Stiffelio

Verdi's 1850 opera was understandably overshadowed by his next, Rigoletto. In fact, Stiffelio was met with a frosty reception, requiring the composer's incessant tinkering to make it acceptable to censors and audiences alike (it eventually wound up as Aroldo in 1857, with the title figure turned into a medieval crusader). Since then, the work has been largely ignored, not only because the music is less memorable than the composer's finest, but due to the fact that it never overcame the controversial nature of the original libretto. Here, Stiffelio is a Protestant minister whose wife, Lina, is unfaithful, cavorting with the dashing Raffaele. Torn between a desire for revenge and the Christian injunction to forgive, Stiffelio eventually masters his darker impulses and accepts Lina's remorse (Lina's father, Stankar, has killed Raffaele in the meantime, so the real villain gets his due). This 2012 production from the Teatro Regio di Parma—the 15th release in the Tutto Verdi series—makes a fairly strong case for the opera, with Roberto Aronica (Stiffelio), Yu Guanqun (Lina), Roberto Frontali (Stankar), and Gabriele Mangione (Raffaele) effectively bringing the characters to life. The Parma orchestra and chorus perform energetically for conductor Andrea Battistoni, while Guy Montavon's staging is appropriately stark and gloomy. Presented in DTS 5.1 (DTS-HD 5.1 on the Blu-ray release) and PCM stereo, extras include an introduction to the opera. Recommended. (F. Swietek)