Giuseppe Verdi: I Lombardi alla prima Crociata in Bloomington, MN

Verdi
's
I Lombardi
, here given its full title,
I Lombardi alla Prima Crociata
("
The Lombards in the First Crusade
"), was a follow-up to
Nabucco
, with promoters wanting more of the ethnoreligious patriotism of the earlier opera.
complied externally, with a colorful tale spanning locales from Lombardy to Antioch to Jerusalem. The romantic libretto, with the soprano lead, Giselda, taking off on a pilgrimage of her own, did not hang together so well, and more popular
operas at the end of the 1840s swept the work out of the repertory. In many ways, though,
is a more sophisticated work than
, with big choruses, recitatives, and arias flowing naturally into each other, and it is no accident that this work was chosen to be adapted for
's first French grand opera,
Jérusalem
. The work stands or falls on its Giselda, on whom the spotlight falls squarely after the opening conflict between brothers is set up; this live Bavarian Radio concert production has a good one in
Nino Machaidze
, who has a high-flying international career but doesn't get quite the publicity she deserves. She is ideal in the role, inhabiting its tempestuous and helpless turns, and as her career has developed, her voice has developed some steel. At times, she lays the vibrato on pretty thick, but this is a matter of taste, and she is dramatically convincing. There are other strong singers in the highly international cast, notably the smoky-voice
Réka Kristóf
as Giselda's mother, Viclinda, and conductor
Ivan Repu¿i¿
, leading his
Münchner Rundfunkorchester
, understands the strides
was making toward more variegated textures. There is very little noise from the well-drilled Munich audience, and the sung texts are clear.
lovers are in for a treat here. ~ James Manheim