Gramophone – September 2019

gramophone.co.uk GRAMOPHONESEPTEMBER 2019107

OPERA REVIEWS

Flury

AFlorentineTragedy. TheDeathofSappho

JuliaSophieWagnersopLongLongtenorDaniel

OchoabarNurembergSymphonyOrchestra/

PaulMann

ToccataClassicsFTOCC0427(53’• DDD)

Includeslibrettoandtranslation

PucciniandBusoni

wereamongthe

composerswho

thoughtaboutsetting

OscarWilde’ssteamyplayAFlorentine

Tragedyasanopera.Thesubjectmatter

makesatightoperaticthree-hander:

Simone,awealthymerchantin

16th-centuryFlorence,discoverslocal

princeGuidoBardipayingcourttohis

wife,Bianca.Simonefeignshospitalitybut

laterchallengesGuidotoaduel,defeating

theprincethenstranglinghimtodeath.

Thisturnsonhiswife,Bianca,whoasks

‘Whydidyounottellmeyouwereso

strong?’towhichSimonereplies,‘Why

didyounottellmeyouwerebeautiful?’,

atwhichpointthetwokisspassionately

overtheprince’scorpse.

KarlAudiriethgottoWilde’splayfirst

(1913-14)butitisAlexanderZemlinsky’s

version(composedin1916)thatisthebest

known.Eventhen,recordingsofthe

Zemlinskyarerareandstagedproductions

arerarer,althoughDutchNationalOpera

mountedit–paired,appropriatelyenough

withFlorentinecomedyGianniSchicchi–

in2017.Butwhatoftheversionby

RichardFlury?

TheSwisscomposerperhapsneeds

anintroduction,asthisappearstobe

thefirstreviewofhismusictoappearin

Gramophone’spages.Borninthetinytown

ofBiberistinnorthernSwitzerland,he

studiedwithHansHuberandFelix

Weingartner,andlaterinViennawith

JosephMarx.Flurythentaughtin

Solothurn–betweenBerneandBasel–

whereheconductedtheorchestraand

stagedhisoperasandballetsatthelocal

theatre.Hecomposedprolificallyinalate-

Romanticmanner,weddedtotonality,but

withsomedaringharmonies.

Flury’soperaticsettingofWildenearly

landedhiminhotwater.Apparentlyhe

wasunawareoftheexistenceof

Zemlinsky’soperaandtheAustrian

composer’spublisher(mistakenly)

believedithadsolerightstoMax

Meyerfeld’sGermantranslationof

theplay,whichFluryhadalsoused.

WhereZemlinskyoffersastormy

prelude,Fluryplungesstraightintothe

action,hissettingover 10 minutesshorter

thanitspredecessor.Flury’sversion

hasanalmostverismofeeltoit:brassy

declarationsseemtoechothefanfares

inTurandot;vocallineshaveItalianate

fluiditytothem.

PaulMannconductstheNuremberg

SymphonyOrchestrainapulsating

account.Thethreesoloistsareall

dependable,althoughbaritoneDaniel

Ochoa–whobearsmuchofthescore’s

weightasSimone–soundsstretchedbythe

role’sdemands.ChinesetenorLongLong

hitstheheroicheightswhenhepraises

Bianca’sbeauty.JuliaSophieWagnersings

wellintheunder-developedroleofthe

merchant’swife.Happilywehearrather

moreofherinFlury’s10-minutescena

TheDeathofSappho.Composedaround

thesametimeasAFlorentineTragedy,

Sapphoislushlyorchestratedandallowsthe

sopranogreatdramaticscope.Toccata’s

richrecordingallowsbothworkstobloom

andthisdisciswellworthexploring.

MarkPullinger

L Kaminsky

As One

Kelly Markgrafbar .....................................Hannah Before

Sasha Cookemez ............................................Hannah After

Fry Street Quartet / Steven Osgood

Bright Shiny Things F BSTC0127 (75’ • DDD)

Includes libretto

Lavish costumes, sparse staging: Donizetti’s Il Castello di Kenilworth, live from Bergamo, is given a spirited account

PHOTOGRAPHY:

GIANFRANCO ROTA/FONDAZIONE TEATRO DONIZETTI