominated by the Alaide – the stranger of the title – from soprano Helena Dix.
La straniera follows on from the success of Bellini’s Il pirata, premiered at La Scala in 1827. Taking its plot from Charles-Victor Prévot’s L’Étrangère, La straniera was premiered in early 1829. It has had a chequered history. After an initial flush of success, it rather disappeared, revived in 1935 at La Scala with Gina Cigna; it was that Scotto recording that really helped, with Monserrat Caballé taking up the role in New York in 1969.
The setting is medieval Brittany. Alaide (soprano) is a mysterious woman who lives in exile; Arturo (tenor) falls in love with her. He is a nobleman who is inconveniently, at least from his present perspective, engaged to Isoletta (mezzo-soprano), daughter of the Count of Montolino (bass). But Alaide rejects Arturo; worse, Arturo mistakes Alaide’s brother, Valdeburgo, for her lover (this ain’t Wagner, you know!), wounding Valdeburgo in the process (who falls into a lake). She is, in fact, Queen Agnes of France, living in hiding for her own safety. Arturo commits suicide because of her rejection, and Alalde yeans for death, falling senseless to the ground.
Helena Dix’s assumption of the title role was magnificent, and utterly tireless, effortlessly riding the combined forces of orchestra, chorus and fellow soloists. But she could provide real tenderness, too, her final aria – there are remarkably few solo arias in this opera – ‘Sono all’ara?’ a highlight (a mention for principal flute Ben Pateman is due here, too). This is one of Bellini’s sublime melodies and needs exactly the long-line legato Dix found. And how Dix could convey her character’s pain, absolutely piercing at the end of the first act
Dan D’Souza’s Valdeburgo was generally strong but could be rather too literal in the early stages of the opera. As the wronged Isoletta, Georgia Mae Bishop was a force to be reckoned with herself; the two spend a fair amount of the early part of Act I in duet, and very effectively so, while her Act II aria, ‘Ne alcun ritorna? … Oh! Cruda’ was both involving and touching. It is worth remembering that Mae Bishop made a fine Giovanna in Rigoletto at Opera Holland Park in 2023 (review here). But it was the heroic tenor of Thomas Elwin (Arturo) that convinced. This is a tenor part that descends into the baritone register fairly regularly, and Elwin has what it takes.
Kevin Hollands was a finely honed Montolino. The Prior of the Knights Hospitaller has to wait until the second act to sing, but when he did (Thomas D. Hopkinson) it was with real authority. I was rather less taken by Will Diggle’s Osburgo (Montolino’s henchman). Individuals aside, Bellini’s writing revels in vocal combinations, including a fine section towards the opera’s close. Bellini’s writing is masterful throughout, in fact. Perhaps the opera’s downfall is its relative lack of solo arias, and those expecting a continuous outflow of florid lines might be disappointed. Against this is a fine dramatic handling of the Gothic story. Bellini’s fingerprints are all over the score; a most worthwhile endeavour (as always, it seems from Chelsea Opera Group)
Stephen Barlow’s conducting was somewhat workaday generally; the piece needs verve to make it work. It also needs the darker passages for the strings towards the end of the first act (prior to Alaide’s ‘Ah! non partir’) to make their mark, while the chorus was variable. The orchestra was more notable for its individual or sectional contributions – horns in the Act I hunt scene, for example, less for its balancing in tuttis, and on occasion the orchestra did drown the singers.
Performatively, a mixed evening then, however La straniera emerges as a fascinating piece.
Colin Clarke
Thank you for the review.