Hunt CD541	Marco Polo 8.223883-4
Saffo	Leyla Gencer	Francesca Pedaci
Climene	Franca Mattiucci	Mariana Pentcheva
Faone	Tito del Bianco	Carlo Ventre
Alcandro	Louis Quilico	Roberto de Candia
Conductor	Franco Capuana	Maurizio Benini
Recorded in	Naples	Wexford
Date	April 7, 1967	Oct./Nov. 1995

Saffo qualifies both as Pacini's best known opera, and the one that was performed most frequently. It was actually in the regular repertory from its' premiere in 1840 to the end of the nineteenth century, and still had three revivals as late as 1911-two with Ericlea Darclée and one with Eugenia Burzio. This makes it more successful in the nineteenth century than any early Verdi opera except for Ernani and possibly Macbeth. It was again revived in Catania in 1939 and finally Naples in 1967 for Leyla Gencer. Montserrat Caballé sang the role twice: Barcelona in 1987 and Vienna in 1989. It's most recent, and perhaps most successful production was the one in Wexford in 1995, which is available on CD as is the Naples 1967 version.

In spite of its' erstwhile popularity, it was a great rarity in Northern Europe, especially in the British Islands: There was one lone production in London (in English), Berlin and Amsterdam, none in the British provinces, two each in Paris and Vienna, four in St. Petersburg, and it was apparently never given in Belgium or Sweden. When it was given in these cities, it invariably got terrible reviews. It was much more popular in the United States, perhaps because of the large Italian population, having some six revivals in New York alone, and also being heard in Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and St Louis. On the other hand, it was a repertory opera in Italy, Spain, Portugal, and South America.

Alcandro, Priest of Apollo, is furious at Saffo because she had given an impassioned speech denouncing him, and tells her lover, Faone, that Saffo is betraying him with another man. To revenge himself, Faone decides to marry a former flame, Climene, Alcandro's daughter. When Saffo discovers this she is so filled with despair that she destroys the altar of Apollo. To repent, she offers to throw herself from the sacred rock. It is eventually discovered that she is Alcandro's long lost daughter, and thus, Climene's sister. Alcandro pleads in vain to save Saffo's life and bitterly repents having initiated the chain of events that must result in her death. Faone, too, realizes again how he loves Saffo and has to be restrained from following her to the grave.

The plot has some superficial similarities to Norma, although many of the specific details differ. Not surprisingly, it was frequently sung by the same sister teams that specialized in the Bellini opera during the nineteenth century, especially the Marchisio sisters. The incomparable Giulia Grisi sang the role in Paris, but never included it in her regular repertory. Other great dramatic sopranos of the nineteenth century who were famous Saffos include Clara Novello, Alice Urban, Fortunato Tedesco, Carolina Ferni, and Eva Tetrazzini. Climene was a favorite role of Adelaide Borghi-Mamo, while the likes of Gaetano Fraschini (the creator of the role), Enrico Tamberlick, Augusto Scampini, Domenico Donzelli and Francesco Tamagno all sang Faone. Finally, famous Alcandros include Leone Giraldoni, Felice Varesi, and Giuseppe Bellantoni. The latter even recorded the baritone aria from the opera. In recent times, the title role has also been considered by Maria Callas, and sung by Adelaide Negri.

Each of the four protagonists has a striking two part aria. Alcandro's "Di sua voce il suon giungea with its' superb cabaletta "Un Erinnni atroce, orrenda" comes first, soon followed by Climene's "Ah! con lui mi fui rapita". But Pacini, typical perhaps of other bel canto operas, saves the best for last: Faone's repentant "Ah! giusta pena", and another highlight of the score, Saffo's aria finale "Teco dall'are pronube." The elegiac quality of the tenor aria and the chorus before the final scene for Saffo tends to look back to the bel canto years, and especially Bellini More than to the forthcoming music of Verdi. There also is a wonderful duet for Climene and Saffo, sung before they realize that they are sisters. This duet is generally considered to be on a par with the Norma-Adalgisa duets and the Bianca-Elaisa duets from Il giuramento. On the other hand, the ensembles are highly dramatic, much more so than Bellini's music, and are definitely pre-Verdian in character. Gossett cites the glorious finale to the second act in his notes, but I would also like to mention the trio between Alcandro, Climene and Saffo, in which Alcandro realizes that Saffo is his daughter and expresses his guilt at being, to use his own words, her murderer.

The choice between the two recorded versions is very much a matter of personal preference. Gencer or Quilico fans will undoubtedly want their's (although I would wager that they have it already). On the other hand, the Wexford version is more complete, generally better sung, and has a better presentation-including an Italian-English libretto (rather than Italian only), as well as Philip Gossett's excellent liner notes.

For a review of the Wexford performance (which coincides with the Marco Polo recording), please visit the web site of my good friend Andrew Cooper: Wexford reviews

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