And there's plenty from music's past – hints from Bellini's Norma in the Druid-like priestly choruses, a rousing quintet motif from Donizetti's Lucia, a bubbly little tune that would be subtly transformed in Verdi's Ballo. You can actually tell where Verdi (and Wagner, too, though he was loathe to admit it) got inspiration for orchestration, plot, and character development. What we hear today, though, is musical history being born.
Everyone was talking about this new opera. It was a heavenly match for the paparazzi. The story tells of a King's mistress, and, wouldn't you know, the opera impresario who commissioned Donizetti was having an affair with the leading mezzo of the day. It was a sensation, helped no doubt by the ironic matching of plot to Parisian reality. But in 1840, this was pretty racy material even for Paris, where Favorite premiered. Wagner was not far behind, witness Lohengrin and Tannhauser. Later, the French would have a field day with this earthy mingling, see Massenet's Thais or Saint-Saens' Samson and Delilah. The story blatantly tweaks the blue noses with its sexual shenanigans, a topic dear to mid-19th-century theater-goers, yet manages to allow faith to creep in for last-minute salvation. It requires ringing voices in showcase roles for mezzo (Leonor, sung by the radiant Jamie Barton), tenor (Fernand, sung by reigning bel canto specialist Lawrence Brownlee), and baritone (King Alphonse, sung by Jacques Imbrailo). You can easily hear why in Houston Grand Opera's premiere production.
Up-and-coming Giuseppe Verdi leaped into the void, simultaneously followed by Richard Wagner.įar from the best of Donizetti, Favorite was one of Europe's most performed works.
By 1848 Donizetti would be dead from syphilis. Seven more operas followed Favorite, including his comic gem Don Pasquale (1843). He had written some 65 operas before Favorite was internationally famous because of Anna Bolena, The Elixir of Love, Lucia di Lammermoor, La Fille du Regiment and was now the undisputed king of opera. Rossini had retired, Bellini had recently died, and Donizetti picked up the mantle. La Favorite has all the requisite parts: flowing melody, relatively apt musical equivalence to what's going on in the drama, some gangbuster choruses, a ridiculous story, and starry roles for the principals.ĭonizetti was the last of bel canto's Triple Threat that included Rossini and Bellini. If someone ever asked you to write an homage to “bel canto” opera, you'd probably write something very much like Gaetano Donizetti's La Favorite (1840).
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