Fedora

Conductor...............Roberto Abbado
Production..............Beppe De Tomasi

Princess Fedora Romazov...Mirella Freni
Count Loris Ipanov..............Plácido Domingo
Countess Olga Sukarev........Ainhoa Arteta
De Siriex..............................Dwayne Croft

Giordano's Fedora streamed from the Met today.  This is from a broadcast from 1997. This production was mounted to celebrate the retirement of Mirella Freni from the opera stage.  She was 62 and sounds glorious.

Freni enters to a wonderful ovation.  Fedora is engaged to be married, and on the eve of her wedding her fiancé is murdered.  This is Act I in Russia. 

In Act II Fedora has followed Ipanov, whom she thinks murdered her fiancé, to Paris.  Her Ipanov is Placido Domingo who is 5 years younger than Freni.  They meet in her house in Paris and seem to fall in love.  Fedora hears that the czar has been shot.  There is a lot of narrative of people explaining things that happened off stage.  The stories are emotional, just the thing for opera.  I can see why an Italian singer like Freni would love this.

In the act break Mayor Giuliani gives Mirella Freni the key to the city.  It's wonderful to see this.  Brava Mirella.

Act III takes place in Switzerland where the Princess has a house.  The whole production is very traditional.  It's not difficult to see why Freni would love this opera.  Her character is on the stage for every scene and experiences a very wide range of emotions.  She is happy, sad, angry, joyous, guilty, despondent and suicidal all in one opera.

The opera is sort of verismo for the upper classes.  They are glorious together to the end.  It is wonderful to see this again.  They do it all for Mirella.  Love.