Odyssey's "Maria Regina D'Inghilterra": Tudor Compact

Amy Shoremount-Obra & Alise Jordheim in "Maria, Regina D'Inghilterra"
(photo: Kathy Wittman)

Odyssey Opera continued its streak of presenting seldom-heard operas recently with what is believed to be the North American premiere of Maria, Regina D'Inghilterra, by composer Giovanni Pacini with libretto by Leopold Tarantini, based on the 1833 play Marie Tudor by Victor Hugo. It was an unqualified success when first produced in Palermo in 1843, but would soon be overlooked and forgotten, until revived by Opera Rara in London in 1983, almost a century and a half later. Local audiences had two recent opportunities to experience its attributes for themselves, as local treasure Odyssey Opera presented the work on November 1^st and 3^rd as part of its Season of Tudors, (the second of six works this season) about an implied compact between Queen Mary and her Lord Chancellor and its dire consequences.

Cast of "Maria Regina D'Inghilterra"
(photo: Kathy Wittman)

The story takes place in 1553 London, three centuries earlier than its composition. Mary I, Queen of England (soprano Amy Shoremount-Obra), is infatuated with Scottish adventurer Riccardo Fenimoore (tenor Kameron Lopreore), whom she ennobled as Lord Talbot. He has been unfaithful to her with the foundling Clotilde Talbot (soprano Alisa Jordheim), the only surviving child of the late Earl of Talbot, now betrothed to (and adored by) the commoner Ernesto Malcolm (baritone Leroy Davis). Lord Chancellor Gualtiero Churchill (baritone James Demler) wishes to protect the Queen by bringing down Riccardo so he informs her of Fenimoore's duplicity, as well as Clotilde's being heir to the Talbot name. The Queen first condemns Fenimoore to death, then repents doing so, ordering Clotilde to help to get him released. To her dismay, however, Churchill has already seen to it that her earlier order to execute Fenimmore has been carried out. She collapses into the arms of her ladies-in-waiting. Also featured were Un Paggio (mezzo-soprano Katherine Maysek, very believable), Raoul (Craig Juricka) and Un Uffiziale (Gray Leiper).

Cast of "Maria, Regina D'Inghilterra"
(photo: Kathy Wittman)

The three act opera, presented at the Huntington Avenue Theater, with one intermission after the second act, was performed in Italian with English supertitles (often unintentionally laughable), Staged and Directed by Steve Maler, with stark Scenic Design by Jeffrey Allen Petersen, confusingly mismatched Costume Design by Brooke Stanton and effective Lighting Design by Jorge Arroyo. The production was Conducted by Gil Rose with the Odyssey Opera Orchestra, with high points being an Act II duet between Jordheim and Shoremount-Obra (whose regal acting, it must be said, seemed forced) as well as a quartet by the four leads.

Cast of "Maria, Regina D'Inghilterra"
(photo: Kathy Wittman)

In the end, it was librettist Tarantini who did the composer no favors with an incredible plot (even for an opera) and incomprehensible historical inaccuracies. Never fear, however, dear opera buffs, there are four more Tudor tributes in our future, with Odyssey performing Rosner's The Chronicle of Nine in February, Rossini's take on Elisabetta, Regina D'Inghilterra in March, Britten's Gloriana in April and German's Merrie England in June. It's enough to make a royal blush.