CD Review | Early Donizetti: L’aio nell’imbarazzo

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Donizetti: L’aio nell’imbarazzo

Alessandro Corbelli (Giulio), Alex Esposito (Gregorio), Francesco Lucii (Enrico), Marilena Ruta (Gilda), Lorenzo Martelli (Pippetto), Caterina Dellaere (Leonarda); Orchestra and Chorus of the Donizetti Opera; Vincenzo Milletarì, conductor

Naxos, 2024

Fans of Donizetti will love L’aio nell’imbarazzo, an opera buffa first performed in 1824, then subsequently revived throughout Europe for several years, making it the composer’s first real lasting success. But the work might also appeal to fans of Rossini, who at the time reigned supreme over Europe’s opera houses, prompting most contemporary composers to “do a Rossini.” The young Gaetano sometimes tries a little too hard to resemble his elder, but his personality shines through with a certain flair in the fast parts, as well as some more languorous flights in tender moments. These peculiarities become clearer after reading the enlightening explanations provided by the passionate conductor Vincenzo Milletarì in the accompanying booklet.

The work also benefits from an excellent libretto by Jacopo Ferretti (who also collaborated with Rossini on La Cenerentola). It follows the misadventures of Don Gregorio, a ”tutor in trouble” (as the title reads), who has been entrusted by the Marquis Don Giulio with overseeing the virtue of his two sons, Enrico and Pippetto. Unfortunately for him, the two brothers are in love—each in his own way. While the foolish Pippetto has fallen in love with the old maid Leonarda, Enrico has secretly married Gilda, with whom he has had a child. Poor Gregorio has to hide the mother and feed the child.

The action is a pleasant departure from the usual opera buffa, where the story is usually about two lovers prevented from marrying; here, the marriage has already been consummated when the opera begins! As for the younger son’s love affair with an older woman, it seems to be a comic foreshadowing of Donizetti’s later, tragic opera Lucrezia Borgia.

Naxos would help the cause of this charming discovery by making a libretto of the work available online in a good translation; the summary provided with the CD is not enough. In the meantime, to get an idea of the action, there’s an excellent 1984 version you can watch on YouTube, very well acted and sung by, among others, Alessandro Corbelli, then making his debut as Don Giulio. Almost 40 years later, he performs the same role in the Naxos recording, with a voice of confounding health.

Along with Alex Esposito, Corbelli is the only other experienced singer in the cast. The other performers are trainees from the Bottega Donizetti, an advanced course offered by the Donizetti Festival organized each year in Bergamo, the composer’s birthplace. They all perform extremely well and make you want to hear the work again—or even attend a performance.

Translation: Gianmarco Segato

This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en: Francais (French)